Iraq measures DPI progress: 90% digital ID uptake, 859 egov services

Fifteen years have passed since the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the country has been enjoying a period of sustained stability. In a catch-up with a senior Iraqi politician, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) examines its broader progress as well as its digital transformation and DPI.

Internet penetration in Iraq has risen from 44 percent in 2019 to 83 percent at the end of 2024. According to Prime Minister Advisor Hasan Al-Khatib, all this is paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.

“Stability has created the conditions for real progress, progress that you can see and feel,” Al-Khatib said. “And digital transformation is benefitting directly from that.”

He comments that progress would be further along had “strategic collective planning” and centralized authority been in place earlier. “That structure now exists and is in formation, finally giving Iraq the coordination it needs.”

Recently, the Iraqi government announced that 859 government entities have adopted the digital transformation agenda. It may sound grand but the framework describes some simple steps that help to standardize processes, prevent leakage and minimize paperwork. For example, government email established as the primary means of communication, according to Iraqi News.

There are four pillars every country needs to build digital public infrastructure, Al-Khatib believes. These are digital identity, electronic payments, electronic signature, data access and sharing.

The Advisor highlights the last of those — data access and sharing — as the pillar that is most delayed. “We need to start producing and sharing data through digital systems to make services fast, accurate, and transparent,” he said.

Electronic signature was introduced in September 2025 and is fully operational. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said it would have “significant impact” on service provision to citizens, at its launch, and would enhance confidence in transactions.

Another milestone is that more than 90 percent of Iraqis have the country’s unified digital ID — “the next step is giving services secure API access to verify identity,” commented Al-Khatib. German identity solutions provider Veridos celebrated 40 million digital IDs issued at the start of 2025. The partnership between Veridos and the Iraq government began in 2013.

As for electronic payments, this pillar helped stop pension distribution fraud, the adviser claimed, with this feature fundamental to automation as well.

The four pillars serve economic growth with productivity, transparency and accuracy, the senior official believes. However, he highlighted the real challenge is not technology but people.

Iraq’s challenges — mindset, technology use, but a big future market

“We graduate students who have never used a laptop,” Al-Khatib pointed out. “That is 50 years behind the world. Most Iraqi students have smartphones, but smartphones are used for entertainment, not productivity. Only 10–15 percent of university students own laptops, limiting their ability to learn modern skills.”

To address this, a national program to give laptops to university students is in place, with financing provided by long-term loans supported by the Islamic Development Bank, UNDP, discounts from vendors and grants for the poorest students.

In answer to a question, Al-Khatib said corruption doesn’t end with digitalization, noting that it is a tool, while eliminating the scourge of many developing countries requires leadership and willpower. “Digital systems allow visibility, monitoring and traceability, but only if decision makers choose to use them,” he said. “Similarly, digital trust depends on proper data governance, which should be shaped by experts, not rushed regulation.”

Changing the cash-dominant mindset of Iraqi commerce is a challenge, but Al-Khatib proposes a temporary tax amnesty to encourage merchants to adopt digital payment tools so they can experience the boost in sales electronic transactions usually produce.

The Prime Minister Advisor doesn’t hold back when asked to measure Iraq’s digital transformation progress. “Less than one percent,” he said. “But that is good news. Iraq is a green field. The potential is enormous.”

Al-Khatib claims that technology companies view Iraq as the “biggest future digital market” in the Middle East, bigger than Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Qatar. Iraq does have a significantly larger population than the ones he cited (Iraq has around 46 million people compared to Saudi Arabia’s 34 million).

“This country is young and young Iraqis are eager to learn,” he concluded (stats show that more than 60 percent of Iraqis are under 25). “Investors are watching us closely. All the ingredients are there, what we need now is focus, persistence, and a commitment to build, brick by brick, until Iraq becomes a fully digital state.”

Ismail Maraqa, Iraq senior country partner at PwC, believes this will require strategic alignment. “Iraq needs an ecosystem that aligns the private sector, educational institutions and government to turn digital access into job-ready skills, sustainable employment and scalable businesses,” he writes. He also noted that female participation in the labor market is very low, at only 10.8 percent, and that by increasing the share this will significantly widen the available talent pool and support productivity growth and economic resilience.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data exchange platform  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  electronic-signature  |  identity verification  |  Iraq  |  UNDP