IIIT Bangalore partners with Brazil to boost digital public infrastructure, transformation

NEW DELHI: The International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-Bangalore) has joined hands with the ministry for management and innovation in public services of Brazil (MGI) to boost digital public infrastructure and transformation.

The institute and Brazil's ministry has signed an agreement for digital public infrastructures (DPI) implementation and dissemination. The partnership aimed to steer the digital government to be a digital economy enabler “leveraging digital public infrastructures (DPIs) and digital public goods (DPGs) principles, knowledge and building blocks,” the institute said.

Rajagopalan from IIITB, said: “The implementation of digital verifiable credentials will address existing challenges by streamlining the verification process, reducing delays and enhancing administrative efficiency, minimising document tampering risks and offering a secure, automated, and tamper-proof digital solution. This partnership will leverage IIIT-B’s associates: the Centre for Open Societal System (COSS), seeded by the EkStep Foundation; Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP); OpenG2P; Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI), Inji, and e-Signet for effective implementation.”

Through the partnership, the MGI aimed to contribute to digital government and digital economy, boost societal impacts and benefit society as a whole. “This partnership is a significant step toward shaping a dynamic digital public infrastructure aligned with Brazil’s sustainable development goal,” the institute added.

Rogerio Guimaraes, Brazilian national secretary for digital government, said: “By integrating Verifiable Credentials with the gov.br platform and our National Identity Wallet, we are establishing a secure and inclusive digital foundation. This empowers citizens and businesses alike, fostering trust, reducing bureaucracy, and streamlining access to essential services.”

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IIT-B, Brazil Collaboration: Specialised digital wallets to be made for target groups

The first phase of the collaboration will involve the implementation of the rural land wallet of verifiable credentials for rural landowners and landholders. This will also include “documents related to Brazil's Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR) system, a critical component of the country’s environmental management framework,” the institute said.

“The choice to begin with Verifiable Credentials (VCs) is strategic, as they represent a fundamental building block of digital trust. They provide a secure, privacy-preserving, standardised, interoperable, agile, machine-automated way to electronically issue, store, share, and verify trustable digital credentials and their data, making them an ideal starting catalyser for a DPI journey,” it added.

Furthermore, “specialised” digital wallets may be developed for specific target groups such as fishermen. It will ensure access to the related public policies’ essential documentation. “As the infrastructure matures, the scope will expand to other sectors, leveraging support from partners within India’s Bangalore Non-Profit DPI ecosystem,” it said.