Sri Lanka’s digital identity transformation seeks balance of speed and assurance

Sri Lanka is at the crossroads of a digital transformation. The journey ahead holds both opportunities and risks. The country’s national identity cards were introduced in 1973, but the paper-based system contained limited information about the individuals. Under the stewardship of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Secretary of Defense, a digital ID card program began in 2012 with a target to finish enrolling fingerprint biometrics by mid-2017. In addition, IOM and Japan backed implementations of biometrics at ports of entry to …

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