Cambridge launches initiative to align, improve digital identity regulations

A new initiative has been launched by University of Cambridge this week to help foster effective regulation of digital identity around the world. The launch coincides with the latest release of the OECD’s Digital Government Index, which ranks the public service transformation of many of the world’s richest countries, which in many cases is enabled by digital ID.

The new “Cambridge DPI Regulatory Programme: Digital Identity” was introduced in an online presentation on Tuesday moderated by Pavle Avramović, director of research & policy, financial innovation for impact with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF). The Programme is led by the CCAF and the Financial Innovation for Impact (Fii), which is a spinoff from the CCAF.

Mark Peterson from the Gates Foundation outlined the potential of digital public infrastructure in general, and digital ID in particular, to improve the delivery of digital services, and by extension people’s everyday lives. Those services include public services,

Cambridge Professor of Companies and Securities Law Eilis Ferran described the “multi-dimensional balancing act” of regulating DPI and digital ID. The goal of such regulations is not to eliminate risk from the system, as innovation and risk are bound together, but rather to ensure the delivery of the intended social and economic results.

Proportional intervention should come when private market forces don’t align with the public good, she says. Getting that balance right with digital identity involves navigating several “dilemmas and trilemmas,” Ferran notes. Cambridge’s program is intended to help governments do so.

Cross-regulatory coordination will be essential, Avramović notes.

Uses cases requiring strong identity assurance require regulatory alignment, but are often implemented in environments with fragmented regulations, according to Fii Digital Regulatory Specialist Teresa Lam.

To address this situation, the Programme is intended to help empower regulators and break down the siloes many governance and regulatory bodies work in.

The initiative will produce four reports, on regulatory architecture, digital finance use cases, an e-KYC survey and an economic analysis to provide an empirical basis for policy decisions, Lam’s colleague Gabriella Gebri explained. Cross-regulatory country workshops are planned for Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia to strengthen coordination and foster information-sharing. The Programme also includes a Regulatory Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Community, which is an online forum to discuss and answer questions on digital ID regulation from around the world, and is working to put together an advisory panel.

Stakeholder advice on improving regulations, outcomes

A panel featuring Deogratius Kiggudde, program manager for the Upanzi Network at Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Julia Clark, lead specialist for digital public infrastructure (DPI) and digital government at the World Bank, Tom Carpenter, SVP for global services policy at Mastercard, Yodahe Zemichael, ED of Ethiopia’s National Identification Program (NIDP) and Kristine Orlina, deputy director of the financial inclusion office with the Philippines Central Bank.

Zemichael emphasized the value of pilots and sandboxes to ensure regulatory policy addresses the real lived experience of digital identity, and the value of iteration to improve regulations based on feedback from stakeholders.

Clark talked about the factors like funding and capacity building that can be necessary to ensure regulations on paper are embedded in operations. Further, the practical value of digital identity regulations is only fully realized if the people using the system have some awareness of what the rules are.

Orlina explained how the Philippines digital ID is declared in law sufficient to prove identity, but can also be supplemented with data held by various agencies as a component of the broader DPI system to make the country’s financial inclusion goals achievable.

Among the many multi-faceted challenges for digital ID regulation, Carpenter identifies digital sovereignty and interoperability as a looming conflict.

Kiggudde noted that discussions about inclusivity and impact are hindered by a lack of granular data about how people interact with digital identity systems, whether at the point of issuance or use.

Article Topics

Cambridge University  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  digital sovereignty  |  Gates Foundation