Page 113 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

as a foundational element for de-duplication in identification systems and not for biometric authentication
during service provision, for example for financial services or voting. Cost is often a contributing factor as the
infrastructure needed to fully utilize biometrics and link with authentication is expensive (ibid.). As identification
systems evolve and expand, it is possible that biometric links to functions such as finance, health, and elections
will become more widespread.
Despite advancing technology and lowering costs, we find evidence that challenges with implementation
are widespread and have the potential to cause substantial delays and barriers to reaching full population
coverage. Programs like NADRA in Pakistan can provide examples of how to overcome particular implementation
challenges, but many challenges discussed in country specific documents are related to issues with program
design or are context-specific.
Due to the growth of identification systems in the last decade, our research relies heavily on a limited number
of academic sources that review identification programs more generally, and on non-academic sources and
grey literature to gather evidence on the particular country programs. Current evidence in English on the
various programs we review is not always available, so communication with officials or other sources closer
to the programs may be required to obtain more up to date information.

Please direct comments or questions about this research to Principal Investigator Leigh Anderson at eparx@u.
washington.edu.

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