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There may be no single factor that affects a person’s ability to share in the gains of global development -- to receive services and be represented -- as much as having an official identity. Identity is tied to voting rights, financial inclusion, land ownership, education, and can even help protect against human trafficking or child marriage. In many ways, the roughly 1.1 billion people who lack official identity are invisible, discounted, and left behind. Yet the complex political and social forces behind identity systems are often overlooked or misunderstood, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for inclusive and sustainable ID systems.
Executive Summary: Identity in a Digital Age 
(pdf - 2 MB)
ID systems are a critical part of development infrastructure, impacting institutions ranging from governments, NGOs, service providers, private vendors and the individuals who need IDs to access key services. ID systems can help create a basis of trust and inclusion that strengthens democracies and free market economies. They can also be used by authoritarian regimes to exclude or oppress. Balancing the value and risks that ID systems create for both individuals and institutions is key to sustainable ID infrastructure.
Part 1 of this report discusses instrumental and infrastructural approaches to ID and argues for long-term investments in ID infrastructure. Institutions and individuals each have key roles in the ID ecosystem, and we will discuss the tensions inherent in trying to serve both. Part 2 of this report asks how the ID landscape is changing. Emerging technologies will expand the options for identifying and authenticating individuals and introduce new actors across the DID value chain. While some emerging trends may offer greater opportunity for inclusion, higher confidence in authentication, or better data security, new technologies and new actors may also change the roles of traditional ID-granting institutions and their relationships with ID-holding individuals. How we address these emerging trends in technology will determine whether ID is an instrument of empowerment and inclusion or surveillance, disempowerment, and exclusion.
How To: Create Digital ID for Inclusive Development (pdf - 7 MB)
Identification is complex, and requires cooperation between a wide variety of stakeholders. While national governments are most likely to drive the establishment of formal ID services, development practitioners, including donors, program managers, and M&E specialists, should be aware of how their project or activity fits into the overall ID ecosystem in their country or context. When a development project decides to create their own ID, it can help achieve project objectives -- but it can also contribute to a fragmented, siloed ID ecosystem, creating problems you can read about in the introduction.
This guide aims to: 1) illustrate how investments in ID systems can both positively and negatively impact individuals and their households, through the illustrative stories of Mary, Joy, and Samuel; and 2) provide specific howto guidance to help donors, program managers, and M&E specialists get started in thinking about ID ecosystems.
Digital Identity and Inclusive Development (pdf - 587k)
Digitization of ID systems, using a variety of technologies, offers numerous benefits to individuals and institutions. Thoughtful design choices, deliberate approaches for relevant data collection and management, and effective rollout all contribute to ensuring that potential harms of digital IDs are minimized and the benefits are truly realized. The example below of Joy’s journey helps to illustrate how these pieces fit together. By becoming aware of these systems and tradeoffs, the development community can be a responsible and effective steward of this technology.
Last updated: May 15, 2020
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