Govt plans one unique ID to access multiple digital IDs
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed a new model of "Federated Digital Identities" that will allow using a single digital ID to access multiple IDs. According to a report by The Indian Express, citizens will be able to link several IDs like PAN, Aadhaar, passport, and driving license to one ID. The ministry will seek public comments by February 27.
- The "Federated Digital Identity" would act as a key to a register where different state and central IDs could be maintained, according to the draft.
- Through verification and consented eKYC, citizens can use their digital ID to access various third-party services.
- The model will allow all digital identities to be linked to each other, eliminating the need for several verification processes.
The proposal has been moved under the India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) 2.0 by the IT Ministry. As per the draft proposal cited by The Indian Express, this unique digital identity will empower the citizen by "putting her in control of these identities and providing her the option of choosing which one to use for what purpose."
In 2017, IndEA was first designed and proposed "with a view to enable alignment of the IT developments with the business vision of government organizations." Since then, the framework has been updated. IndEA 2.0 proposed a framework for both public and private sector organizations to design IT architecture "that can span beyond their organizational boundaries to deliver holistic and integrated services to the customers."
The draft proposal also says that information technology initiatives developed under the new architecture should be designed to be interoperable and interlinked. These projects must adhere to the government's open application programming interface policy, which requires that the project's source code be made publicly available for anybody to audit and improve, according to the proposed framework.
The new framework also proposes three key architectural patterns for different government agencies. The domain framework is best suited for Central ministries, ministries that deal with state or concurrent subjects, or ministries that have significant financing and engagement from the Centre. State governments would use the state architecture pattern, while smaller departments of Central and state governments would use the third InDEA-Lite architectural pattern.
The InDEA 2.0 report advises taking a selective approach to the development and design of building blocks. The central or state governments are proposed to design, develop and manage only the core building blocks. "From a governance perspective, the government plays an enabling role in respect of the remaining building blocks," states the draft report.
