Bangladesh plans to launch a digital identity system within 18 to 24 months as the main gateway to government services, according to Rehan Asad, the prime minister’s telecommunications and ICT adviser. Development has begun as part of a broader program to build digital public infrastructure.
Asad outlined the timetable at a United Nations side event in New York on September 22. He said the government is drawing on other countries’ experience as it develops the digital ID and the infrastructure connecting it to public services.
Digital public infrastructure refers to shared systems that support services such as identification and information exchange. Bangladesh’s program is intended to use artificial intelligence alongside those systems, with security, privacy and trust among the issues discussed at the event.
Bangladesh is also working with Estonia’s X-Road, Asad said. The technology provides a way for separate government information systems to exchange data securely. It has been used outside Estonia, including in Benin’s digital public services infrastructure, where it connects government databases and services.
The UN discussion, organized jointly by the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the United Nations Development Programme, focused on how national digital systems can work together, including across borders. Ministers and senior officials considered how to preserve security and privacy while making public services accessible through interoperable infrastructure.
Asad cited Rwanda’s work on digital identity for government services and cross-border verification in East Africa. He said such systems can reduce the need for people to visit government offices to obtain birth registrations and other certificates. Participants also discussed European digital identity wallets and cooperation among Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
The timetable follows Bangladesh’s proposal for a single lifelong identity card issued from birth. That One-ID proposal, developed under the Digital Service Transformation for Access and Resilience project, would bring services currently associated with several credentials onto a permanent identity. The broader project was proposed for implementation from 2026 to 2031.
Asad described the current digital ID work as a foundation-building effort and called for closer cooperation among countries and regions. The government’s stated objective is for one digital identity to provide access to multiple public services while supporting secure information exchange between the systems delivering them.
Sources: UNB, The Business Standard
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
