Civitas ID wins Gates grant to build DPI for undocumented populations

A U.S. nonprofit has been awarded half a million dollars to develop digital public infrastructure for those lacking official documentation.

Civitas ID has received a $500,000 two‑year grant from the Gates Foundation to advance technology aimed at people shut out of formal systems because they cannot prove who they are.

The nonprofit is initially focused on forcibly displaced populations, where documentation gaps are most severe, but says the technology is designed to scale to national identity systems and multilateral programs.

The platform combines three components: verifiable digital credentials issued and checked by institutions, a digital wallet that lets individuals store and control those credentials, and a navigation platform to help people access services and aid. Pilot programmes are under way in Colombia and Kenya.

“Nearly a billion people lack documentation institutions will trust,” says Colin Walsh, Civitas ID’s founder and board chair. “Civitas is initially focused on the 117.8 million forcibly displaced, where the barrier is most acute.”

“They carry skills, ambitions, and the will to build stable lives.  This funding from the Gates Foundation lets us build digital public infrastructure to address the problem at scale and shift the paradigm from aid to self‑reliance.”

The system is fully open‑source, built on W3C Verifiable Credentials, decentralized identifiers and open protocols. These foundations are used with the aim of ensuring interoperability across governments, banks, employers, healthcare providers and schools.

Civitas says the architecture is designed to be durable, transparent and adaptable by partners. Human‑centered design research led by Ideo.org has shaped the project, to ensure the needs of the people the technology is meant to serve are met.

Civitas says the goal is to give individuals ownership of their identity and the ability to use verifiable credentials to unlock opportunity, stability and long‑term mobility wherever they are. Civitas ID launched during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025 where Walsh said “the visibility crisis is really one of the most profound issues of our time.”

Article Topics

Civitas ID  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  digital wallets  |  Gates Foundation  |  open source  |  refugee registration  |  verifiable credentials