As young as a newborn baby, Rwandans will soon acquire digital identity (ID) cards, replacing the current physical ID cards, as Rwanda continues to delve into technological solutions.

Previously, officials said the development was only limited to children of five years and above.

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The development was announced by Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation during an episode of "The Long Form”, a podcast hosted by The New Times on October 23, where she shared more insights into other topics such as 5G network, Artificial Intelligence, startups, and more.

"The current ID we have is given to people who are 16 years and above, however, with the digital ID, we are going to provide it from birth. That is the excitement we have,” she said.

The proposed digital IDs will not only provide for the identification of persons, but also their authentication, by using technologies like biometrics, QR codes, or random number tokens.

Ingabire said the pre-enrollment phase of onboarding citizens through biometrics registration will start soon, without specifying the dates.

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When it comes to biometrics that previously involved the use of thumbs, she added, this aspect will take 10 fingerprints, and even for a newborn baby, they have three different touch points that will be taken. Biometrics technology keeps evolving, hence, updating will be required over time.

Besides serving Rwandans and foreigners, Ingabire noted that they seek to also serve a category of stateless people due to various reasons but also need to access different services.

The digital ID will come in two versions; a physical card with a QR code containing biometric data, and an unprinted version that uses biometrics to access the ID, authenticated both online and offline.

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The execution of the digital ID system requires a financing agreement for $40 million, which was signed with the World Bank for a period of five years, but one year has already elapsed.

Data in digital IDs

The data required in the national population registry include national identification number; name(s), gender; date of birth; place of birth; nationality; marital status; and spouse name.

Others are telephone number, if any; email address, if any; domicile address; biometrics data: front-facing photograph; full set of fingerprints, depending on the age; iris scan, depending on age; and any other biometrics data as may be determined by the Authority.

In case the biometrics data are not fully available, only obtainable biometrics data are captured in the national population registry.

This calls for the enforced implementation of the newly launched data privacy and protection law as Rwanda advances in exploring and adopting technological solutions.