Sri Lanka to work on digital ID sandbox after SL-UDI RFP by India

The Government of India can release a request for proposals, by the Inter-Government Memorandum of Understanding for the Sri Lanka Unique Digital ID (SL-UDI) project, after the Cabinet in Sri Lanka approves the final set of amendments, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, chief advisor to the President on Digital Economy and chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) said.

“Then, in the next three to four months, we can anticipate the digital ID sandbox, where our software developers, institutions from the public and private sectors, and the Digital Ecosystem as a whole can experience the power of an open digital ID platform.” 

The government plans to begin taking bids for a MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform) system integrator before August. However there are strings attached. “As the MOSIP grant is from India, the expression of interest will be for an Indian supplier called by the Indian government,” Waruna Dhanapala, secretary, Ministry of Digitalisation, recently told Biometric Update.

Sri Lanka is focusing on institutional and legal reforms to support the acceleration of the digital economy, including new legislation for the establishment of the Digital Economy Authority and a regulatory framework for Cyber Security. “We recently proposed some changes to the Data Protection Act in Sri Lanka, to improve institutional capabilities and open it up to cross-border data flows,” Dr. Wijayasuriya added.

According to Dr. Wijayasuriya, “the legislative review will apply for the various pieces of legislation that impact and enable the overall digital economy blueprint, such as the Registration of Persons Act, Electronic Transactions Act, and Telecom Act, among others.”

The allocation of 24 billion Sri Lankan rupees (US$80.3M) for the entire government demonstrates the government’s emphasis on digital transformation. Of this, LKR3 billion ($10 million) is allocated to new projects that accelerate specific capacities and infrastructures outlined in the digital economy blueprint. The Ministry of Digital Economy has allotted LKR7 billion ($23.4 million) for continuing operations and capital projects. For continued and new developments in digital infrastructure and the delivery of digital services, the remaining LKR14 billion ($46.8 million) is distributed among the government’s ministries and institutions.

This year, the ICTA has identified payments as an area for quick wins, Dr. Wijayasuriya said, noting the government payments were the first area. It is currently growing at a nearly exponential rate. “We anticipate that more institutions will join to facilitate this expansion. We have a cross-industry working group, with representatives from all stakeholder groups addressing the blocking points in the ecosystem, and will continue to make recommendations on how QR and other forms of digital payments, such as tap and go, and transport payments can be made mainstream,” he said, drawing on experiences with QR payments in India, Thailand, and Malaysia, where consumer behavior and payment enable such payments on a wide scale with a high penetration. 

The digital ID sandbox

Open-source software system MOSIP will be used to create and manage Sri Lanka’s digital identity program. Last month, a team from MOSIP travelled from India to Sri Lanka to test the minimum viable product on the digital ID management platform. Testing is the first step in a constant process of development and improvement.

“We wanted to make sure that the environment, along with the other conditions, is right to launch the MOSIP. The minimum viable product testing was extensive, and the high security biometrics for the digital ID will also go through testing,” an Information Communication Technology Agency Sri Lanka official said. 

The MOSIP ecosystem is made up of partners drawn from among biometrics and digital ID technology vendors, as well as the countries it works with. It also includes testing labs, academic institutions, and other non-profit organizations.

Commercial partners are system integrators that work with governments and run system implementation, while technology partners provide devices or services which are vetted by MOSIP in a sandbox environment.

As the MOSIP platform is designed to be a foundational identity system, testing is focused on the core elements needed for a basic identity management platform. 

Sri Lanka’s Digital Economic Ministry is prioritizing cloud, digital ID, and bus and train tickets as high-priority projects. The ministry will analyze gaps in the current system and implement the MOSIP grant from India to revamp the digital ID system, the official added further.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  government purchasing  |  India  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  national ID  |  research and development  |  rfp  |  SL-UDI  |  Sri Lanka