Inclusion must be the foundation of digital ID systems: Nordregio report

There is very high digital ID adoption in Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Åland, but these nations still face major hindrances to full digital inclusion which is supposed to be the foundation of every digital ID system.

This is according to a Nordregio report which examines the state of national digital ID inclusivity in these Nordic countries, and identifies several structural and technology adoption problems which must be dealt with.

Nordregio is a center for international research set up by the Council of Nordic Ministers.

Per the report, between 90 and 98 percent of individuals in these countries own and use a digital ID for access to different public services, but the problem of inclusivity especially in smaller and more remote communities continues to bite harder.

The report, which is drafted based on responses from several public officials, NGOs, banks and civil society actors, agrees that while context matters in digital ID implementation, there are common factors which must be at the forefront of every country’s consideration.

It highlights 12 key points which governments and policy makers in the region and beyond must keep in mind when designing and implementing national digital ID systems.

First, a national ID system, it says, must have inclusion as a “starting point” and not a “secondary concern,” meaning this must be at the core of the design process in alignment with contextual realities.

Other key points the report proposes include making civil society actors and underrepresented groups a part of the system design and rollout, making available fallback analogue options especially in situations where there is no full digital coverage, ensuring that services are available in the languages of the people and in easily accessible formats, properly apportioning institutional tasks in the implementation and support stages of the project, and addressing problems of affordability and connectivity in order to ensure equal access for all sociological groups.

The report examines the different contexts of digital ID implementation in the understudy nations, noting that inclusion was prioritized with involvement of civil society in Faroe Islands, that Greenland uses Denmark’s MitID whose design doesn’t necessarily reflect the former’s unique realities, and Åland’s case which is based on bank use and therefore excludes those without bank accounts. The publication indicates that these differences in systems show that a one-size-fits-all approach for digital ID systems is bound to fail, affecting “older adults, people with disabilities, recent immigrants and others in vulnerable situations.”

In his comments, researcher and co-author of the report, Maja Brynteson, insists that “digital inclusion must be the foundation, not a feature added later.”

“Without it, we risk undermining not only access to essential services, but also democratic participation,” he says, adding that “digitalization is often framed as a way to simplify people’s lives, but when systems are designed without considering the diverse realities on the ground, they can instead become new sources of exclusion.”

There’s been advocacy from several quarters including non-profits like Kantara Initiative underlining inclusion as a major component in the design and implementation of digital public infrastructure like digital IDs, digital payments and data exchange systems.

From the industry side, companies like Thales are also making digital inclusion a priority.

Article Topics

Åland  |  digital ID  |  digital inclusion  |  e-ID  |  Faroe Islands  |  government services  |  Greenland  |  identity exclusion