Estonia’s Information System Authority (RIA) is aiming to launch a mobile ID app this summer, with an announcement of a public procurement process pending.
The app, dubbed “mRiik” (or “mState”), is being developed with an eye to interoperability with Estonia’s existing e-government services. The plan is to offer another channel through which to access these services, while also providing Estonians with a mobile-based digital ID that they can use to prove their identity within the country.
Speaking to the domestic outlet ERR, an RIA official said that the agency is currently working on a legal framework that will establish the basis for the app’s identity verification system. The official did not outline the approach that will be taken to IDV, but did note that an advantage of mobile-based digital ID is having access to a smartphone’s camera and microphone.
Nortal, a multinational IT services firm, gave a presentation at an official information event about the planned mobile ID app earlier this month. The company has been notable for its involvement in Estonia’s digital transformation efforts, but has not been involved in the development of the mobile ID app itself so far, according to the RIA.
Last year, Estonia’s Deputy Secretary General for Digital Development at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications suggested that the app would be modelled, at least in part, on Ukraine’s pioneering Diia digital ID app. But in speaking to ERR this month, the RIA’s representative downplayed the association, suggesting that while an early pilot of mState was based on Diia “service logics”, the need to configure the app to function intuitively with existing e-government infrastructure has necessitated “a new architectural language” for the app.
Even as it works on its own mobile ID, the Estonian government has also reportedly been advising Indonesian authorities on the development of their own Digital Population Identity (IKD) digital app, which can also be used in lieu of a physical ID.
Source: ERR
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February 13, 2024 – by Alex Perala
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