Trusted digital services for economic development

Australia ❤️ is good at digital govt. But in a world of rapid change, good isn’t good enough 🤷♂️ When people think of world-leading digital nations, they point to Singapore, Estonia, and increasingly, the UAE. Yes - they’re small, agile, and highly coordinated. But size is no excuse. 🇺🇦 Ukraine (pop. ~40 million) is racing toward Gov 3.0 maturity via its Diia platform - even during a war. 🇮🇳 India (pop. 1.5 billion 🤯) is delivering digital transformation at national scale. The India Stack, anchored by Aadhaar, is enabling inclusion, innovation, and economic uplift for over a billion people. ✳️ Why does this matter? One word: Productivity As population growth and participation rates flatten, productivity becomes the key to prosperity. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is right ✅ to put it front and centre - he’s convening a national productivity roundtable on 25 August to build consensus for reform. Last year, I co-led a productivity roadshow across Australia and New Zealand, asking: Which govt services would deliver the biggest productivity dividend if digitised at scale? The result? The GX5 : Five digital initiatives with the biggest productivity upside We assessed 24 govt digitalisation opportunities and filtered them through three lenses: 1. Citizen-facing – high visibility and public benefit 2. Deployment-ready – proven globally, good to go 3. High productivity impact – across govt, business, and individuals The top five: 🟦 Digital ID – secure, streamlined identity verification 🟦 Digital Skills Wallet – verified, portable credentials 🟦 Digital Front Door – one-stop access to govt services 🟦 Digital Health Record – accessible, coordinated medical data 🟦 Digital Licences & Permits – instantly verifiable credentials 📊 According to the attached GX5 report, Digital ID alone could unlock $19–32 billion per year in economic benefits - up to 1.2% of GDP - based on results from Singpass (Singapore) and Aadhaar (India) . Importantly, the Federal Govt passed legislation last year 🙏 to enable an opt-in digital ID system - a critical reform that will boost security, privacy, and service delivery across the country. This attached report was a collaboration between Ember Advisors and ServiceGen, with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS). If we want to stay globally competitive, we must build and embrace public digital infrastructure. It’s how we move from good to great 🙏🏼

Digital ID: The Single Most Transformative Economic Investment Papua New Guinea Can Make Did you know? PNG’s FATF Grey Listing is directly tied to weaknesses in customer identification under the AML/CTF Act. The fix? Digital ID. Also, Social media monetization for PNG’s creators requires proof of identity. The fix? Digital ID. And over 4.5 million eligible Papua New Guineans remain unbanked (National Financial Inclusion Strategy). The fix? Digital ID Digital Government services cannot scale without secure identity. The fix? Digital ID A strong Digital Economy? Impossible without Digital ID at its foundation. Traditional investments in roads and bridges connect us physically. But Digital ID connects every Papua New Guinean to the financial system, government services, and the global systems and economy. Here’s how a modern Digital ID system works: 🔹 Self-Enrollment – citizens register themselves anytime, anywhere. 🔹 Self-Proofing – digital verification cuts fraud and builds trust. 🔹 Digital Issuance – instant and secure electronic credentials. 🔹 Digital Use – one interoperable ID that works across banks, telcos, government, transport, and online platforms. Digital ID is not merely ID in digital form, its about the entire identity ecosystem through an interoperability platform: ➡️ Data custodians like NID, MVIL, ICSA plug in. ➡️ Private sector players — banks, telcos, real estate, utilities — also plug in. ➡️ Even international partners can rely on it for trusted transactions. The economic impact? ✅ Restoring global confidence in PNG’s financial system — essential for exiting the FATF Grey List. ✅ Bringing millions into the banking and payments system, unlocking savings, credit, and investment. ✅ Enabling creators, SMEs, and farmers to fully participate in the digital economy. ✅ Driving GDP growth of 2–3% annually, based on global studies of Digital ID adoption. When I talk about Digital ID, people respond to me refering to it as a digital initiative - it is much more than that - it is in fact the single most transformative economic digital infrastructure investment Papua New Guinea can make.

A milestone for Iraq’s digital economy. First Iraqi Bank (FIB) recently introduced the country’s first App-in-App platform, marking a pivotal advancement toward establishing Iraq’s inaugural super app. This development allows businesses to seamlessly integrate their services into the FIB platform. As a result, customers can enjoy a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, and lifestyle services through a single interface. Over time, this ecosystem is expected to grow, reducing service fragmentation and streamlining the digital experience for users, while enhancing security. Internationally, super apps have demonstrated that consolidating services fosters greater trust, accelerates user adoption, and promotes financial inclusion. In the context of Iraq, the potential benefits are particularly significant: - Financial Inclusion: The initiative aims to onboard individuals who are unbanked or underbanked into the digital economy. - Support for Businesses: SMEs will benefit from an established distribution channel to reach their customers more effectively. - Technological Leapfrogging: It positions Iraq to bypass outdated models, similar to how the country transitioned directly from 2G to 4G technology in telecommunications. FIB takes pride in being the first institution in Iraq to offer digital banking solutions that meet global standards and adhere to Islamic banking principles. This dual focus broadens access to digital banking for a wider audience while establishing a benchmark for innovation in the sector. The App-in-App initiative illustrates the progress that can be made when technology, financial inclusion, and public trust align effectively.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) enthusiasts & critics - read: "Responsible DPI for Improving Outcomes Beyond Inclusion." Thank you to authors Jayshree Venkatesan, Alexandra Rizzi, Edoardo Totolo, and Loretta Michaels for this landscape analysis and the many discussion and debates it will inform. Bravo to Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) for your leadership. Abstract: "Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is increasingly recognized as a core component of modern governance and economic development, integral to advancing financial inclusion and supporting sustainable development goals. The concept gained traction with India’s G20 presidency and initiatives such as India Stack and e-Estonia, which have demonstrated the transformative power of digital technologies in public service delivery and financial transactions. These precedents underline the potential of DPI to revolutionize access to public goods and services, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and citizen engagement. Amid the enthusiasm to expand and scale DPI models to dozens of new markets, this report explores the opportunities for DPI to be built and deployed responsibly for three fundamental elements of financial inclusion: identity (ID), payments, and consent-based data exchanges. Reviewing examples and evidence to date, the paper examines DPI through three lenses — governance, innovation for value and financial sustainability, and citizen rights and measurable impact outcomes — across each element of ID, payments, and data exchange. It emphasizes the varied governance models and the distinct roles assumed by public and private sector entities within the DPI ecosystem, highlighting the complexity and necessity of balancing stakeholder interests, ensuring trust, and safeguarding citizen rights, privacy, and security in the digital age. The analysis aims to shed light on the multifaceted nature of DPI and raise outstanding questions stakeholders must consider for responsible and effective DPI development and implementation. As the DPI space is rapidly evolving, there are many unresolved questions that require further scrutiny. In raising these questions, we acknowledge that we are still at an early stage in measuring impact, and have to first agree on what needs to be measured. This can help design systems that provide metrics beyond just availability and usage of digital financial services delivered through DPI rails. The objective of this paper is not to provide all the answers but rather to identify open questions that require further research and spotlight the need to build guardrails as an inclusive finance community in order to achieve the potential that DPI holds in delivering positive outcomes through digital financial services." Cc: Michael Schlein, Nataša Goronja, Aeriel Emig https://lnkd.in/eVrUvPkV