Communicating about biometrics needs can help achieve benefits of modularity

BioRugged CEO Arnd Langguth wants to invite governments implementing MOSIP to challenge vendors.

The same goes for other relationships between identity ecosystem stakeholders, who Mr. Langguth argues during an interview with Biometric Update in MOSIP Connect 2025’s exhibition hall can positively influence each other’s efforts through more communication, or deeper connection, if you will.

The company brought its signature durable kits for mobile biometric registration to Connect 2025, but also another piece of hardware that represents a departure from BioRugged’s traditional niche.

The Marque 5.1 is an integrated civil registration device designed for operation on a desktop, within an office.

“The standard picture of an enrollment exercise is people running around with kits from village to village,” the CEO explains. “Fact is that in almost all countries in the world the majority of the population is in or near a major city.”

He still believes BioRugged’s mobile kits are the best. However, he says, they are not suited for every enrollment in every country, adding, “I would be more happy to sell to the need of the customer.”

Even more connection

Mr. Langguth praises the capacity-building element of MOSIP, and the ability it can give countries to maintain their own systems. This is part of what attracted the support of groups like the World Banka and the Gates Foundation. In theory, governments can set up MOSIP-based ID systems without the involvement of a systems integrator, as the parts are all interoperable.

As the digital identity and MOSIP ecosystems mature, however, he identifies a lingering tendency for some stakeholders to rely on past processes and general guidelines from authoritative sources, even at the expense of addressing what it unique about their own situation.

The MOSIP base specification is being used uncritically in some cases, without the spirit of customization with which it is intended. Some countries have attempted to run pilots and then tenders without talking to hardware vendors about what they can do to meet specific needs.

BioRugged still sells its products through integration partners, but has increased its direct engagement with governments over the past few years to better understand what their requirements.

“I would like to see the community pick up on that and say ‘we want to go MOSIP, we have the software architects et cetera,’ and then invite two or three vendors before we do any type of tenders and get their input on what will be needed.”

That communication can enable governments to confidently apply the technical specifications to their own circumstances.

“Each country is different, each enrollment process is different, and that’s what the M in MOSIP is for,” Mr. Langguth notes.

Modularity as a virtue

Mobile biometric registration kits with solar panels are a popular product for BioRugged, but he warns governments against racing to procure thousands of kits with all of the same features. In some cases, extra batteries are needed, so the device operator can set up in the shade to continue throughout the day, charging one battery while the other is in use.

Procurements for registration kits and everything else need to be carried out on the basis of the country’s needs, so they must avoid any temptation to copy and paste the generalized requirements bodies like MOSIP set out as guidance.

The same principle applies to all parts of a given identity system, according to the BioRugged CEO. And for the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform,

“You need to have that core team that fully understands all the functionalities that can basically say ‘we are going to do this part ourselves.’”

Getting to that point takes time, but Mr. Langguth argues that successfully carrying out a task as massive as setting up a foundational and functional digital ID requires care and deliberation. He sees Ethiopia as an example of an ID system that is benefiting from the government wisely taking its time to ensure the decisions it makes are suited to the country’s unique laws, geography and culture.

The modularity that is literally in the name of MOSIP also aligns with BioRugged’s design philosophy.

The Marque 5.1 includes an integrated signature pad, fingerprint scanner, face camera and document scanner all in one, with an optional iris camera. Deploying a mix of the mobile kits BioRugged has long specialized in and the smaller desktop units can lower the total cost of ownership the government must cover. The system can be up and running faster.

Plus, he says, “You’re getting all the lessons on your enrollment software in the cities before you put it in kits.” The reduces the risk of needing to repeat part of the more expensive rural registration process.

The well-intentioned emphasis on reaching the most remote citizens so they are included in the system seems in some cases to have overshadowed a need for other citizens to register their biometrics in urban areas, at a lower total cost.

Mr. Langguth points out that MOSIP was founded only seven years ago. As discussed by numerous panels, workshops and presentations across the three days of MOSIP Connect 2025, it is still evolving. The community of governments, vendors, NGOs and other building up around it is evolving too.

One of the main benefits of that evolution is that over time, you can ask for more.

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Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  BioRugged  |  civil registration  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  mobile biometrics  |  MOSIP Connect 2025