Somalia Looks to Pakistan for Lessons on Digital ID and Government Services
GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: Somalia has sent a government delegation to Pakistan to learn from its experience in developing digital identification and infrastructure that supports online public services.
The delegation, led by the Director General of Somalia’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), Abdiwali Ali Abdulle Timacadde, has spent the past several days meeting Pakistani institutions involved in the country’s digital systems.
The visit was facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and included discussions with Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the National Information Technology Board and other agencies involved in technology development and telecommunications.
The talks focused on how a national identity system can be connected to government and other digital services, allowing information to be shared between institutions while improving the way services are delivered.
Officials also discussed data storage, technical standards, system interoperability and the development of the skills needed to maintain and expand digital infrastructure.
The discussions are particularly relevant as Somalia works to establish a stronger national identification system and expand the use of digital services.
A functioning digital ID can provide citizens with a secure way of proving their identity when accessing government services, while allowing institutions to manage information more efficiently.
Somalia has been investing in digital transformation as part of wider efforts to modernise government institutions. But building systems that can communicate with one another and securely exchange information remains an important challenge.
Pakistan’s experience provides an example of how digital identity can form part of a wider digital public infrastructure rather than operating as a standalone system.
The Somali delegation is expected to use lessons from the visit to inform efforts to develop the country’s own digital infrastructure, while adapting them to Somalia’s institutional and technological needs.
The visit reflects the growing role of technology in Somalia’s efforts to improve public services and build more connected government institutions.