Bill Gates has voiced strong support for what his foundation, along with the EU, the UN, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) refer to as digital public infrastructure (DPI), and its key parts – digital IDs and payments.
And Gates wants to see them implemented globally.
In a blog post, the Microsoft founder once again attempts to establish his reputation as a visionary on these matters and praises a number of developing countries where the concept of the DPI is currently in various ways, one could say, “trialed for the rest of the world” – India, Kenya, Brazil, Togo.
One of the major criticisms leveled at digital IDs and payments – and the rush to get there, given that the DPI is supposed to see large-scale adoption by 2030 – is that they will lead to “enhanced,” digital government surveillance, and subsequent disenfranchisement of people.
However, Gates does not share these concerns and claims that what he calls “a properly designed” DPI will in fact “enhance” privacy, thanks to “safeguards” he mentions in passing.
Gates also touches on what he says are the benefits of using MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform), a national digital ID tool backed by his foundation. MOSIP is yet another point of contention from the privacy standpoint, considering it is a global digital identification system and the negative implications thereof.
But MOSIP featured as a key participant during the recent Global DPI Summit 2024 held in Egypt, where those behind the tool, as well as the World Bank, UN’s development agency UNDP, and the Tony Blair Institute all took part.
The event provided another opportunity for these organizations to push for global adoption of DPI by 2030, as well as to pledge to work on accelerating this process.
MOSIP demonstrated its identity platform at the summit, while at the same time stressing that the goal is to improve accessibility of digital identification – “particularly for developing nations.”
The platform is already in use in Ethiopia, Morocco, and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the World Bank announced that it is about to launch its own global Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) program.
