The United Kingdom (UK) and Ukraine have signed a digital trade deal aimed at helping the Ukrainian economy to recover and “improve” both countries’ digital output. The Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) also has a provision for collaborating on digital identity, where Ukraine supposedly has a lot to teach the UK about ID tracking tech and using digital ID to access services.
Related: Lobbyists call on the US government to develop digital ID infrastructure for “security” reasons
Ukraine’s highly-sophisticated digital ID, Diia, is used to grant the public access to most government services online. It has nine digital credentials: the ID card, the identity provider (IDP) certificate for network access, birth certificate, passport, driving license, tax number, student card, and vehicle registration certificate.
The UK does not have a national digital ID system and, over the years, there has been much pushback about implementing any form of national ID.
The DTA will “deliver greater compatibility and interoperability between digital identity systems in the UK and Ukraine,” – that’s according to the UK’s Department of International Trade.
The DTA will allow Ukrainians to access financial services. The deal also creates more cooperation between the two countries in emerging technologies and cybersecurity. The announcement says it will bring about, “greater cooperation between the UK and Ukraine on cybersecurity and emerging technologies, helping to keep UK and Ukrainian businesses and people safer.”
“Trading digitally is particularly important in the current conflict, where damage to Ukrainian infrastructure and warfare makes it much harder to trade physically,” said the UK’s Department of International Trade. “For example, there is a critical need for people to be able to use digital solutions to prove they are who they say they are, despite the loss of critical documentation or displacement across borders. The agreement provides a framework for the UK and Ukraine to cooperate to promote compatibility between their respective digital identity systems to help address this.”
