Overcoming key challenges in APAC digital government

In a recent webinar hosted by Biometric Update, leading figures from Entrust spoke on “Unlocking digital government in APAC: The power of digital identity.”

The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most dynamic parts of the world in digital government, with many already invested or investing heavily in digital identity systems. The webinar addresses key challenges APAC governments are encountering and explores how these are overcome.

Jyotsna Pantula, director of marketing, government solutions, and Xavier Declerck, identity consultant, government solutions, of Entrust, discussed biometrics, identity verification, authentication, data security and cross-border service delivery. Interoperability and security are big topics in the space as are service delivery and digital transactions.

Pantula noted the market forces shaping digitalization. This is because citizens are expecting more from their governments, with expectations for greater convenience and sophistication. For example, mobile-first solutions for ID wallets, mDL, payments, digital service access.

She spoke on the significant challenges of digital transformation, such as the complexity of deploying a cohesive digitalization strategy across various government departments, interoperable identity across public and private sector entities, and fraud prevention being among them.

Declerck talked through the standards governing identity issuance, use and storage. These include, for example, W3C verifiable credentials, the ISO and ICAO. Such standards can steer a system towards an identity ecosystem, with the underpinnings of an interoperable framework.

There are lessons to be learned from the specific solutions and experiences governments have gone through. A case study from Jamaica was delved into deeply, to explore the use cases and implementation of a proof-of-life solution. A problem statement along with setting out the objectives can result in concrete steps toward a convenient, efficient, secure and compliant solution. Pantula fleshed out the details.

Declerck spoke on the back-end, the layers of digital public infrastructure and digital public goods that enables trust and delivery. These are formed of composable building blocks, such as data encryption services, ID verification service, biometric services, which together orchestrate a digital identity system that empowers citizens. A case study of Federated National ID was expanded on.

Watch the webinar replay on-demand.

Unlocking digital government in APAC: The power of digital identity

Article Topics

APAC  |  Asia  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  Entrust  |  interoperability  |  national ID