Belgium announced the launch of a digital wallet allowing people living in the country to access government services through a single online platform. The digital wallet would be used to consolidate all official documents, according to The Brussels Times, and allow people to authenticate their digital identity through their smartphones.
A new digital ministry will be created by the government to oversee the project, and Secretary of State for Digitization Mathieu Michel said the system will integrate existing systems used by government departments. A budget of 50 million euros (approximately US $ 58.2 million) has been set to implement the digital portfolio and platform.
The digital wallet will not be mandatory, but offered as an option to simplify digital processes, from driver’s license applications to building permits, and alleviate government complexity.
The government has yet to say whether the digital wallet will be developed as a mobile app, website, or both.
The system is expected to enter service in 2023.
British public support similar move
Meanwhile, in the UK, the majority of people say their level of confidence in accessing public services online has increased over the past two years, according to reports. British authority, but most want a government digital identity solution to reduce the number of steps required.
The survey was commissioned by BT and showed that 60% are more confident in accessing online services, with 75% of them expressing the convenience of using their smartphone to access digital public services.
However, online public services are generally not used frequently, as almost half of UK citizens with full internet access use them a few times a year or less. The report suggests that this limited commitment may be due to varying quality from service to service. A third of those surveyed said they use an online service that is not fully digitized, with some requiring the submission of paper forms, and 15% said they needed multiple attempts with the same service to complete a single action.
A government digital ID is supported by 73 percent of respondents.
The survey also showed that some people are more confident in the government’s ability to manage people’s data than before the pandemic, but 80% would like more transparency around online data.
Articles topics
biometrics | consumer adoption | data protection | digital identity | digital wallet | government | government services | identity verification | online authentication | UK
