The initial project covers Environment and Land Management
Ministry for Management and Innovation in Public Services of Brazil (MGI) and the Bengaluru-based International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) announce a groundbreaking partnership to potentialise digital transformation’s societal impact. The initiative aims to gradually drive the digital government to be a digital economy enabler leveraging digital public infrastructures (DPIs) and digital public goods (DPGs) principles, knowledge and building blocks. This collaboration is formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) focusing on DPI implementation and dissemination that was signed recently.
The first endeavor will cover the implementation of the Rural Land Wallet of Verifiable Credentials for rural landowners and landholders, including documents related to Brazil’s Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR) system, a critical component of the country’s environmental management framework. The project will also cover documents from other registries and agencies related to rural land public policies.
The choice to begin with Verifiable Credentials (VCs) is strategic, as they represent a fundamental building block of digital trust. They provide a secure, privacy-preserving, standardised, interoperable, agile, machine-automated way to electronically issue, store, share, and verify trustable digital credentials and their data, making them an ideal starting catalyser for a DPI journey.
MGI envisions creating an ecosystem of verifiable credentials (VCs) that seamlessly integrates existing VC infrastructures and digital wallets, such: Driver’s Digital Wallet (CDT), digital diploma, Vaccination Wallet, Gov.Br documents Wallet, amongst others.
This digital innovation will potentially provide 7 million rural landowners in Brazil with easy access and control over their land-related documents, including CAR credentials, enabling seamless sharing of digital credentials, and the related data, with banks or other loan providers. It will also accelerate access to subsidies, conservation incentives and other public policies related transactions, while strengthening credentials, and the related data, user-centric privacy preserving management, security and agile flow.
Additionally, specialized digital wallets might be developed for specific target groups such as fishermen, ensuring streamlined access to the related public policies’ essential documentation. As the infrastructure matures, the scope will expand to other sectors, leveraging support from partners within India’s Bangalore Non-Profit DPI ecosystem.
Commenting about the partnership, Prof. Rajagopalan from IIITB, said, “The implementation of digital verifiable credentials will address existing challenges by streamlining the verification process, reducing delays and enhancing administrative efficiency, minimising document tampering risks and offering a secure, automated, and tamper-proof digital solution. This partnership will leverage IIIT-B’s associates: the Centre for Open Societal System (COSS), seeded by the EkStep Foundation; Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP); OpenG2P; Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI), Inji, and e-Signet for effective implementation.”
The Center for Open Societal Systems (COSS) at IIIT-B’s objective is to drive the adoption of DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) globally—which explains the Centre’s efforts to build long-term partnership with the Brazilian government. The aim of this joint DPI pilot project with the Brazil Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services is to simplify and accelerate the process of Brazilians applying for and securing rural loans from the government by transitioning from the current non-verifiable PDF files to digitally verifiable credentials.
According to MGI Special Advisor to the Minister, Miriam Chaves, “Verifiable Credentials are transforming digital governance by ensuring trust, security, and efficiency in the digital age. By leveraging VCs as a foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), we can guarantee data authenticity, reduce fraud, and streamline public services. This technology strengthens the bridge between governments and the digital economy, empowering citizens with seamless access to services while driving sustainable development.”
Also, according to the National Secretary for State Transformation, Mr. Francisco Gaetani, “Digital Public Infrastructures became an important part of the Rural Environmental Registry strategy, because we want such important registry to be plural, interoperable, and fully open to the society. We believe that a DPI approach to rural and environmental data may help us to develop global solutions to tackle urgent environmental and climate challenges”.
