Sri Lanka sets roles for digital ID rollout with DRP, GovTech split

The Department of Registration of Persons (DRP) will be the owner and legal custodian of Sri Lanka’s digital identity system (SL-UID), as the mandated national authority responsible for citizen registration and identity records.

GovTech Sri Lanka will provide the technical delivery and operational support- including platform implementation, integrations, and service enablement – working closely with the DRP to ensure continuity and quality of operations, Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, the Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, told Biometric Update.

Sri Lanka is preparing a phased rollout of its national digital ID, beginning with core enrollment, de-duplication, and secure credential issuance, before expanding to a unified, modern identity system within two years.

“The overall program will be carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Digital Economy, which will provide policy direction, whole-of-government coordination, standards, and oversight to ensure the system is implemented securely, responsibly, and in a manner that protects citizens’ rights while enabling digital services at scale.”

The focus will be on enabling all ID validation points across government and other authorized service environments to adopt digital ID-based verification as the primary method, including operational readiness, staff training, device readiness, and secure connectivity.

“The goal is not only technical adoption, but also a societal shift in mindset, moving away from the need to always carry a physical card, toward a secure and convenient digital identity that can be used when needed, from anywhere, at any time,” Weeraratne said.

At the same time, the government will not permit uncontrolled or premature integration; each integration will be introduced in a governed manner with security, privacy, and performance checks before it is allowed to operate at scale, he added.

The government says it is balancing ambition with realistic delivery timelines by taking a staged delivery approach with clear gates: readiness, pilot, controlled rollout, and scale.

“Each gate must meet measurable standards for security, accuracy, uptime, user experience, and operational performance. If any gate fails, we fix it first – then scale,” Weeraratne said.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  identity management  |  national ID  |  SL-UDI  |  Sri Lanka