Bhutan NDI partners with iDen2 to export national digital identity’s benefits

Bhutan NDI and iDen2 are entering a strategic partnership, combining iDen2’s digital identity platform with Bhutan NDI’s experience in real-world deployment.

In a blog post, iDen2 says the organizations have a shared vision “to democratize digital identity deployment for nations worldwide” and accelerate digital inclusion.

Located in the Himalayas with fewer than a million people, Bhutan has turned to digital identity and digital economy as a way to boost its society. Last month, the South Asian country rolled out four major upgrades to its National Digital Identity (NDI) wallet, with added biometric liveness verification a significant boost. It has also hosted hackathons to build out its platform, with the collaboration of Ethereum Foundation.

According to iDen2, 78 percent of Bhutan’s rural population now accesses government services digitally, while per-transaction costs have been reduced 70 percent through digital channels in service delivery. Formal financial services access has been boosted 45 percent since the national digital identity rollout, and administrative processing times have been reduced by 60 percent across all departments.

The strategic partnership spans Thimphu, Bhutan and San Francisco, California as Bhutan NDI and iDen2 launch Phenix. Phenix is an end-to-end digital identity solution, with modular architecture, and aimed at governments and enterprises. It is standards compliant including ISO/IEC 24760 for identity management, GDPR for data protection, eIDAS for trust service architecture and W3C verifiable credentials standards.

iDen2 Co-founder Philip Fahim on LinkedIn shared that the company is also participating in ID4Africa, joining ID Day as it commits to “advancing digital identity infrastructure across the African continent.”

iDen2 says in Bhutan the integrated eKYC service available through Phenix reduced customer onboarding time for banks and telecom providers from days to under five minutes. “Phenix is the culmination of our vision to create a force multiplier that will reshape how nations approach digital identity transformation,” says Fahim.

“The launch of Phenix represents our commitment to democratizing digital identity deployment globally,” says Jacques Von Benecke, CEO of Bhutan NDI. “Having successfully navigated the complexities of national digital identity deployment in Bhutan, we understand what governments need – a proven roadmap that eliminates the trial-and-error approach that has historically plagued digital transformation initiatives.”

Von Benecke explained Bhutan’s model of self-sovereign identity (SSI) and its unique vision for delivering public services in an interview as the system was being introduced in late-2023.

Article Topics

Bhutan  |  Bhutan NDI  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital inclusion  |  iDen2  |  KYC