Heads Of World Bank And Verizon Say Digital IDs Are Part Of ‘Social Contract’ Between Government And Citizens

On March 5th, 2024, World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, and Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon, were guest panelists at the Global Digital Summit in Washington D.C., discussing “the power of digital technologies to accelerate poverty reduction on a livable planet and how the public and private sectors can collaborate to accelerate this mission.”

The World Bank added that the summit ‘highlighted forward-thinking perspectives, cutting-edge technologies, and new insights centered on three pillars: (1) Connect, (2) Innovate, and (3) Transform.”

Banga began by explaining in a long introduction what the World Bank is all about, and the investments they make; a big one and great point of emphasis in recent years being investing in “digital.” With the digital landscape transforming so rapidly, Banga believes that these new investments in the digital space is needed for “governance.” He said, “I think that if governments embrace digital, they create transparency, they create clean governance, they create citizen engagement, and I think that is a very important part of digital that we are keen to be a part of.”

Later in the conversation Banga was asked how they should go pitching their emphasis on governments making deeper and long-term investments to build a sustainable digital framework. One of these things includes “a sense of crisis,” he claims…