Governments are increasingly adopting the\u00a0digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach to deliver public services. An essential component of this is digital identity. Digital identities are often designed to provide a seamless experience for users which ought to be secure, user-friendly, and preserve privacy. Like Mauritania, this is particularly important for countries on their digital transformation journey, where digital legal identity* can be harnessed to catalyze development opportunities.<\/p>\n
Whilst the opportunities inherent with digital transformation are clear, everything from design to implementation needs to be inclusive to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities. In Mauritania,\u00a0forty-four percent of the population live in rural areas where physical infrastructure, connectivity and public services are limited. Given the rural-urban disparities, it is imperative to be\u00a0inclusive by design when introducing new digital interventions.<\/p>\n
UNDP is working with the Government of Mauritania to shape\u00a0an inclusive and rights-based digital transformation. Whilst Mauritania has had its digital identity system, the government thought it was critical to further assess safeguards and privacy, accessibility for people living in low connectivity areas, as well as the usability of digital identity to authenticate services for the private sector, civil society, and government services.<\/p>\n
UNDP is working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization (MTNIMA) in Mauritania to advance the country\u2019s digital identity infrastructure, where the focus has been on developing and piloting an open-source, mobile-based digital identity solution called e-ID Mauritania.<\/p>\n