BioEnable powers Niger pilot for MOSIP-based national digital ID

The Republic of Niger has completed a national digital ID trial based on MOSIP, with BioEnable enabling the process through its advanced biometric technology.

The company says in an announcement that to ensure the successful conduct of the pilot, it deployed its IriUniverse-Two dual iris scanners which ensured efficient and high-accuracy registration.

BioEnable mentions that it worked on the pilot with Niger’s Ministry of Interior, Public Security, and Territorial Administration, in collaboration with the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion Project (WURI-Niger).

WURI Niger launched in 2022 with the objective of having national digital ID issued to at least 22 million people in the country by 2026.

In the course of the pilot, the registration was carried out in four communes of the country, which included Tanout, Mayahi, Doutchi, and Tagazar, with over 3,000 persons biometrically enrolled.

According to the firm, the IriUniverse-Two scanners played a pivotal role in enabling fast, reliable, and ISO-compliant biometric authentication, reinforcing the pilot’s goal of establishing a robust digital identity infrastructure for the West African country. BioEnable announced MOSIP compliance for its biometric enrollment kit at the close of last year.

The objectives of the pilot, BioEnable says, were to evaluate how a digital ID system can be implemented in Niger using MOSIP in real-world circumstances, facilitate the registration of persons through the streamlined capture of biometric data, encourage and simplify stronger community participation through user-friendly methods, as well as assess cost efficiency in implementing a large-scale digital ID program in the country.

“This pilot marks an important step in Niger’s digital transformation journey, and we are proud to have contributed to its success,” said Mahesh Ghatge, CEO & CTO of BioEnable Technologies.

“Our collaboration with MOSIP reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting governments and organizations in building secure and scalable identity ecosystems.”

As part of Niger’s digital transformation agenda, the country is looking to put in place a secure and inclusive national digital ID system, to facilitate the delivery of public services.

The pilot highlights the power of open-source and interoperability in the rollout of national digital ID systems, and Niger hopes its use of biometrics such as that from BioEnable will be vital in establishing a more secure, efficient, and inclusive identity verification system that can benefit citizens seeking access to public services.

Relatedly, BioEnable announced early this month that its IriUniverse-One single iris scanner has had STQC certification for Aadhaar authentication which underscores the device’s adherence to stringent requirements for security and interoperability within the Aadhaar digital ID ecosystem.