Page 126 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

Appendix A: Literature Search Methodology

We used a set of Boolean search strings to capture a broad range of literature related to national identity
programs on three main databases: Google, Google custom search of International Non-Governmental
Organizations, and Center for Global Development. We also conducted searches on Scopus and Google
Scholar for academic literature on national identity programs. The aim of these searches was to return a wide
variety of relevant literature and reduce the need for additional targeted searches.
We found that the search string national AND (identity OR identification) AND (program OR system OR card)
AND “Country Name” yielded the most relevant results regarding the particular national identity programs in
each country. However, we also used customized search strings for each country targeting specific national
identity programs and/or specific areas of information. A total of 209 search strings were used in our initial and
supplemental searches. Below is a list of the types of major search terms used in our initial and supplemental
searches.

• The name of the identity program specific to each country
• Financial: Cash Transfers, Mobile Money, Know your customer (KYC), and Social Welfare Transfers

• Health: Health
• Agriculture: Farming and Agriculture
• Election: Election and E-Voting

• Coverage: Coverage, “Level of Penetration” and “Penetration Rate”
• Poor Populations: Poor, Poverty, and Low-Income
• Women: Women, Female and Gender

• Methodology: Biometric and Electronic
• Program Budget: Budget, Fund, Funding, Cost, and Expense
• Program Security: Security and Secure

• Acceptance: “False Acceptance” and “False Rejection Rate”
During the initial search and supplemental search, we identified a total of 649 documents that appeared
relevant to national identity programs in the 43 countries of interest.
• Google: 410 documents

• Center for Global Development: 44 documents
• Google custom search of International Non-Governmental Organizations: 107 documents
• Google Scholar: 13 documents

• Scopus: 68 documents
• Others: 7 documents

397 documents were retained for review after further screening. After the initial search, a targeted supplemental
search was conducted to address any existing information gaps for ID programs. Examples of major topics on
which we conducted supplemental searches include how programs are linked to financial services, health,
agriculture, and elections, the level of coverage with the ID program’s target population, challenges with uptake
or use by poor populations and/or women, and program budgets.

98