Maldives advances digital identity, digital transformation bills

The Maldives is moving closer to formally steering its digital transformation and establishing a legal framework for a national digital identity system.

The country’s parliament has approved the Maldives 2.0 Digital Transformation Bill and the Digital Identity Bill, with the bills now heading to the Information and Communications Technology Committee for closer inspection and evaluation, reports MMTV.

The Maldives 2.0 Digital Transformation Bill looks to form an official state agency to lead digital transformation. The proposed Maldives Digital Service will also steer how digital governance policies are implemented and would create an integrated digital ecosystem, such as centralized data registries.

The Maldives 2.0 initiative aims to modernize the country’s public service delivery through digital means. The proposed legislation would establish the legal foundation to do so.

The Digital Identity Bill calls for setting up a Digital Identity Technical Advisory Committee to oversee the development of the national digital identity system. It would also establish the duties of identity providers, the entities involved and data contributors, along with the legal safeguards that govern the use of digital identities and personal data.

The proposed bill would establish the legal framework for a system allowing secure identity verification and digital transactions with government agencies and other entities. The Digital  Identity Bill focuses heavily on data security and its maintenance when individuals interact digitally with institutions of the state, legal entities and other service providers.

The planned digital identity system would also extend beyond local residents to cover Maldivian citizens living abroad, residency permit applicants and online service providers operating within or connected to the country.

Both bills were nearly unanimously accepted by parliament members and will now be reviewed by the Information and Communications Technology Committee. Parliament will then hear its report.

The government is planning to launch the integrated digital identity system in 2027, after a smart ID rollout expected to happen in the course of this year. Authorities say digital ID will let Maldivians access healthcare, social security and banking remotely, eliminating costly inter‑island travel.

With tourism a major export, officials also say it would enable hotels to have faster and more reliable guest verification. The Maldives is among the growing number of small states using digital identity as a driver of national cohesion and competitiveness, following models like Estonia.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital identity  |  identity verification  |  legislation  |  Maldives