Papua New Guinea will require every business entity participating in government procurement to authenticate through the country’s national digital ID system, extending the SevisPass platform from individual citizens into the commercial sector for the first time.
Acting Minister for Information and Communications Technology Peter Tsiamalili Jnr made the announcement at the Department of Works and Highways Contractors Conference in April 2026. “Going forward, every submission on any procurement will require a Digital ID to authenticate exactly who you are,” Tsiamalili said. The mandate is intended to drive transparency in government contracting and reduce fraud in the procurement process.
SevisPass, the national digital ID platform developed by biometric technology company Tech5, was piloted in 2024 and launched nationally in 2025. Papua New Guinea launched SevisPass as its national digital ID in November 2025, deploying Tech5’s biometric and wallet infrastructure to support a tiered assurance framework for government services. The ecosystem encompasses SevisWallet for credential management, SevisPay for payments, SevisDEx for data exchange, and SevisPortal for service access. The system has also been integrated with superannuation infrastructure.
The procurement mandate follows a rapid sequence of SevisPass expansions. Earlier this month, PNG’s Department of Information and Communications Technology extended SevisPass into the superannuation sector through a memorandum of understanding with two major retirement funds. The government’s approach has followed a deliberate sectoral strategy: PNG first deployed SevisPass in the security sector in March 2025, before broadening to a national rollout and now mandatory procurement authentication.
The initiative is grounded in the National Digital Identity Policy 2025, endorsed by the National Executive Council, and reflects PNG’s broader digital public infrastructure program. SevisPass also supports remote KYC checks for online banking, meaning the same identity infrastructure being mandated for procurement is simultaneously being extended into private sector financial services. By requiring digital ID authentication for procurement submissions, the government is effectively mandating private sector enrollment in the SevisPass ecosystem as a condition of doing business with the state. Tsiamalili described the platform’s scope concisely: “Digital ID is a one-stop shop.” He urged businesses to engage with the technology without delay: “If you have not accustomed yourself to where technology is heading, you will be left behind.”
Sources: PNG Department of ICT, PNG DICT: Digital Transformation Launch
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
