• First digital IDs to be issued to selected cohort as in-house MVP
• Initial rollout to proceed pending Indian grant, appointment of vendor 

Sri Lanka is set to begin rolling out its Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SLUDI) project by the end of this year, with the first digital IDs to be issued to a selected cohort as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) developed in-house. 

The initial rollout will proceed while the Government awaits the finalisation of an Indian grant and the selection of a vendor for the full SLUDI system.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne said that the full rollout of the SLUDI project had been delayed owing to a delay in finalising the Master Systems Integrator (MSI), which had itself arisen from a delay in finalising the Indian grant.

Responding to whether one of the five bidders shortlisted to be appointed for the MSI contract last November had been selected, he said the process related to the Indian grant and that the finalisation of the vendor had not yet been completed due to an increase in cost. 

Weeraratne explained that until the bidder was selected, the grant amount was increased, and the full system was implemented, the Government would begin with an MVP, which he described as the first phase of the digital ID that would be expanded once the full system was in place.

“Because of the increased cost of the project, India is considering whether it can increase the grant amount. Pending the finalisation of that decision, we cannot proceed with the finalisation of the MSI. 

“We are hoping that a decision will be made soon, hopefully within a couple of weeks. Until the grant is increased, the bidder is selected, and the full system is rolled out, we are starting with this MVP,” he stated.

Accordingly, he said that the Government had now decided to issue the first digital IDs as an MVP to a selected cohort, after which the possible use cases would be examined and any necessary improvements made before expanding it to the wider population.

While noting that the number of persons to be included in the initial cohort had yet to be determined, he indicated that it would likely involve a select group, potentially comprising Government employees.

However, before any of these steps are taken, the ministry will ensure that the necessary regulations are in place. Weeraratne said the ministry was currently working on adopting these regulations.

While the SLUDI system is based on the Indian Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), the pilot project is being initiated in-house as the Indian grant has yet to be finalised. 

“It is based on the MOSIP, but it is a limited MVP developed locally,” Weeraratne said.

The Department for Registration of Persons will own and oversee the system, with GovTech providing technical support.

The SLUDI system is to be developed on the MOSIP solution while integrating the previous Electronic National Identity Card (e-NIC) system introduced by the previous regime, including the hardware already procured for it. Some of the software components are expected to be developed locally.

Five bidders were shortlisted to build and develop the SLUDI system following a pre-qualification round managed by India’s National Institute for Smart Government (NISG). 

These include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Protean eGov Technologies, RailTel Corporation of India, and Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL). 

The Government had also called for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to select a local party to serve as the managed service provider for the SLUDI project.