Learning Exchange in Digital Identification and Public Sector Transformation

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The Government of The Bahamas (GoBH) has engaged the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop an operation, ‘Digital Transformation of Government to Strengthen Competitiveness' (BH-L1045), with the overall objective of fostering competitiveness of The Bahamas by reducing the costs of conducting business with the government. Specifically, the largest component of the operation seeks to simplify and digitize government procedures. Among other activities, it will include the simplification and reengineering of procedures, giving priority to those related to starting a business and registering a property; and will also provide the necessary support to facilitate the role of the National Insurance Board (NIB) cards as a mechanism to identify persons. The Government of Uruguay (GoUR) had embarked on a similar path toward digitalization of government with the support of the IDB. The Bank has approved various loans and TCs for Uruguay in the sector: (i) E-Government Management Program Assistance in Uruguay (UR-L1042) (ii) Project for Electronic Government Management in the Health Sector (UR-X1009) and (iii) Support for the Modernization of the Civil Registry (UR-T1052). As a result of GoUR's extensive reformations in this sector, Uruguay has emerged as 1st ranked among the Latin American and Caribbean countries in the UN Global e-Government Development Index, and 26th globally. The objective of technical cooperation is to provide relevant technical leads across GoBH with a practical opportunity to benefit from Uruguay's leadership in digital government. Therefore, the IDB is seeking to facilitate a technical learning exchange between GoBH and GoUR.This objective is consistent with the objectives and standards of the Ordinary Capital Strategic Development Program for Countries whose objectives include: to "strengthen the technical and managerial capacity of national and/or subnational governments (...)" and to " expand access to intraregional experiences and advance the exchange of cooperative know-how among all borrowing member countries". (GN-2819-1, section II, paragraph 2.1).