Bangladesh plans digital ID launch within 18–24 months: Adviser

Bangladesh plans to launch a single digital identity system within the next 18 to 24 months, with the government aiming to make it a gateway to public services, Prime Minister’s Adviser for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Rehan Asif Asad said.

He made the remarks at a high-level UN side event in New York on the development and management of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Tuesday (September 22).

Organised jointly by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the UN Development Programme, the event brought together ministers and senior officials from different countries.

Bangladesh was the only Asia-Pacific country represented on the panel.

Asad said Bangladesh has already started developing an AI-driven DPI and digital ID system, drawing on international experience to build a secure and modern platform. The goal is to simplify access to government services and create a foundation for integrated digital service delivery.

The proposed system follows the concept of “One Citizen, One ID, One Digital Wallet”, under which a single digital identity could eventually be linked to government services, identity verification and digital transactions, reducing the need for citizens to repeatedly provide the same information to different agencies.

Bangladesh is also working with Estonia’s X-Road model for secure data exchange among government systems, Asad said.

The UN event also discussed making digital public infrastructure interoperable across borders while maintaining security, privacy and public trust.

The government has previously outlined plans to link the unified identity framework with services including birth registration, healthcare and education.

However, the final scope and structure of the system are still being developed.

Asad said DPI and digital identity would increasingly become central to government service delivery, requiring international cooperation to ensure that digital systems can work securely and reliably across borders.