Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – The Dominican government has unveiled an ambitious digital transformation initiative: the National Framework for Verifiable Credentials, a groundbreaking digital system that will enable citizens to store and share official personal information securely, while facilitating instant verification with public agencies and approved private third parties. The new framework marks a major step forward in the country’s push to modernize public services and cut reliance on paper-based administrative processes.
The project was officially launched by the Ministry of Public Administration (MAP) and the Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (OGTIC) during the Regional Forum on Digital Public Infrastructure. The forum was organized as a pre-conference event ahead of two major regional governance gatherings: the XX Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Network of Digital Government (Red GEALC) and the IX Ministerial Meeting of Digital Government of the Americas, bringing together digital governance leaders from across the hemisphere to discuss innovation in public administration.
Under the new framework, verifiable digital credentials will be integrated into two existing government digital platforms: Soy Yo RD, the national digital identity system, and the Citizen Folder, a centralized digital portal for citizen government services. The long-term goal of the integration is to phase out the widespread requirement for physical documents – including printed photographs, identification copies, official certifications and other paper materials – for most common public and private administrative procedures.
Edgar Batista, Director General of OGTIC, who will hold the presidency of the GEALC Network in 2026, emphasized that the new system offers far more functionality than a simple digital copy of a physical document. Unlike static digital scans of official paperwork, the verifiable credential system allows users to cryptographically prove that their information was directly issued by the responsible government institution and has not expired or been altered since issuance. This added layer of security eliminates common fraud risks and streamlines verification processes for receiving institutions.
The framework was formally established through an official resolution from MAP, and operates on a federated data governance model rather than a centralized database structure. Under this model, every individual government agency retains full ownership and control over its own official records and citizen data. The system does not create a new, consolidated central repository of personal information, instead pulling directly from pre-existing, official data sources to verify credential information in real time.
Sigmund Freund, Minister of Public Administration, explained that the core objectives of the initiative are to make official citizen information more accessible and portable across the digital ecosystem, while breaking down data silos and fostering closer operational integration between different government institutions. By enabling seamless information sharing between agencies without consolidating data, the framework balances data security with administrative efficiency.
Dominican government officials project that the national framework will lay the groundwork for a far more interconnected, agile and efficient digital public sector, drastically cutting the red tape and paper waste that have long slowed down government service delivery for citizens. The launch positions the Dominican Republic as a regional leader in digital public infrastructure innovation, ahead of the upcoming regional digital government meetings hosted in the country.