Biometrics

More from the Series

Blog Post
Lagos to Mombasa: How Can Digital ID Be Harnessed for Development?
W. Gyude Moore
October 21, 2021
Dr. Joseph Atick, Executive Chairman of ID4Africa, and Alan Gelb, CGD Senior Fellow, join Gyude to discuss the evolution of ID systems across Africa, the benefits and risks of digital ID systems, and what African governments can learn from countries like India about what works and what doesn’t.
CGD NOTES
A COVID Vaccine Certificate: Building on Lessons from Digital ID for the Digital Yellow Card
Alan Gelb
and
Anit Mukherjee
February 11, 2021
COVID-19 vaccination efforts are well and truly underway across the world. In addition to those in Europe and North America, vaccination campaigns are gathering pace across China, India, Russia, and the Middle East, though lagging in many other, mostly poor, countries. As more start scaling up their...
CGD NOTES
Malawi’s Journey Towards Transformation: Lessons from its National ID Project
Tariq Malik
August 19, 2020
This essay lays out the story of how the UNDP team with its development partners achieved universal ID registration in Malawi, the challenges we faced, the roadblocks, how UNDP coordinated with other stakeholders and community development partners, and highlights the synergies that helped us achieve...
Blog Post
Reflecting on the 2019 State of Aadhaar Report: Good, but can be Better
Anit Mukherjee
November 27, 2019
It has now been a decade since India’s biometric identification system, Aadhaar, was set in motion. It has been an interesting journey with many twists, turns and speed bumps along the way, but one that is finally settling down into a more predictable path.
Blog Post
Aadhaar as Proof of Identity: Could Tokenization Offer a Solution?
Alan Gelb
and
Anit Mukherjee
October 16, 2018
The recent Supreme Court judgement on Aadhaar closes one contentious chapter of its short existence and opens others at the same time. While Aadhaar is here to stay, the 1.25 billion dollar question remains: in what capacity? 
Blog Post
Beyond ID: Using Digital Identification to Transform Governance
Anit Mukherjee
and
Alan Gelb
September 20, 2018
It's Financial Inclusion Week. Read up on how digital ID can be used to promote financial inclusion and transform governance.
Blog Post
Does Digital ID Improve Governance? Answers—and Questions—from the State of Aadhaar Report
Alan Gelb et al.
July 12, 2018
India’s digital ID system has become ubiquitous and is rapidly being incorporated into service delivery. With more heat than light so far in the Aadhaar debate, the State of Aadhaar report is a major step forward in understanding the world’s largest ongoing transition to digital governan...