MOSIP is proud to have entered into a partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, and the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), through the signing of an MOU in October 2020.
Over the last 6 months, the ICTA in Sri Lanka has worked to demonstrate a foundational digital ID system using MOSIP. As of the second week of April 2021, the first Proof of Concept on an end-to-end demonstration of the system has been successfully completed. Having reached this milestone, the project is now expanding with field registrations.
Under the MoU, MOSIP will support the GoSL in evaluating, customising, and adapting MOSIP to its foundational digital ID requirements. Additionally, the relationship will nurture a stronger open-source developer community in Sri Lanka around digital ID.
MOSIP, IIIT-B, and partners in Sri Lanka are confident that the success of this PoC is laying the foundation for a national scale roll out in the country. It is the hope that a robust ecosystem will emerge for the adoption of Digital Public Goods for governance, aligned on principles, values, and goals of Good ID.
Speaking on the partnership, Prof. Lalith Gamage, Chairman of the ICTA, said:
“A national digital ID system is certainly the first step in building a digitally inclusive society. For this to be effective, having a high citizen enrollment is key to ensure that everyone has access to the same government services and experiences the same level of simplicity and security when they are signing up for services or transacting online.
MOSIP’s modular architecture, easy configuration, and customization, enables countries the flexibility to build their foundational digital ID systems in a cost-effective manner. I would like to thank IIIT-Bangalore for partnering with us for this historic initiative.
There is much to be gained by this initiative including a better user experience, streamlined operations, heightened security, reduced fraud, and cost-efficiency. We are hopeful that all citizens will embrace this initiative positively and support the national vision of building a smart nation.”
Speaking on behalf of IIIT-Bangalore, Prof. Sadagopan, Director of IIIT-B, said:
“Over the decades, Sri Lanka has been a flag bearer of harnessing open source for governance. Well designed digital ID systems have the potential to transform governance and service delivery and MOSIP is committed to enabling countries to establish ID as critical digital infrastructure. We are delighted to support Sri Lanka on the adoption of MOSIP as the backbone of their foundational digital ID system. We are hopeful that these strides will help establish strong digital ID systems in Sri Lanka, at scale and with sustainability.”
As MOSIP’s long term vision quickly takes real-world form, the organisation is hopeful that not only will the platform find success in Sri Lanka, but in other developing nations around the world.
MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identification Platform) was incubated at IIIT-Bangalore as a global digital public good. The platform’s modular architecture, easy configuration, and customisation abilities, enables countries the flexibility to build their foundational digital ID systems in a cost-effective manner.
MOSIP was built on a strong bedrock of principles for security and privacy. The use of open standards and open-source code ensures that MOSIP is agnostic to specific applications, programming languages, and platforms, and actively works towards avoiding vendor lock-in.
MOSIP is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation, Tata Trust, Omidyar Networks, and NORAD.
IIIT-Bangalore is a premier educational institute, located in the heart of Electronic City, Bangalore, India. Focused on Post-Graduate IT education and research, it contains state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty, a vibrant alumni community, cutting-edge research facilities, and close industry collaborations.
The institute’s specially-designed courses ensure that students are cognisant of current technologies and practices, thereby equipping them with the tools and knowledge to solve real-world, contemporary problems. Since the founding of the institute in 1999, IIIT-B has enjoyed 100% placement every year, on account of the strong support of the industry and the growing base of talented alumni.
