OpenCRVS Digital Authentication

If we are serious about “Leave No One Behind” then we need to get serious about civil registration, as it provides the sole continuous source of population data for a country. Without it we cannot effectively target services such as social protection or ensure the most vulnerable have been reached.

We propose to integrate OpenCRVS (www.opencrvs.org) with foundational ID and social protection systems using open standards to simply and securely validate the identity of mothers, accurately count the number of dependents in her household, and issue a responsive cash grant through mobile money. An audit function will then target those not yet receiving payments and ensure that those unregistered receive a legal identity. 

An integrated identity ecosystem built on open-source technologies will provide a sustainable way to ensure targeted and inclusive service delivery for the world’s poor, saving lives, stimulating economies and ensuring no one is left behind.

Data from The State of Social Safety Nets 2018 shows that safety nets, including cash and other transfers targeted to poor and vulnerable households lower inequality and have reduced the poverty gap by about 45 percent. Global coverage of poor and vulnerable people remains inadequate, however, with only one out of five persons living in a low-income country covered by a social safety net. Due to COVID-19 this gap will become life threatening as economies plunge into recession and drastically increase the number of people living in poverty and who require assistance.

Even where digital ID systems are used to prove uniqueness of an individual, eligibility for programmes cannot easily be verified. Social protection systems are rarely connected with the universal data set of the civil registry, so there is no accurate way of knowing whether those most requiring assistance have actually applied for and received it.   

Cash-based programmes are often implemented through manual, paper-based processes which are inefficient, open to fraud and put people’s privacy at risk due to an inability to protect their personal information. Numerous barriers exist to access such assistance, in particular costly travel and the need for supporting documents for adults and their dependents.

Initially we will target any mother looking to access cash assistance for her and her household. The solution will cater in particular for mothers in remote areas with low digital literacy, and where levels of access to government services is typically low.

We will design the service together with mothers using human-centred and community-based design approaches, ensuring that the solution not only works for mothers, but is co-designed by them. 

As per the OpenCRVS development process, we will design and build small pieces of functionality and test it quickly with users to capture and incorporate feedback as we go. The solution will address the needs of those in remote locations by using technologies that are widely used there e.g. SMS, USSD and Interactive Voice Response (to be identified and tested for various digital literacy levels during the prototype testing). 

All personal data submitted will be encrypted during transit and at rest its use strictly limited, subject to appropriate informed consent.   

Given that some mothers will not have their own phone, they will be able to use any mobile phone available in the community to authenticate themselves, with the service available in different local languages.

OpenCRVS will provide a simple digital authentication mechanism that works on any mobile phone. Users only need to know their National ID number and a set of biographic information known only to them, which together make up a composite credential which allows the user to assert their identity in order to receive social protection payments. 

Interoperability with the civil registry allows the assistance programme to retrieve the number of dependents in the household to ensure the mother receives the appropriate payment, securely delivered to her in the form of a single use code, which is redeemed at mobile money outlets.

At the heart of great innovation is knowing when something completely new is required and when existing assets can be used in new ways to create great impact. We propose to build upon the existing OpenCRVS digital assets and extend its use beyond civil registration and vital statistics to provide a new, highly accessible way of digitally authenticating users in order to access social protection payments.  

Many “innovative” solutions focus on new forms of authentication with high-tech biometrics or frontier technologies. These solutions may work in countries in Europe or the US , but they do not properly reflect the challenges and constraints in large parts of Africa and Asia, for example,  and will never scale in these contexts. 

Our solution is innovative because:

• It pioneers a truly integrated approach to digital identity, building on the strengths of existing complementary systems (e.g. civil registration, National ID) to provide greater levels of service delivery and inclusion for social protection programmes.

• The social protection programme does not need a specific enrollment step. By virtue of having a National ID and through the registration of birth and death events, entitlements are calculated and authentication is derived. 

• It leverages existing and proven technologies in a new way, so once the solution is successfully tested, it can easily be scaled.

OpenCRVS version 1 is live and its code available on GitHub. It is currently being piloted in Bangladesh with positive results, especially in hard to reach locations. OpenCRVS’ open architecture using OpenHIM has also been demonstrated through integrations with the Government of Bangladesh’s NID and health systems. Investments in the security of the system are also evident in 2 successful penetration tests.

The solution being proposed will be designed, prototyped and tested as part of this proposal. The process works by any mother, anywhere, using a basic phone to apply for cash assistance. She identifies herself using her national ID and a few bits of key biographic data.The system authenticates her, identifies any children she has in the civil registry and asks her to identify any other dependents that may be in her household. Based on the structure of the household, the relevant cash payment is calculated and transferred through mobile money. The OpenCRVS dataset can then be used to understand who has accessed the safety net and who needs further support.

The final decision on which front-end technology is used will be made based on a co-creation process with mothers and their communities. USSD and IVR may be most appropriate due to their wide availability and use, even in areas with extremely low connectivity and literacy. These usability considerations will also need to be balanced with the levels of security which can be embedded within these technologies.

By providing a simple and accessible means of authenticating mothers for social protection programmes even in the remotest of locations, we will be able to increase the coverage of social safety nets. 

By auditing those that have accessed social protection payments against the civil registry (universal) data set held within OpenCRVS and targeting social protection payments to the most vulnerable, we will be able to increase the level of inclusion and equity for social protection payments. 

By using the civil registry (universal) data set held within OpenCRVS to establish the number of dependents in a household, we will be able to increase the accuracy of social protection payments for those in need. 

As a result of the increased coverage, target services and accuracy of social protection payments, poverty levels will reduce and levels of equity will increase. 

By auditing those that have accessed the social protection programme against the civil registry (universal) data set held within OpenCRVS and by highlighting anomalies to improve the civil registration data set, we will be able to provide legal identity to all children  and improve the overall integrity of the foundational identity systems.

The proposed solution is not separate to existing identification systems. It builds upon and strengthens foundational components of a country’s identification ecosystem (i.e. the civil registry and National ID systems).

Through the use of the digital authentication mechanism provided by OpenCRVS, the integrity of data in the foundational registers will be enhanced. For example, this will be an opportunity to identify unregistered children who can then be provided with a legal identity (birth certificate).

The solution will be designed with mothers and their communities and will be tested with them as we go. In a truly human-centred and agile manner, we will make technology decisions based on design research and co-creation, and learn from our users as we go. This will ensure the solution is user-friendly and meets the needs of the many. 

The information that is required to digitally authenticate the individual is information that only the users know - this removes barriers associated with supporting documents and leverages existing data sources to verify their identity and the existence of their dependents. 

Based on our experience with OpenCRVS, there is often a need to configure the product for the local context; this solution will support the use of multiple languages and will ask context specific biographic questions based on easily identifiable data in the system. 

Following the application, the cash grant can either be accessed through mobile money (if the mother has an account), or through the use of a code that will be sent to them and used at a number of service points easily accessible to them. 

Because their phone  number is on record, follow-up communications can be provided to provide information about subsequent safety net programmes that they might be eligible for, and the opportunity to register unregistered dependents be provided (informed consent will be requested).

Interoperability through open-standards is central to the value proposition of OpenCRVS, to ensure that the eGov system landscape is as modular as possible and to avoid vendor lock-in. 

The technical architecture of OpenCRVS was designed to conform to the OpenHIE (www.ohie.org) architectural standard and FHIR (https://hl7.org/FHIR/) open data standards throughout.

The OpenCRVS architecture follows the OpenHIE framework and utilizes the OpenHIE reference interoperability middleware: OpenHIM (http://openhim.org/). It has been built using modular, interchangeable, event-driven microservices for business functions and by utilising FHIR in a NoSQL MongoDB datastore called Hearth.

By using FHIR and the interoperability layer OpenHIM, OpenCRVS seamlessly connects civil registration to health services and other systems, such as National ID and Social Protection. OpenCRVS receives data and exposes registration and other events to any other technical system via FHIR standard API gateways in OpenHIM.

Recently we have been working with the MOSIP team at IIITB and are currently  testing the implementation of OpenCRVS events as Webhooks, subscribed to by the MOSIP platform.

Our experience in developing OpenCRVS and designing the product for low resource settings has led to a deep understanding of the critical need to choose technologies that are appropriate for the context. 

Our solution intends to facilitate the highest coverage possible, even in the most remote areas, especially during periods of crisis such as COVID-19. The reality of these environments limits our technology options, but also ensures that we use technologies that are already understood and used by people who live there. 

The solution will use simple and accessible front-end technology to ensure that any user can access the solution, anywhere. By using technologies such as USSD or IVR (Digital Inclusion for Low-skilled and Low-literate People, UNESCO), the user only requires a basic phone and no access to the internet. In Africa alone, internet penetration is only 18%; mobile penetration is 80%, and while smartphone adoption is on the rise, it is likely that most people will first get a low-cost feature phone. In countries like Bangladesh where internet penetration is relatively high, the impact of COVID-19 is having a negative effect on internet speeds, with the country’s internet speed diving with the increase in users to enforced lockdowns (Daily Star, Bangladesh). 

By choosing simple and widely used technologies, less effort needs to be made in training and changing behaviours and people are confident to engage with the service. If an individual cannot use the service themselves, someone in the community will help them.   

Current: 0

The solution doesn’t currently serve anyone as it is a new concept.

In 1 year: Coverage of a population of 2.25 million people (total eligible for social protection payments to be determined)

The Government of Bangladesh is interested in testing this solution. We would propose doing this in Narsingdi district where OpenCRVS is already being piloted.

In 5 years: 50 million people

The figure included reflects the WEF’s recommendation of how many people need cash assistance in Bangladesh alone. Leveraging OpenCRVS as a digital public good and its potential to be implemented anywhere, and recognising the devastating economic impact of COVID-19, the potential scale of impact could be enormous as multiple countries implementation this integrated solution and realise the true value of a foundational ID system. 

New Legacy Digital is a new organisation committed to the sustainable implementation of OpenCRVS. We started the organisation recognising the challenges that Digital Public Goods have in achieving sustainability and have structured our services around trying to ensure that it can be maintained through the revenue generated from them.  

In the next year, we want to prove the solution works in one location, possibly Bangladesh where OpenCRVS is already being piloted, and then make the code available to be used globally. The scale of the need for effective and efficient social protection protection programmes during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 is enormous. 

The proposed solution is but one potential use case that having a universal digital civil registration system/universal dataset can facilitate. While the need for an investment case for CRVS is required, globally, we passionately believe that this kind of practical application will show governments, donors and partners the benefits of long-term investments in digital CRVS systems.

Next 5 years:

• Support the implementation of OpenCRVS in multiple countries. Countries including Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Lao and a number of the Pacific Islands have already shown interest. 

• Create a new standard for digital CRVS and its uses.

• Support the design and implementation of practical use cases that leverage OpenCRVS and prove the value of foundational ID systems within a larger e-gov ecosystem. 

• Build regional capacity in OpenCRVS so that implementations can be locally owned, managed and maintained. 

• Establish an active OpenCRVS community and ensure its long-term sustainability. 

The major challenge for OpenCRVS, as for other digital public goods, is long-term sustainability. Despite there being significant interest in the product, we need to be able to maintain the current product team to ensure that initial implementations are of high quality and we can build capacity of others to join the OpenCRVS community, deploying and maintaining the product in their local contexts.

More broadly, civil registration systems remain under invested. Despite these systems providing the sole continuous source of population data for a country, they are often considered a long term investment in an increasingly short term world.  Shorter term solutions that focus on mass enrollment are often favoured due to the immediate outcomes delivered. There is little appetite for investment in robust and sustainable national identity infrastructures, built upon civil registration systems. 

For the long-term sustainability of the OpenCRVS product, we plan to:

• Find a fiscal sponsor to hold intellectual property, execute legal contracts, and receive funding from multilateral donors. 

• Maintain a dedicated core team responsible for managing the OpenCRVS community and developing a high quality and relevant product.

• Access stable funding to maintain core product development and ongoing support through development partners invested in outcomes that rely on universal civil registration.

• Connect with a digital public goods community for knowledge sharing and greater interoperability between products.

We would like to use the platform of the Mission Billion Challenge to showcase the importance of foundational civil registration and the potential of use cases utilizing the universal population data set. It will also be necessary to quickly build a body of evidence for the investment in such foundational systems, with one country acting as a lighthouse project:

• Achieve universal registration of birth and death through legal reforms and progressive civil registration processes enabled through OpenCRVS

• Demonstrate the value of the universal population data set for high-value service delivery e.g. universal health coverage and social protection programmes  

• Share the new models of civil registration as public goods to be replicated in other countries 

• Build a rigorous business case for the investment in foundational identity systems, including civil registration  

For this lighthouse project we will need to identify a donor that is willing to make a big bet on solving one of the most important development challenges the world is facing.

2 full-time: business analysis, project and product management

6 contractors: product research and design; technical architect; rights-based advisor; 3 person development team

We led the incubation of OpenCRVS at Plan International and know what it takes to design, build and implement digital solutions for those in hard to reach locations, and for the most vulnerable. In leading the development of this Digital Public Good, the team has further built their expertise in open-source solutions; how to document them and share them for further use with the world (http://documentation.opencrvs.org/opencrvs-core/). The potential scale of the digital authentication proposed will require many different implementers of this open solution, and the team is experienced in upskilling local teams to manage solutions in the mid to long-term. 

The team have worked for a number of private sector design and technology firms including Accenture and Fjoord, building extensive knowledge and experience in the latest technologies, security and data protection approaches, product research and design methods, and effective implementation methods. 

During our time working for Plan International we have worked in countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and have conducted design research and analyses from the community level to the highest levels of government. We are well connected with strategic representatives in countries and in regional CRVS strengthening programmes, important for the success and scaling of this solution.

 We have authored a number of publications that demonstrate our thought leadership in CRVS, technology for development and innovation:

• Smart ICT Investment for CRVS: A Global Business Case

• CRVS Technical Analysis

• CRVS Digitisation Guidebook

• Innovations in Birth Registration

• Birth Registration in Emergencies Toolkit

We continue to work with a number of the partners who were involved in the development of the initial core product:

• Jembi health systems support with product development with a specific focus on interoperability and open-standards 

• DSI Bangladesh support with full stack product development 

More recently we have been working with the MOSIP team at IIITB Bangalore to build a test a interoperability use cases between OpenCRVS and the MOSIP platform.

New Legacy Digital (NLD) works with a range of partners to design, build and implement human-centred technology solutions for low resource settings. All our work is guided by the Principles for Digital Development. It is through NLD that we plan to sustain both OpenCRVS and the social protection module 

We will offer consulting and capacity development services to governments and development partners who want to implement OpenCRVS. This will include supporting the design of local configurations for new country contexts, designing and building specific features for the local context for production releases, and building local teams capable of managing and maintaining the solutions locally or regionally, as appropriate. The team’s involvement provides a level of quality assurance in the successful implementation of OpenCRVS.

We understand that technology alone cannot solve the civil registration and social protection challenges. We will work with local partners to identify the right digital strategy and support local rollout, including change management, training and communication for behavioural impact.

In the short-term: 

• Small grants are required to maintain a small team to further develop the OpenCRVS product and ensure that those countries wishing to implement it receive high quality technical  assistance (there is currently interest from the governments of Nigeria, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Laos, Ethiopia and a number of Pacific Islands) 

• We expect some of the implementation work in country to require technical consulting services from New Legacy Digital, to be covered by the government and/or their development partners

• One large grant to cover the cost of implementing a lighthouse project from which we will be able to build a rigorous business case for the investment in foundational identity systems, including civil registration 

In the medium-term:

• Increased demand for OpenCRVS implementations unlocks grant funding to invest in the community and build regional capacity. 

In the long-term:

• As multiple countries implement OpenCRVS, New Legacy Digital generates revenues from high-value advisory support and from technical implementation contracts.

• Sustainable revenues are attained by providing OpenCRVS as “Software as a Service” through cloud-based infrastructures, which are more economical for countries than their own local deployments. 

The initial development and piloting of OpenCRVS took place under the stewardship of Plan International, working with strategic partners Jembi Health Systems and Vital Strategies. The source-code was made publicly available in January 2020.  

New Legacy Digital is a new organisation launched in June 2020 which aims to make OpenCRVS sustainable as a digital public good. Thus far we have raised 15k USD from the Digital Impact Alliance to build and test interoperability between OpenCRVS and MOSIP.

Mission Billion would be the ideal platform on which to build further confidence in the organisation, the product and its potential impact and scale. 

We are looking to raise funds for the solution proposed for the Mission Billion Challenge (OpenCRVS Digital Authentication) as follows:

1. OpenCRVS product development (in-country design and build) to extend for digital authentication use cases in low resource settings: 300k USD

2. Small scale pilot testing of the OpenCRVS digital authentication solution for social protection in Bangladesh: 250k USD

In addition to the solution costs above, we estimate ongoing minimum expenses for the core team for the next 12 months to be as follows:

Business development, partnerships and communications: 100k USD 

Product management: 100k USD

Product technical support: 50k USD

The seed-funding available as part of this challenge is critical to help us develop and test OpenCRVS as a low-tech and accessible digital authentication mechanism for social protection programmes.

In addition to this, we recognise the immense credibility and influence that ID4D has established in the ID domain and want to leverage the platform, its reach and partnerships in order:

1. To attract further investment in OpenCRVS as a Digital Public Good, including the social protection module.

2. To attract funding for implementations of the product in countries that have already shown interest. 

3. To promote the value of civil registration systems as part of the foundational identity ecosystem and government service delivery. 

4. To engage and educate the audience on the benefits of working with and investing in Digital Public Goods. 

5. To attract partners to work together with New Legacy Digital to help sustain and scale OpenCRVS as a digital public good.

We need partners that share our vision for the OpenCRVS product, starting with the solution proposed for “Mission Billion” but more generally, for the scaled implementation of OpenCRVS and strong foundational identity systems and their use cases.

To complement our domain expertise, we want to partner with organisations that have developed other components of the foundational ID / social protection ecosystem, particularly where they have created digital public goods. Together we can build and test the end-to-end solutions required to provide accessible service delivery, including social protection.

Additional advisory support is also required: 

• Business development expertise for accessing grants to maintain the core team. 

• Board members / advisors that can help introduce us to the right people and unlock funding opportunities

• Legal support for contracts and open-source licensing agreements

• Expertise in business case development for digital public goods

• Expertise in marketing and comms for business development and partnership opportunities

1. As a fiscal sponsor of the OpenCRVS product, the Digital Impact Alliance might be ideally placed. They are already taking steps to establish a software foundation dedicated to open source projects focused on the Sustainable Development Goals. 

2. To support stable funding of OpenCRVS core product development we need to partner with stakeholders of the use cases that foundational identity systems support. A potential shortlist could be:

• UNICEF

• World Bank 

• Gates Foundation

• Omidyar

• Gavi

We would like to partner with IIITB as they further develop and support MOSIP. Ideally we would be able to combine product development roadmaps to ensure end-to-end solutions for Foundational ID. 

For the development of a rigorous business case around foundational ID systems including the use of OpenCRVS as a technology enabler we need to work with a strategy consulting company that has expertise in the associated cost/benefits and in the sustainable use of digital public goods. Dalberg or McKinsey could provide this.