CONFERENCE

Conference
Program

"Digital Identity:

From DPI to Digital Public Ecosystems"

About the Theme

Digital identity is the cornerstone of digital transformation. It enables individuals to participate fully in modern society while also providing governments and institutions with the means to deliver trusted, inclusive and efficient services. Yet identity alone cannot thrive in isolation. For digital identity to realize its full potential, it must operate within ecosystems that connect people, institutions, technologies and safeguards.

The term “ecosystem” best captures this vision. Unlike infrastructure, which suggests rigidity and a purely technical foundation, an ecosystem embraces the full spectrum of development – human factors, legal frameworks, safeguards and governance. It also recognizes that no single system can drive progress on its own. Instead, multiple assets, including legacy systems – developed at different times, for diverse purposes and across sectors – may need to coexist, interoperate and be collectively governed to serve the common good. Within this broader frame, digital identity emerges as the foundational pillar, anchoring the trust and interoperability that make digital public ecosystems work.

This is the exciting theme of our 2026 Annual General Meeting. Together, we will explore how governments, civil society, development partners and the private sector can collaborate to advance digital identity in context – examining its progress, challenges and opportunities as it becomes fully embedded within Digital Public Ecosystems (DPEs).

The 2026 Shift

The 2026 AGM theme will mark a clear shift: from a narrow focus on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to the broader vision of Digital Public Ecosystems (DPEs). This transition recognizes that sustainable digital transformation rests on the interplay of human, legal, institutional and sectoral dimensions, supported by technical systems. By embracing an ecosystem approach, we acknowledge the diversity of assets, ensure interoperability across boundaries and establish collective governance that fosters trust and resilience.

Continuity with 2025

Building on the success of our DPI-focused AGM in 2025, the 2026 Program will expand into ecosystem thinking, while retaining proven formats such as Plenaries, the Solutions Forum and Symposium-style parallel tracks.

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

Stay Tuned! The ID4Africa 2026 AGM program will be unveiled to show a day by day rollout of the various topics and sessions.

Check out our lineup unveiled so far and stay tuned for more!

Day 1
Day 2
DAY 3
DAY 4

PS0: OPENING ADDRESSES

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION & NETWORKING

PS1: FROM SYSTEMS TO STEWARDSHIP: Governing Identity as National Infrastructure & Public Trust

S1: Scale & Sovereignty: Building Identity Institutions That Endure

Briefs + Q&A

This AGM opening session places African Identity Authorities at the center of the global identity discourse. It convenes leaders from ten countries across East, West, North, and Southern Africa—together representing nearly half of the continent’s population. Their collective experience reflects a decisive shift away from time-bound identity projects toward permanent public authorities charged with operating foundational national infrastructure. These institutions are no longer delivering programs; they are governing systems that must function continuously, be financed sustainably, under law, at population scale, and across generations. The session opens with two regional panels (S1 and S2), each bringing together five countries. Each authority shares one concrete lesson drawn from recent operational experience, highlighting the practical realities of governing identity under conditions of sovereignty, institutional reform, political accountability, and long-term sustainability. Building on this grounding in practice, the session then moves to institutional analysis, reframing identity as a long-term public business. The discussion examines how identity authorities must design, govern, and finance trust, manage identity data responsibly, and adapt as digital credentials, wallets, and ecosystems increasingly decentralize the control of identity.

This opening segment explores how identity authorities have navigated the challenges of building institutions capable of operating at national scale while preserving sovereignty, legal authority, and public trust. Each participating authority shares one practical lesson from recent experience—highlighting institutional choices that have proven decisive in ensuring durability beyond political cycles, donor programs, or technology refreshes.

S2: From Enrollment To Ecosystem: Trust, Transition, and Institutional Transformation

Briefs + Q&A

This segment examines the institutional transition from enrollment-driven programs to ecosystem-oriented identity platforms. Panelists reflect on how trust is built—and sometimes strained—as identity systems move beyond foundational registration into service enablement across government and the private sector. The discussion highlights governance, legal, and operational shifts required to support ecosystem integration while maintaining institutional credibility and public confidence.

S3: The Economics Of Identity: Value & Sustainable Business Models

Panel Discussion

This segment examines identity through an economic lens, focusing on the realities that shape long-term institutional viability. It explores total cost of ownership, fixed and variable cost structures, and key operational inflection points as identity systems scale and transactional demand increases. The discussion addresses how identity authorities create value—and, where appropriate, generate sustainable revenue—while navigating the inherent tension between identity as a public good and identity as a value-enabling platform. Particular attention is paid to trade-offs between data minimization, ecosystem demand, and financial sustainability, equipping leaders with a clearer understanding of the economic choices that must inform governance, policy, and institutional design.

S4: Identity Data Governance: Balancing Value and Protection

Panel Discussion

Identity data sits at the core of the value proposition of identity authorities, underpinning service delivery, ecosystem enablement, and financial sustainability. At the same time, its centrality creates inherent tensions with data protection, privacy, and public trust. This panel explores how identity authorities can govern data responsibly while balancing operational needs, economic sustainability, and legal obligations. It examines the practical application of principles such as data minimization in data-constrained contexts, the risks of over-collection and function creep, and the implications for data sovereignty. Panelists address consent management, purpose limitation, accountability mechanisms, and institutional safeguards that enable value creation while preserving rights, trust, and regulatory compliance.

S5: Decentralization Of Trust: Rethinking Identity Business Models

Panel Discussion

This closing segment looks ahead to the future evolution of identity governance as trust becomes increasingly decentralized through digital wallets, portable credentials, and new trust architectures. The discussion examines how identity authorities can adapt their institutional and business models while reaffirming the continuing role of the state as the anchor of legal identity and public trust.

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

PS2: MINISTERIAL KEYNOTE I

S1: Building a Digital Côte d’Ivoire: From Modernizing the State to a Trusted Ecosystem

Keynote + Q&A

In this keynote address, the Minister of Digital Transition and Technological Innovation of Côte d’Ivoire shares his vision for the country’s digital transformation, centered on modernizing public administration and delivering tangible improvements in services for citizens and businesses. He highlights the importance of governance grounded in accountability, transparency, and inter-institutional coordination, as well as the critical role of collaboration between government, the private sector, and development partners in accelerating the development of an inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem.

PS3: THE DIGITAL IDENTITY ECOSYSTEM: Partners, Platforms & Risks

This plenary shifts the lens from identity authorities to the broader ecosystem of partners and stewards that shape how digital identity and digital public infrastructure (DPI) are financed, governed, operated, and protected. Building on PS1’s focus on institutional stewardship, PS2 examines how development partners, government ICT leaders, and security stakeholders must adapt their roles as identity systems move from projects to critical national infrastructure. The session explores how traditional development approaches are being rethought, how ICT leadership is emerging as a co-steward of DPI alongside identity authorities, and how new technological threats are redefining risk at system level. Together, the three segments frame digital identity not as a standalone program, but as a shared governance challenge—one that requires aligned financing models, coordinated public-sector leadership, and a proactive approach to resilience and protection.

S1: Reframing The Development Agenda: The World Bank’s Evolving Role in Digital Identity

Fireside Chat + Q&A

This conversation examines how the World Bank is repositioning itself in response to Africa’s evolving digital identity and DPI ambitions. Moving beyond traditional project financing, the discussion explores what it means to support operations, trust, and long-term institutional sustainability. It addresses emerging financing models, including PPPs that preserve sovereignty, instruments that no longer fit the new reality, and how development partners must adapt to identity systems that are permanent, mission-critical infrastructure. The segment positions the World Bank not as a funder of projects, but as a strategic partner to African governments navigating the next phase of digital transformation.

S2: ICT Leadership as Co-Stewards of Digital Identity and DPI

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This panel elevates government ICT leaders as co-architects, operators, and stewards of digital identity and DPI—working alongside identity authorities rather than in parallel or competition. It explores how ICT ministries and national digital agencies increasingly shape architecture choices, interoperability, cybersecurity posture, and operational resilience across the digital state. The discussion highlights the practical realities of cross-agency coordination, shared accountability, and platform governance, and examines how ICT leadership can enable scale while safeguarding public trust. The segment reinforces that successful DPI depends not only on identity authorities, but on coherent whole-of-government leadership.

S3: Emerging ICT Threats To Identity & DPI

Presentations + Q&A

As digital identity systems and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) mature into long-lived, mission-critical national assets, the nature of risk is changing. This closing segment examines three categories of emerging threats that operate at system level, where failures can undermine trust, sovereignty, and continuity at national scale. The session first examines AI-enabled threats, including synthetic identity fraud, deepfake-driven social engineering, automated attack scaling, and the erosion of traditional assurance mechanisms. It then addresses the implications of quantum computing for cryptography, secure credentials, and long-duration assets such as e-passports and foundational identity systems—highlighting the urgency of crypto-agility and transition planning. The third briefing examines systemic and architectural risks that arise not from malicious attacks, but from well-intended design and implementation choices. As digital identity and DPI mature into permanent national infrastructure, issues such as platform dependence, technology lock-in, over-centralization, cascading failures, and long-term loss of institutional control become critical risks. This presentation explores how architectural decisions made today can silently shape sovereignty, resilience, and policy flexibility for decades, and why resilience must be treated as a governance and stewardship challenge—not just a cybersecurity one.

Together, the three briefings frame resilience not merely as a cybersecurity concern, but as a governance, architecture, and stewardship challenge. The segment closes by reinforcing the need for forward-looking risk management, diversified architectures, and institutional preparedness as identity systems evolve into permanent national infrastructure.

END OF DAY 1

PS4: THE SOLUTIONS FORUM (PART I)

The Solutions Forum showcases real-world deployments—not marketing pitches—from carefully selected industry practitioners. Organized around three themes this year and run in two consecutive parts, it highlights innovation, scalability, and sustainability through concrete case studies, lessons learned, and proven approaches that demonstrate how digital identity solutions operate at population scale within evolving digital public ecosystems.

Please Note: The Solutions Forum lineup is carefully curated from proposals submitted by solution providers in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP). Selections are based on merit and alignment with this year’s theme. Each candidate undergoes a rigorous competitive interview and validation process, and their presentation content is subject to comprehensive editorial review and quality control to ensure relevance, accuracy and excellence.

S1: Digital Identity: Wallets, Decentralization & Business Models

Presentations + Q&A

This session explores how digital identity wallets and decentralized architectures are reshaping trust, enabling public-private partnerships, and unlocking sustainable business models. Speakers examine monetization strategies, ecosystem-driven value creation, and real-world use cases, positioning digital identity as a foundational engine of digital public ecosystems.

MODERATOR

SPEAKERS

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

PS5: THE SOLUTIONS FORUM (CONT'D)

Continued from PS4

S1: Achieving Population Scale in Digital Identity

Presentations + Q&A

This session explores how digital identity systems successfully scale from pilots to national infrastructure. It examines governance transformation, sustainable business models, and design for scalability and privacy, illustrated through concrete African and global case studies demonstrating how population-scale identity unlocks inclusion, services, and economic value.

MODERATOR

SPEAKERS

S2: Trust & Security in Digital Identity

Presentations + Q&A

This session examines the security foundations of national digital identity systems in an era of cyber threats and AI-driven attacks. Speakers explore identity resilience, mobile and remote authentication, and how advanced biometrics and AI counter fraud while reinforcing trust at national scale.

MODERATOR

SPEAKERS

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

PS6: MINISTERIAL KEYNOTE II

S1: Building the Foundations of Digital Governance for Inclusive Development

Keynote + Q&A

Drawing on her leadership in establishing Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation, H.E. Salimah Monorma Bah reflects on how governments must move from managing isolated digital projects to governing integrated digital ecosystems. She highlights the importance of legislation, clear mandates, and cross-government coordination to ensure that digital systems remain trusted, inclusive, and sustainable. The keynote also addresses the role of ICT authorities as co-stewards of national digital infrastructure and the opportunity for African countries to shape their own models of digital governance

PS7: THE FRONTLINE

The Frontline is a special plenary designed to give voice to timely, high-priority issues shaping the digital identity landscape. It provides a platform for leaders and stakeholders to bring forward emerging developments, critical risks, or pressing calls to action that require the community’s immediate attention. Each intervention is deliberately concise and focused, enabling presenters to make a clear, evidence-based case before the full assembly. The objective of The Frontline is to heighten collective awareness, surface issues that may otherwise remain under-discussed, and catalyse informed dialogue and action across the community. By creating space for candid, forward-looking interventions, The Frontline strengthens the Movement’s ability to respond proactively to evolving challenges and opportunities.

S0: Host’s Opening Remarks

S1: From Talent to Pipeline: The African Digital Identity Hackathon Year 2

Presentation + Q&A

This segment provides a concise update on the African Digital Identity Hackathon, led by the Upanzi Network and Carnegie Mellon University Africa, in collaboration with MicroSave, and nurtured by ID4Africa as part of its broader ecosystem-building and incubation role. Building on the strong momentum of the 2024–2025 cycle, it highlights key outcomes, emerging use-case areas, and lessons learned from engaging hundreds of African students across regional hackathons. The segment also outlines the expanded ambition for Year 2, including a sharper thematic focus, deeper ecosystem partnerships, and early steps toward incubation and long-term sustainability—positioning the Hackathon as a growing pipeline of talent and innovation for Africa’s digital identity and DPI ecosystems.

S2: The IdLAC Initiative

Presentation + Q&A

The IdLAC initiative is a regional effort to enable trusted, cross-border digital identity and data exchange across countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The project is developing a federated model that allows governments to verify identities and credentials issued in other jurisdictions while preserving privacy, security, and national sovereignty. By leveraging open standards, verifiable credentials, and existing digital public infrastructure, idLAC aims to reduce friction in mobility, public services, and regional integration. The initiative also supports technical alignment, governance frameworks, and capacity building to help countries adopt interoperable digital identity systems at scale.

S3: Update From the EUDI Wallet Consortium

Presentation + Q&A

This segment provides an update on the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet initiative, offering insight into one of the most advanced large-scale efforts globally to implement digital identity wallets based on open standards, interoperability, and user-centric control. The presentation outlines the EUDI Wallet’s objectives, governance arrangements, technical architecture, and current implementation status across participating European countries. It highlights key design choices related to trust frameworks, verifiable credentials, and cross-border interoperability, as well as emerging lessons and open questions.

S4: Beyond The Laws in Data Protection & Privacy

Presentations + Q&A

This segment moves the discussion on data protection beyond legislation to the practical realities of enforcement. While African countries have enacted a record number of data protection laws over the past decade, implementation and oversight often lag behind. Drawing on first-hand experience, the segment examines what is required to give data protection regimes real effect, including sector-specific regulation, institutional coordination, and the political and financial empowerment of data protection authorities. It highlights concrete steps to translate legal frameworks into enforceable safeguards that protect individuals’ rights while enabling trusted, accountable digital identity and data-driven public services.

S5: The Human Rights Challenges of Digital ID

Presentations + Q&A

This segment examines the human rights challenges associated with digital identity systems, particularly where enrollment or use becomes mandatory in practice or by law. Drawing on research and frontline experience from civil society, it explores risks of exclusion, privacy breaches, limited participation, and inadequate remedies—especially for marginalized communities. The session presents key principles and recommendations developed through a global consultation process, offering human-rights-centered guidance on optionality, safeguards, and alternatives, and inviting constructive dialogue on how digital identity and DPI can advance inclusion, dignity, and accountability.

S6: The Unique Identity Number: The Case, For and Against

Presentations + Q&A

This segment examines the strategic trade-offs surrounding the use of a Unique Identity Number (UIN) as a foundational element of national identity systems. While UINs can enable interoperability, service integration, and lifecycle continuity, they also raise concerns related to privacy, surveillance, function creep, and institutional concentration of power. The objective is not to prescribe a single model, but to surface design choices, safeguards, and alternatives based on country experience. This segment reinforces ID4Africa’s principle that there is no one-size-fits-all identity architecture. It equips countries with a clearer understanding of the trade-offs involved, enabling informed, sovereign decision-making rather than ideological alignment.

S7: The Africa PKI Consortium

Presentations + Q&A

This segment introduces the Africa PKI Consortium, a new Africa-led initiative launched in late 2025 in recognition of the critical role that Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) plays in digital identity, trust services, and secure digital public infrastructure. The session outlines the Consortium’s objectives to strengthen continental capacity, foster peer collaboration, and develop shared understanding around PKI governance, deployment, and sustainability. Positioned as a call to action, it invites African experts and institutions within the ID4Africa community to contribute their knowledge and engage in shaping a trusted, sovereign PKI foundation for Africa’s digital future, with ID4Africa nurturing the initiative as an incubator.

END OF DAY 2

TRACK 1

TRACK 2

TRACK 3

08:30-10:30

Country Playbooks

Cybersecurity

Digital ID & Finance

10:30-12:00

NETWORKING & COFFEE BREAK

12:00-14:15

Country Playbooks

Cybersecurity

Digital ID & Finance

14:15-15:30

NETWORKING LUNCH

15:30-18:00

Country Playbooks

Cybersecurity

Digital ID & Finance

T1: THE DIGITAL IDENTITY COUNTRY PLAYBOOKS

The Digital Identity Country Playbooks Track provides a dedicated, implementation-focused platform for 13 African countries to present, in depth, the strategic choices, institutional decisions, operational pathways, and real-world experiences that have shaped their national identity ecosystems. Each country is allocated 30 minutes to enable substantive storytelling, deeper technical and policy analysis, and the participation of multiple stakeholders. As structured accounts of how outcomes were achieved—capturing strategies pursued, decisions taken, actions implemented, and lessons learned—the Playbooks are designed to support peer learning by helping other countries understand what worked, why it worked, and how similar approaches can be adapted to their own national contexts.

T1-1: COUNTRY PLAYBOOKS

S1: CÔTE D’IVOIRE

S2: NIGERIA

S3: KENYA

S4: MOROCCO

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T1-2: COUNTRY PLAYBOOKS (CONT’D)

S1: ETHIOPIA

S2: BENIN

S3: UGANDA

S4: TOGO

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T1-3: COUNTRY PLAYBOOKS (CONT’D)

S1: RWANDA

S2: TUNISIA

S3: SOMALIA

S4: TANZANIA

S5: RD CONGO

END OF DAY 3

T2: CYBERSECURITY FOR DIGITAL IDENTITY

Africa’s digital transformation depends on secure and trusted identity systems. As governments deploy digital public infrastructure at scale, national ID databases, biometric platforms, authentication services, and interoperability layers have become Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) whose compromise could undermine entire digital economies. This full-day cybersecurity symposium brings together policymakers, identity authorities, CERTs, regulators, technologists, and global experts to examine how to safeguard identity ecosystems against evolving threats. Through strategic dialogue, technical insights, and practical case studies, the symposium will equip stakeholders with the frameworks, tools, and partnerships needed to strengthen cyber resilience and build digital trust across the continent.

T2-1: SECURING IDENTITY AS CII: Policy & Legal Frameworks

This session examines how African nations can strengthen the policy and legal foundations needed to secure identity systems as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII). Building on high-level scene-setting keynotes, the discussion explores pathways for aligning national laws with African and global cybersecurity standards while preserving national priorities and institutional realities. Speakers address the evolving legislative landscape, the governance arrangements required for operational security, and the coordination needed between identity authorities, cybersecurity agencies, and CERTs. The segment establishes the strategic rationale for treating identity systems as CII and sets the stage for the deeper technical and operational discussions that will follow.

S1: Scene Setting: Identity as Critical Information Infrastructure

2 Keynotes + Q&A

S2: How African Nations Can Harmonize Cybersecurity Legal Frameworks with International Standards

Panel Discussion + Q&A

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T2-2: CYBERSECURITY RISKS & THREATS ACROSS THE IDENTITY STACK

This session provides a comprehensive, expert-driven analysis of emerging cyber threats targeting the full identity systems stack—from biometrics and databases to APIs, credentials, mobile ID, and cloud infrastructure. Through in-depth technical presentations, participants will gain insight into the tactics, vulnerabilities, and attack surfaces most relevant to national identity programs, including spoofing, data exfiltration, ransomware, supply-chain compromise, and authentication bypass. The session connects global threat intelligence to African realities, highlighting the specific risks faced by governments scaling digital public infrastructure. By clarifying where systems are most exposed, this segment equips policymakers, practitioners, and security leaders with the situational awareness required to build resilient, modern identity ecosystems.

S1: Cyber Threats & Trustworthiness of Identity Systems

Presentation + Q&A

Presentation by the Alan Turing Institute covering threat intelligence through the Cyber Threats Observatory, recent and emerging attack mechanisms targeting identity systems, threat mapping across the identity stack, and approaches to assessing system trustworthiness, including the Digital Identity System Trustworthiness Assessment Framework (DISTAF).

CO-SPEAKERS

S2: Biometrics-Specific Threats and Mitigation

Presentations + Q&A

Expert overview focusing on biometric attack models, including presentation attacks and system manipulation, mitigation strategies, use of privacy-enhancing technologies, and implications for large-scale biometric deployments.

S3: Securing Trust Across the Identity Ecosystem

Panel Discussion + Q&A

Moderated discussion structured around four themes:
• Identity system foundations and platform trustworthiness
• Secure service delivery and ecosystem integration
• Biometrics, credentials, inclusion, and user trust
• Roadmaps for resilience and future readiness

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T2-3: CYBERSECURITY IN PRACTICE: Protecting Identity Ecosystems in Africa

This session focuses on actionable solutions and real implementation experience to help countries strengthen the resilience of their identity ecosystems. It highlights proven approaches from across Africa, covering PKI deployment, cloud security safeguards, and operational models for securing critical identity infrastructure. Country presentations showcase practical lessons on governance, architecture, incident response, biometric protection, and secure credential issuance—offering concrete guidance adaptable to diverse national contexts. The session emphasizes what works, why it works, and how peer nations can replicate or scale these solutions. It concludes by outlining priority steps and collaborative mechanisms needed to maintain continuous protection and advance a trusted digital ecosystem across the continent.

S1: PKI IN AFRICA

Spotlight Presentation + Q&A

S2: Cloud Security in National ID Systems

Spotlight Presentation + Q&A

As national ID systems increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, governments must ensure security, sovereignty, and resilience. This session examines architectural choices, risk management, and compliance requirements for cloud-based identity platforms, highlighting country experiences and industry perspectives on how to protect sensitive identity data while enabling scalable, reliable, and trusted digital services.

S3: Securing National ID Systems: Country Experiences

Presentations + Q&A

This panel brings together countries and solution providers to share real implementation experience in securing national identity systems. Speakers will discuss practical challenges encountered in deployment, including infrastructure protection, biometric security, credential issuance, incident response, and institutional coordination. The discussion highlights lessons learned, trade-offs made, and solutions that proved effective in operational environments, offering peers concrete guidance for strengthening the resilience and trustworthiness of their own identity ecosystems.

PANELISTS

END OF DAY 3

T3: DIGITAL IDENTITY & FINANCE

This full day track explores how trusted digital identity is becoming the backbone of modern financial systems and a key enabler of Africa’s economic integration. Structured as a three-part symposium, the track begins with eKYC as the foundational use case of digital identity in finance, examining the shift from traditional compliance-driven KYC toward scalable, risk-based digital assurance. It highlights the governance, regulatory, cybersecurity, and inclusion challenges that determine whether national eKYC schemes expand access or reinforce exclusion, and draws lessons from real implementations, including an emerging SADC cross-border corridor. The second part expands the lens to cross-border interoperability, responding to growing demand driven by AfCFTA, regional trade, remittances, and mobility. It explores the enabling policy and technical conditions for mutual recognition, secure credential exchange, and trusted cross-border transactions, including the rising importance of enterprise identity instruments such as Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs). The track concludes with open finance as a working model of consent-based data sharing, offering practical lessons for building broader digital public ecosystems that are interoperable, inclusive, and resilient by design.

T3-1: eKYC: The Trust Layer for Digital Finance

Identity has always been fundamental to financial services and remains central to the integrity, accessibility, and trustworthiness of financial systems today. As societies undergo rapid digitalization, the way individuals and institutions establish and verify identity must evolve accordingly—moving beyond traditional, in-person KYC processes toward more scalable, risk-responsive digital models. This session begins by revisiting the original purpose and social utility of KYC, before examining the transition to eKYC as a key enabler of expanded access, improved assurance, and deeper financial service adoption. At the same time, it highlights the governance, regulatory, cybersecurity, and inclusion challenges that countries must navigate to avoid new forms of exclusion and emerging financial crime risks. Drawing from current national implementations, participants will explore the critical design and operational hurdles that determine success. The session concludes with a regional case study illustrating how eKYC frameworks can extend across borders—unlocking interoperable financial access while introducing a new layer of complexity in standards, trust, and oversight.

S1: KYC: A Core Use Case of ID

Keynote

This keynote reframes KYC as a foundational use case of digital identity and a core pillar of modern financial systems. It highlights how identity establishes account ownership and trust, enabling formal finance to function. The session explores how compliance-driven approaches can reinforce exclusion, and why risk-based KYC is essential for meaningful financial inclusion and economic growth.

S2: From KYC to eKYC: Building Trusted Digital Identity Ecosystems

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This panel examines the transition from traditional KYC to eKYC as a critical step in enabling secure, scalable, and inclusive digital financial ecosystems. As financial services rapidly digitalize and new forms of economic participation emerge, identity verification must evolve beyond in-person onboarding toward continuous, risk-based digital assurance. The discussion explores the forces driving this shift, including changing fraud patterns, the rise of AI-enabled deception, and the growing need for interoperable identity infrastructure that can support digital transactions at scale. Drawing on country and central bank experiences, panelists examine the policy, regulatory, and operational challenges of implementing national eKYC frameworks. Topics include legal and supervisory reforms, governance of shared identity services, allocation of roles between identity authorities and financial regulators, sustainable business models, and the importance of minimum technical and security standards. The session also addresses how well-designed eKYC can expand financial inclusion while maintaining trust, enabling countries to move from compliance-driven onboarding toward secure, continuous digital participation across the economy.

S3: From National to Regional eKYC: SADC Cross-Border Digital ID for eKYC

Presentation + Q&A

This segment explores how national eKYC frameworks can evolve into a regional enabler for cross-border payments, trade, and financial inclusion—while introducing a new layer of regulatory, technical, and governance complexity. Using the SADC Digital ID–enabled e-KYC registry as a case study, FinMark Trust and the SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors demonstrate how integrating national Digital ID systems with financial service providers can reduce compliance costs, strengthen AML/CFT effectiveness, and expand access for migrants, women, and rural populations. A live South Africa–Zimbabwe corridor pilot illustrates real-time onboarding for remittance services, with a federated SADC-wide registry framework now under development.

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T3-2: CROSS-BORDER IDENTITY INTEROPERABILITY

As Africa advances toward continent-scale digital trade, cross-border trust is emerging as a foundational enabling rail. Building on the previous session, this segment examines the rapidly evolving requirements for secure cross-border flows—spanning trade, finance, and the associated movement of persons and goods—as anticipated by landmark frameworks such as the AfCFTA, which is expected to drive demand for interoperable digital identity and shared trust mechanisms across jurisdictions. It highlights the policy, legal, and technical implications that identity authorities must anticipate to ensure their systems can support these emerging regional and continental use cases. The session also introduces the growing importance of Legal Entity Identity (LEI) and related enterprise credentials as critical enablers of cross-border transactions, representing a new category of digital identity that many authorities will need to recognize, operationalize, and help govern as part of a broader continent-scale trust architecture.

S1: Interoperability of Identity: A Strategic Imperative

Scene-Setting Presentation

This scene-setting keynote frames cross-border identity interoperability as a foundational requirement for the next phase of Africa’s digital economy. It highlights the growing demand driven by KYC and financial sector compliance, as well as wider use cases such as trade facilitation, remittances, mobility, e-commerce, and regional public services. The presentation positions interoperable identity not as a technical aspiration, but as a strategic growth imperative—enabling trusted transactions across borders, reducing friction and costs, strengthening regional integration, and expanding inclusion by allowing individuals and businesses to participate seamlessly in formal economic systems beyond their home jurisdiction.

S2: Enabling Policies for Cross-Border Interoperability

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This segment examines the policy foundations required to enable trusted cross-border interoperability of digital identity systems and credentials. It explores how countries can reconcile national sovereignty requirements with the practical need for seamless regional transactions, focusing on key issues such as data localization, minimization of cross-border data flows, data retention and audit requirements, cybersecurity readiness, and regulatory alignment. The discussion places particular emphasis on mutual recognition frameworks—how they are defined, governed, and enforced—and the minimum legal and operational conditions needed for countries to confidently accept identity assertions and credentials issued beyond their borders.

S3: Technical Alignment in Support of Cross-Border Interoperability

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This segment examines the technical foundations required to enable trusted, large-scale cross-border interoperability of digital identity systems. It explores how identity architectures, standards, and trust frameworks must align across jurisdictions to support interoperable eKYC, secure credential exchange, consent, authentication, and authorization. Drawing on trends and lessons from 12 implementing markets, the discussion highlights standards convergence, federated trust models, assurance levels, governance, and conformance frameworks—identifying the practical design choices needed to move from bilateral pilots to sustainable, continent-wide interoperability that supports mobility, trade, and service delivery while respecting sovereignty and privacy.

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

S4: MSME Trade Credentials & Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI)

Fireside Chat + Q&A

This segment explores the growing importance of enterprise identity in enabling cross-border trade and financial flows. It introduces Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) and related MSME trade credentials as critical trust instruments that complement individual identity systems. The discussion examines what these identifiers are, how they are issued and governed, and why they are becoming a missing building block for regional interoperability and digital commerce.

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T3-3: OPEN FINANCE AS A MODEL FOR DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS

Open finance is one of the most mature and instructive examples of how identity-enabled, consent-based data sharing can function in a real economy. Because the financial sector is both highly regulated and technologically advanced, it has become a first mover in developing governed data-exchange models that rely on shared standards, enforceable rules, institutional coordination, and verifiable consent. As African countries move toward broader digital public ecosystems, the lessons emerging from open finance provide a practical blueprint for extending trusted data sharing into other sectors such as health, agriculture, and public services. This session examines open finance not as “open-source” technology, but as a structured ecosystem where multiple actors can participate securely under common frameworks. Drawing on African and global experience, it explores the governance arrangements, regulatory roles, consent mechanisms, and technical foundations that enable openness without sacrificing trust. It also highlights the vulnerabilities that open ecosystems introduce and the safeguards required to manage risk at scale.

S1: Introduction to Open Finance

Keynote

This keynote introduces open finance as a consent-driven, standards-based model for trusted data sharing. It frames why finance became the first sector to operationalize interoperable data exchange and how its experience provides a blueprint for broader digital ecosystems.

S2: Governance Considerations in Open Finance Implementation

Keynote

This segment examines the governance and regulatory foundations required to make open finance work, including institutional roles, scheme oversight, liability, consent enforcement, and coordination across regulators and market actors to sustain trust and participation.

S3: Critical Elements for Success: Lessons from Open Finance for Other Open Digital Ecosystems

Panel discussion + Q&A

This panel distills practical implementation lessons from open finance and explores how they apply to other sectors. It highlights the enabling standards, consent mechanisms, operational models, and risk controls needed to build inclusive, interoperable, multi-stakeholder digital ecosystems.

PANELISTS

S4: Digital Identity as the Backbone of Modern Financial Systems

Keynote + Q&A

This keynote examines the arc and profound insights from this Day 3 track. Here, we visualize the eKYC, Open Finance, and digital identity systems discussed by experts throughout the day and summarize how these systems are emerging and converging at local country, regional and global levels. We recap the inner workings of these ecosystems, their technical and policy foundations, and how those foundations serve the most successful deployments. We also draw out how setting the right foundations ensures that each country can control their own destiny and seize benefits for their local communities, while empowering stakeholders to open doors to their neighbors that can stimulate trade by removing friction. In addition, we explore how these new systems could introduce new risks and vulnerabilities. Today our existing systems are at profound risk from cybercrime, and AI tools are super powering bad actors to exploit our system vulnerabilities. Strong foundations to our identity and open data systems and proactive mitigation of system vulnerabilities can unleash systemic resiliency that foils bad actors. The session provides a strategic lens to help stakeholders strengthen governance and build resilient foundations as they seize the opportunities presented by open identity and open finance frameworks.

CO-SPEAKERS

END OF DAY 3

TRACK 4

TRACK 5

TRACK 6

08:30-10:30

LEGAL IDENTITY:
CRVS-ID Part 1

DPI & IDENTITY:
DPI for Service Delivery

Open Source
Part 1

10:30-11:30

NETWORKING & COFFEE BREAK

11:30-13:30

LEGAL IDENTITY:
CRVS-ID Part 2

DPI & IDENTITY:
Safeguards

Open Source
Part 2

13:30-14:30

NETWORKING LUNCH

14:30-17:00

LEGAL IDENTITY:
ID for Refugees & Stateless Populations

DPI & IDENTITY:
Human Rights & ID

VCs & Wallets

T4: LEGAL IDENTITY

This track is dedicated to Legal Identity and covers two critical themes. The first focuses on CRVS–ID integration, explored across two sessions (T4-1, T4-2), while the second (T4-3) examines the challenges and solutions related to providing legal identity to refugees and stateless populations.

CRVS-ID INTEGRATION (PART I)

This session launches the examination of CRVS–ID integration as both a critical governance reform and a strategic opportunity for African countries at all stages of identity system maturity. While civil registration and national ID systems are foundational to legal identity and effective service delivery, they have too often evolved in silos—resulting in fragmentation, inefficiencies, exclusion, and lost value from public investments. Drawing on country experiences from across the continent, the session explores why coherent CRVS–ID integration is essential, what integration pathways are available, and how institutional, legal, and technical choices shape outcomes. Part I features countries that have already undertaken top-down integration reforms, sharing lessons learned and benefits realized. Part II turns to countries still assessing policy options, examining the risks of continued fragmentation, the opportunities offered by integration, and the practical trade-offs involved in moving forward.

MODERATORS

S1: Rationale for CRVS-ID Integration

Presentations

This scene-setting presentation explains why CRVS–ID integration is no longer optional but an indispensable necessity for effective governance. Drawing on global statistics and emerging trends, it highlights the mutual benefits of integration—strengthening the credibility and accuracy of national ID systems while improving CRVS coverage, sustainability, and financing through increased birth and death registration.

S2: Managing CRVS & ID in an Integrated Manner

Presentations + Q&A

This segment provides five countries with the opportunity to present their approaches to managing CRVS and national ID systems in an integrated manner. Selected for their advanced experience or clear policy mandates, these countries will share how CRVS–ID integration has been implemented to support lifecycle identity management, interoperability, and institutional rationalization. The presentations highlight governance choices, operational models, and early lessons learned from both long-standing integrations and more recent top-down reform initiatives.

PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T4-2: CRVS-ID INTEGRATION (PART II)

Continued from T4-1

S1: Safeguarding CRVS in CRVS-ID Integration

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This segment provides a strategic forum for CRVS leaders from across Africa to examine potential blind spots, risks, and unintended consequences associated with top-down CRVS–ID integration approaches. Through a moderated panel discussion, participants will explore concerns related to institutional autonomy, financing, operational complexity, data integrity, and insufficient understanding of CRVS processes. Drawing on concrete country perspectives, the session identifies practical safeguards, governance measures, and alternative integration models needed to ensure that integration strengthens—rather than weakens—civil registration systems, while enabling coherent, sustainable, and well-governed interoperability with national identity systems.

FEATURED COUNTRIES

S2: CRVS-ID Integration Guidance

Panel Discussion + Q&A

S3: Update on the ACSA Initiative

This session provides an update on the “African CRVS Shared Asset,” launched at ID4Africa 2023 in Nairobi, an initiative aimed at establishing common norms to guide the digitalization of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in Africa.

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T4-3: ID FOR REFUGEES & STATELESS POPULATIONS

This session explores how government-led digital foundational ID systems can responsibly include refugees, stateless persons, and individuals at risk of statelessness as part of national efforts toward universal legal identity and durable solutions. Drawing on African country experiences, it examines how protection-sensitive legal, governance, and data-sharing frameworks enable the issuance of trusted legal ID credentials with lifelong unique identifiers, unlocking access to public and digital services while safeguarding rights. The discussion highlights pathways for transitioning from humanitarian registration systems to national ID ecosystems, as well as approaches to preventing and reducing statelessness through integrated civil registration and referral mechanisms. Through case studies and strategic dialogue, the session connects identity inclusion with socio-economic participation, service delivery, and sustainable solutions—demonstrating how inclusive digital ID systems can deliver dividends for displaced populations, host states, and national development agendas alike.

S1: SCENE-SETTING

Keynote Presentation

S2: STATELESSNESS-SENSITIVE DIGITAL LEGAL ID SYSTEMS

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This panel explores how digital legal ID systems can be designed to prevent and reduce statelessness while protecting rights. Drawing on African experiences, it examines integrated civil registration, legal safeguards, and referral mechanisms that ensure inclusion of individuals with unclear nationality status—demonstrating how trusted identity credentials can enable access to services while advancing durable nationality solutions.

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

S3: INCLUSION OF REFUGEES IN NATIONAL DIGITAL ID SYSTEMS

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This discussion examines the protection-sensitive inclusion of refugees in government-led digital ID systems. Using African case studies, it highlights the transition from humanitarian registration to national population registers, the issuance of lifelong identifiers, and the development dividends that follow—showing how inclusive ID systems can strengthen national infrastructure while enabling self-reliance and durable solutions.

PANEL CHANGEOVER VIDEO [5 mins]

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

S4: UNHCR KEY TAKEAWAYS & CLOSING REMARKS

Presentation

END OF DAY 4

T5:DPI & IDENTITY: Service Delivery, Safeguards & Human Rights

For Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to deliver real impact, it must be used, trusted, and governed responsibly. Systems that are not connected to services remain underutilized. Systems that are not trusted fail to scale. Systems that do not respect rights lose legitimacy.

This full-day track examines the complete lifecycle of building sustainable digital identity ecosystems — from designing DPI to enable high-impact service delivery, to putting in place the safeguards that make these systems trustworthy, and finally to ensuring that deployment respects human rights and avoids exclusion.

The morning sessions focus on adopting a services-first approach to DPI, showing how identity and other foundational components can accelerate digital government, financial inclusion, and social protection when use cases, incentives, and institutional coordination are addressed from the outset.

The track then turns to the question of trust, exploring the legal, institutional, and technical safeguards required to ensure that DPI systems remain secure, accountable, and worthy of public confidence as they grow in scale and complexity.

In the afternoon, the discussion moves to the human rights dimension, examining how digital identity systems can create risks of exclusion or coercion when enrollment or use becomes effectively mandatory, and how governments, civil society, and development partners can work together to ensure that DPI remains inclusive, rights-respecting, and aligned with democratic principles.

Taken together, the sessions in this track reflect a simple but essential message: DPI must not only be built — it must be used, trusted, and governed in a way that earns legitimacy over time.

T5-1: BUILDING DPI FOR SERVICE DELIVERY

This session examines how DPI building blocks can accelerate high-impact digital services across sectors. Drawing on African experience, it promotes a “services-first” approach that prioritizes user journeys, adoption incentives, and measurable outcomes over technology deployment alone. Participants will explore practical strategies for selecting priority use cases, driving integration by service providers, and building institutional coordination models that work. The session also introduces key World Bank tools to support service design, use-case prioritization, and impact measurement.

MODERATORS

S1: Reality Check: Are Public Services Building Trust?

SLIDO POLL

This interactive opening poll invites participants to reflect on recent public service experiences across key sectors. By highlighting common friction points—delays, excessive documentation, and poor user experience—it shifts the focus from systems building to citizen outcomes and sets the stage for a services-first DPI approach centered on trust, usability, and adoption.

S2: Next Generation Digital Government with DPI

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This spotlight presentation introduces the next generation of digital government, where service transformation—not technology deployment—is the central objective. It explains how countries can combine service design, service standards, and process re-engineering with shared DPI building blocks that enable both public and private sector services at scale. Using real-world service journeys and personas, it clarifies why many e-government initiatives fail and what changes when a country adopts DPI logic.

S3: Building DPI for Services: Country Spotlights

Short Presentations

This segment features country spotlights showcasing practical approaches to linking DPI to real service outcomes. Speakers share how they identified priority use cases, aligned stakeholders, and incentivized public and private service providers to integrate with national DPI components. The discussion highlights early impact evidence and implementation lessons, offering participants comparative insights on different pathways to adoption across sectors and country contexts.

S4: Implementation Roadmap: How to Move from Vision to Execution

Panel Discussion + Q&A

This expert panel focuses on the operational decisions and institutional roadblocks that determine whether DPI delivers real service transformation. It examines use-case prioritization, sequencing quick wins versus foundational investments, adoption incentives, and coordination across identity authorities, digital transformation agencies, sector ministries, and private providers. The segment also highlights the importance of measurable outcomes—time and cost savings, uptake, and leakage reduction—supported by practical implementation tools and frameworks.

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T5-2: BUILDING DPI ECOSYSTEMS THAT PEOPLE CAN TRUST

This symposium focuses on the topic of building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) that is trusted, secure, and inclusive. As DPI systems grow increasingly data-intensive, the risks of data misuse and abuse rise, especially with rapid adoption of AI. The event will cover legal, institutional, and technical safeguards necessary to protect sensitive data, foster accountability, and ensure legitimate use. Participants explore practical solutions for governance, oversight, and international cooperation, emphasizing actionable approaches to authorized use, accountability, and redress in African settings.

S1: Trusted Data for Trusted DPI

Presentation + Q&A

This segment explains how DPI systems handle large volumes of sensitive data across their lifecycle, highlighting risks like exclusion, bias, fraud, and privacy breaches. It describes legal, institutional, and technical safeguards that mitigate these risks, emphasizing data minimization, clear mandates, oversight, and robust security measures for trust and legitimacy.

CO-SPEAKERS

S2: Ensuring Accountability: The Role of Regulators and DPAs

Panel Discussion

This panel brings African Data Protection Authorities leaders to discuss how they manage DPI risks, bridging gaps from law to institution, ensuring independence, building capacity, and prioritizing enforcement. It covers expanding mandates for AI governance, compliance culture, phased approach, and the value of regional cooperation to strengthen institutional maturity and data protection effectiveness.

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

S3: From National Oversight to Regional Frameworks

Fireside Chat

This closing segment explores regional collaboration for DPI oversight, drawing on Smart Africa’s experience. It focuses on practical steps for DPAs to align safeguards, manage cross-border data sharing, respond to incidents, and reinforce systemic trust and accountability, while respecting diverse legal and institutional settings across African countries.

MODERATOR

SPEAKER

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T5-3: DPI, IDENTITY & HUMAN RIGHTS

As digital identity and DPI become central to service delivery, financial inclusion, and legal recognition, their use increasingly affects fundamental rights. In some contexts, enrollment or use of digital identity becomes effectively mandatory — whether through law, policy, or service conditionalities — creating risks of exclusion, discrimination, or loss of access to essential services.

This session builds on the earlier discussions on service delivery and safeguards by examining the human rights implications of deploying digital identity at scale. It explores how governments can ensure that DPI remains inclusive, proportionate, and accountable, particularly for vulnerable populations such as migrants, refugees, displaced persons, stateless individuals, and people living in fragile or conflict-affected settings.

Following the Call for Action presented earlier in the AGM, this interactive module focuses on translating principles into practice. Through panels and facilitated working groups, participants examine real-world scenarios and identify concrete legal, policy, and technical measures that can reduce risks, provide alternatives, and strengthen accountability.

The goal is not to slow deployment, but to ensure that digital identity systems remain legitimate, trusted, and aligned with the values they are meant to serve.

S1: Scene-Setting

Fireside Chat

SESSION CONDUCTOR

PANELISTS

S2: Mandatory Digital Identity: The Risks

Panel Discussion

A multi-disciplinary panel that discusses the issue of mandatory ID in greater depth, including lived experiences, potential risks and exclusions, policy implications of mandatory versus voluntary systems, and the role that civil society can play in highlighting affected voices and creating solutions.

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

RESPONDENTS

S3: Potential Issues and Solution: Working Breakout Session

Working Group

Building on the preceding panel discussion, this interactive working session brings participants into facilitated small-group breakouts led by members of the civil society coalition and featuring speakers from different stakeholder groups to help catalyze discussion. Using a set of illustrative “personas” reflecting real-world challenges faced by individuals and communities in accessing digital ID systems, participants will identify potential risks and barriers and collaboratively explore practical solutions – including reform of law and policy, technical approaches, and accountability mechanisms.

S3A : Enrollment and Conditionalities + Document Expiration

MODERATOR

S3B: Alternative Identification

MODERATOR

S3C: Digital ID Implementation in Fragile States

MODERATOR

S4: From Principle to Practice: Strengthening Accountability and Identifying Opportunities for Action

Workshop Debrief

SPEAKERS

END OF DAY 4

T6: ECOSYSTEMS — Open Source & Open Standards

This track explores two complementary pathways shaping the evolution of digital identity ecosystems in Africa: open source platforms and open standards–based trust frameworks. The morning sessions examine how open source solutions such as MOSIP, DHIS2 and OpenCRVS are enabling countries to build sovereign, adaptable, and scalable national systems. Through country experiences and strategic dialogue, the discussion highlights the institutional, operational, and financing conditions required to sustain these systems over time. The afternoon session shifts to verifiable credentials and digital wallets, focusing on open standards as the foundation for interoperability, decentralized trust, and cross-sector integration. It explores how trust services, governance models, and ecosystem actors come together to enable secure, user-centric identity transactions at scale.

While open source and open standards are not mutually exclusive, they reflect different architectural and ecosystem approaches. Together, they illustrate the broader transition from standalone systems to digital public ecosystems—where identity becomes a platform for interaction, trust, and value creation across sectors.

T6-1: EXPERIENCES & LESSONS FROM OPEN SOURCE IMPLEMENTATIONS

This session grounds the discussion in real-world country implementations of open source digital identity and civil registration systems. Senior officials share their journeys—from early design and procurement decisions to national-scale deployment and operations. Through practical case studies, the session highlights outcomes achieved, challenges encountered, and the institutional and technical choices that shaped each implementation. Particular attention is given to capacity building, national ownership, ecosystem integration, and managing long-term dependencies. Drawing on experiences with platforms such as MOSIP, DHIS2 and OpenCRVS, the discussion moves beyond success narratives to extract replicable lessons for countries at different stages of their journey.

S1: COUNTRY JOURNEYS WITH MOSIP

Panel Discussion + Q&A

S2: COUNTRY JOURNEYS WITH OPENCRVS

Panel Discussion + Q&A

S2: COUNTRY JOURNEYS WITH OPENCRVS

Presentation + Q&A

NETWORKING, EXPO & REFRESHMENTS

T6-2: OPEN SOURCE & THE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Building on country experience, this session shifts to the strategic and systemic questions surrounding open source ecosystems. It examines how governments, development partners, and open source stewards must better align to support long-term sustainability, including financing models, governance and stewardship, security and conformance, localization, and procurement approaches that genuinely reward openness. The session culminates in a forward-looking dialogue on digital sovereignty, exploring whether shared principles and coordinated action can position open source as a durable pillar of Africa’s digital public infrastructure.

S1: WHY OPEN SOURCE MATTERS

Presentation

S2: ALIGNING THE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA WITH COUNTRY NEEDS

Panel Discussion + Q&A

PANELISTS

S3: THE OPEN SOURCE PATH TO SOVEREIGNTY

Panel Discussion + Q&A

MODERATOR

PANELISTS

NETWORKING, EXPO & LUNCH

T6-3: VERIFIABLE CREDENTIALS & DIGITAL WALLETS

This session explores the emerging trust architecture underpinning verifiable credentials (VCs) and digital wallets, with a focus on open standards as the foundation for interoperability and decentralized trust. Through a combination of demonstrations, case studies, and expert dialogue, it examines how identity ecosystems evolve when trust is distributed across issuers, holders, and relying parties, supported by robust trust services and governance frameworks. The discussion highlights how credential issuance and verification operate in practice, and how responsibilities are allocated across the value chain to ensure assurance, accountability, and user control. It also addresses the institutional and technical conditions required to operationalize such ecosystems, including governance models, trust service frameworks, and sustainable operating and revenue approaches. Drawing on reference models such as eIDAS 2.0, the session illustrates how open standards can enable scalable, interoperable, and potentially cross-border identity ecosystems. At the same time, it surfaces the critical questions these models raise around governance, coordination, and long-term sustainability as countries consider how to integrate wallets and verifiable credentials into their national identity strategies.