CDPI expands digital public infrastructure bootcamp to Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is working on new digital public infrastructure as official institutions  look to use verifiable credentials and improve the delivery of public services.

The Ministry of Public Administration (MAP), together with the Center for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI) and the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (OGTIC), has launched a week‑long “VC Bootcamp” in Santo Domingo.

Supported by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), the initiative brings technical teams from multiple agencies to design and implement real use cases for issuing and verifying verifiable credentials. Participating agencies include those from environment, agriculture, SISALRIL, the Central Electoral Board, the tax authority DGII and INFOTEP.

The Dominican Republic tested a verifiable credentials system for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in March. In a country of many who lack bank accounts, the pilot introduced a digital wallet in which MSMEs can store verifiable credentials such as tax IDs, commercial registry documents and bylaws, presenting them to government agencies or banks through selective disclosure.

Verifiable credentials enable secure data exchange between institutions and reduce the need for citizens to repeatedly submit documents. Officials say the technology will help create more agile, interoperable and secure public service processes. The DR’s bootcamp on verifiable credentials follows a workshop held in Colombia in May where functional pilots were built over a week.

The bootcamp compresses the full cycle from concept to production into five days. By the end of the program, the country is expected to have functional infrastructure deployed on national servers. Documented use cases, UX prototypes, defined issuance and verification flows will be developed along with trained teams capable of maintaining and expanding the ecosystem.

The model, used by CDPI in Latin America, Africa and Asia, aims to cut pilot development time from months to a single week while strengthening coordination across government agencies. It will also produce a prioritized portfolio of future use cases and build a network of technical leaders who can drive interoperability and digital innovation efforts nationwide.

Public Administration Minister Sigmund Freund said scalable, inclusive and interoperable digital infrastructure is essential for improving public‑service delivery, fostering innovation and supporting inclusive national growth.

The Dominican Republic is one of 12 participating countries in the LAC Digital Citizen or “Regional Digital Citizen” initiative. The IdLAC allows citizens across Latin America and the Caribbean to conduct digital public service transactions in another country using their national digital identity. The system was developed through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with support from the World Bank, Co-Develop, the Organization of American States (OAS), and Red GEALC, a network of e-government authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Article Topics

Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI)  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Dominican Republic  |  Latin America  |  verifiable credentials