Mauritania Launches Digital ID for e-Services, Built on TECH5 Platform

Mauritania has launched a new digital identity app offering access to government services, building on a successful pilot built on biometric technology provided by TECH5.

The company won the contract for a digital ID pilot back in June of 2022, in partnership with the local integrator SmartMS and the United Nations Development Program. Since then, the organizations have been working together on an ambitious digital ID solution for the Mauritanian Ministry of Digital Transition, Innovation and Public Sector Modernisation (MTNIMA).

Essentially, the digital ID revolves around selfie-based identity verification—a straightforward concept that belies complex technological underpinnings. TECH5’s T5-OmniMatch Face BioSDK solution provides the 1:1 biometric matching capability, while its T5-AirSnap Face solution enables the capture of face biometrics through a standard smartphone camera.

It is supported by T5-LDS, TECH5’s liveness detection software—a critical element at a time of growing fraud risk from deepfake technology and other spoofing mechanisms.

Another TECH5 solution, T5-IDencode, enables the issuance of a digital ID that is encrypted and stored in a 2D, machine-readable identity container, which is provided by the T5-Cryptograph solution. This is the actual record of the end user’s biometric and biographic data, which can be used for decentralized biometric authentication once enrolment is complete.

For its part, SmartMS provided the back-end system and the Identity Provider (“IdP”) elements of the solution. And on the front-end – the part of the solution that the end user experiences – TECH5 delivered iOS and Android mobile apps.

The pilot was successfully demonstrated with the participation of MTNIMA employees in March of 2023. It showed how a Mauritanian citizen can use the mobile app to read their e-passport or ID card, and then match it to their face by taking a selfie. From there, a digital ID is stored on the user’s phone, and biometric login is enabled for access to Mauritanian government’s online e-services portal.

The pilot lasted for several months, concluding in October of last year, and paving the way for the newly released “Houwiyeti” app.

“The successful implementation of the solution is a testament to the exceptional combination of biometric and Digital ID technologies,” said TECH5 Chairman, CTO, and co-founder Rahul Parthe. “Thanks to the cutting-edge advancements in this field, the citizens of Mauritania can now enjoy easy, fast, and secure access to eGov services.”

TECH5 says it has shared the expertise accumulated through this project with MOSIP, the “Modular Open Source Identity Platform” project designed to help governments and organizations implement scalable digital identity systems. Meanwhile, Mauritania is positioned to leverage its digital ID system for further applications in the future.

“Mauritania looks to be on track to become one of the first countries to adopt fully digital national ID biometrically linked to its holder,” commented TECH5 CRO Ameya Bhagwat.

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August 15, 2024 – by Alex Perala