Towards a bottom-up approach to inclusive digital identity systems

Abstract

The path towards the United Nations objective of providing legal identity for all, including free birth registrations, has been facing several challenges. Particularly, the diversity of social realities, limited ICT infrastructures, inadequate legal frameworks, and unstable political engagement have resulted in solutions highly fitted to a specific scenario, thus hard to be replicated in different regions. Paired with noncomprehensive public services of civil registration, these aspects impact the way identity records are created, stored and used by citizens in their daily interactions. To tackle these impairments, this work introduces IDINA, a non-authoritative approach aiming at a community-oriented identification system underpinned by relations of social trust, inclusiveness, and the use of cutting-edge accessible technologies.