The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in New Zealand is preparing to open a new Digital Identity Services channel on its all-of-government Pae Hokohoko Marketplace platform. This move signals a shift toward a more structured procurement model for authentication, binding, and verification services under the country’s Digital Identity Services Trust Framework. The planned channel builds on earlier work by the DIA to shape biometric and selfie ID standards, including an RFI on selfie ID verification and anti-spoofing.
An Advance Notice on the Government Electronic Tenders Service describes the upcoming Marketplace channel as a mechanism to reduce the time, cost, and effort required for agencies to procure and manage digital identity services. The notice covers all of government and falls under IT and information-services categories. It states that the new channel will allow suppliers to list offerings in four distinct service groupings.
Authentication Services will cover secure access solutions such as single sign-on platforms, passkey providers, and multi-factor authentication aimed at preventing fraud. Binding Services will include solutions that correctly link personal or organizational information to the right entity, such as biometric confirmation services and identity-binding APIs. Information Services will cover verified data APIs and registry-lookup tools that provide authoritative identity data. Finally, Verification Support Services will include toolkits such as verification SDKs, verifier apps, and cryptographic validation modules that support credential verification but do not themselves require accreditation.
The Marketplace channel will operate alongside New Zealand’s existing identity infrastructure rather than replace it. The Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Act 2023 establishes the legal and governance basis for accredited digital identity services. The 2024 Trust Framework Rules define service types and set out requirements for security, privacy, and risk management. The DIA already operates key identity services such as RealMe login and RealMe verified identity, which provide a single government authentication credential and a higher-assurance digital identity service. They also operate Identity Check, a remote identity-verification service that matches user-provided information to passport and driver licence records.
The proposed channel effectively creates a catalogued and rules-based route into the New Zealand government market. The explicit inclusion of biometric confirmation under Binding Services and advanced authentication methods under Authentication Services positions biometrics and passkeys as core building blocks of the government’s future ecosystem. The separation between credential issuance and verification tooling reflects the Trust Framework’s emphasis on modular services. Vendors with strong compliance records against the Trust Framework Rules and New Zealand’s privacy regime will be well positioned as the DIA moves from advance notice to onboarding suppliers.
Sources: GETS, DIA – Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Act 2023, DIA – Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Rules 2024, RealMe, Identity Check
—
By Ali Nassar-Smith
