European Economic and Social Committee (20.09.2017) The EESC believes that equal access to healthcare, one of the main objectives of health policies, can benefit from digital support provided certain conditions are met: equal geographical coverage; bridging the digital divide; interoperability among the various components of the digital architecture (databases, medical devices); and protection of health data which must under no circumstances be used to the detriment of patients.

 The Economic Times (28.09.2017)  Government has saved Rs 58,000 crore through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme used in various subsidy programmes, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today. The electronics and IT minister said the government is utilising digital technology to bring about changes that benefit poor and underprivileged.

BiometricUpdate (27.07.2017) The Philippines’ government will soon roll out a national identification (ID) system following President Duterte’s approval of the project intended to enhance the delivery of government services, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

Zilient - Reuteur (21.07.2017) Thousands of Syrian refugees in Jordan's Azraq camp don't pay for their food with cash but by a scan of their eyes. Purchases are then recorded on a computing platform based on blockchain - the technology behind bitcoin. The U.N. agency launched the futuristic system in May as a one-month pilot involving 10,000 of Azraq's more than 50,000 inhabitants in a bid to explore blockchain's potential to cut costs and bottlenecks.

stateofaadhaar.in (2017) The Government of India aims to provide a comprehensive set of safety nets to India’s poor, including food subsidies, employment guarantees, and targeted cash transfers. Financial leakages and service delivery issues, however, reduce its effectiveness. The government aims to use Aadhaar’s authentication and fund transfer capabilities to address these problems.

Europa (03.07.2017) Today the Commission launches the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information system (EESSI), a new IT platform that will connect electronically around 15.000 social security institutions of EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

OpenGovAsia (28.05.2018) The establishment of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) will enable Filipinos to have proof of identity, to exercise rights and privileges and to access vital services. Education, social protection, healthcare, banking and finance are some of the vital services that can be accessed by the Filipinos once the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) is established, said one of the principal authors of the measure creating a national identification system in the country.

The objective of this Directive is to harmonise the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, which requires the harmonisation of different rules currently existing in their respective legal systems.

developmentpathways.co.uk (21.03.2018) The Government of Kenya made a landmark decision in 2017 to provide a basic monthly pension income to its older citizens over the age of 70 years. The move represents a major step forward in the building of Kenya’s national social protection system. As the final preparations are made to make payments – which should happen within weeks – this blog explains how the country used electronic registration to roll out the new social pension.