By AIT Public Affairs
August 8, 2025 -The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) successfully convened a three-day discovery and brainstorming workshop, “Inclusive Digital ID in Thailand—Learnings and Way Forward,” bringing together leading international and regional stakeholders to chart the future of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in Southeast Asia.
The workshop, held on August 7–8 at AIT’s Pathum Thani campus, was organized by AIT and attended by the Gates Foundation, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, Control Data Group (CDG), Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), National Digital ID Company Ltd. (NDID), Microsave Consulting (MSC), AI Brain Lab (AIBL), BIG Data Institute, Government of Thailand, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal.
Regional and Global Expertise Converge at AIT
In his opening remarks, AIT President Prof. Pai-Chi Li emphasized AIT’s growing role as a regional hub for Digital Public Infrastructure. He reflected on the Institute’s decade-long collaboration with the Gates Foundation—from water and sanitation to fisheries and now into DPI—and highlighted Thailand’s strategic position in Southeast Asia to advance inclusive digital infrastructure frameworks. “This workshop provides a platform to share ideas, examine challenges, and shape solutions for the future of inclusive digital identity in Thailand and beyond,” Prof. Li stated.
Gates Foundation’s Global Role
Dr. Kanwaljit Singh, Deputy Director of Digital Public Infrastructure at the Gates Foundation, highlighted how the Foundation is catalyzing a global movement based on open-source and open standards based technologies for inclusive digital identity and infrastructure.
Dr. Singh also presented global trends and use cases in DPI, citing how digital ID accelerated financial inclusion in India, supported rapid social protection payments during COVID-19, and is paving the way for privacy-preserving technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and user centric decentralized data sharing models through verifiable credentials.
Distinguished Delegates
The workshop gathered an esteemed group of policymakers, development partners, industry experts, and academics, including:
- Dr. Kanwaljit Singh, Deputy Director, Digital Public Infrastructure, and Ms. Swetha Kolluri, Senior Program Officer, Digital Public Infrastructure — Gates Foundation
- Ms. Carolyn M. Florey, Digital Development Specialist — Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- Mr. Jonathan Marskell, Senior Digital Development Specialist — World Bank
- Mr. Mitul Thapliyal, Managing Partner, and Mr. Kunjbihari Daga, Partner— MicroSave Consulting (MSC)
- Ms. Vorapitchaya Rabiablok, Director of Data Analysis Service — Big Data Institute, Government of Thailand
- Mr. Suchai Suchatvetjapoom, Senior Vice President – Digital Business; Mr. Thitiwat Ongsangkoon, Business Development Specialist; and Mr. Wittavat Kanyarong, Senior Project Manager — Control Data Group (CDG)
- Ms. Onuma Munsin, Chief Marketing Officer, and Dr. Chakan Pramkaew, Chief Technology Officer — National Digital ID Co., Ltd. (NDID)
- Mr. Yuvaraj Katel, Director General, Department of National ID and Civil Registration, Ministry of Home Affairs — Government of Nepal
- Dr. Ramesh Marikhu, Project Manager, and Anuj Gupta, AI Engineer — AI Brian Lab (AIBL)
- AIT team: Dr. Chaklam Silpasuwanchai, Academic Program Chair, Data Science and AI; Dr. Chutiporn Anutariya, Academic Program Chair, Computer Science; Dr. Chantri Polprasert, Academic Program Chair, Information Management; and Dr. Sanjiv Neupane, Data Innovation Hub Manager, Global Water and Sanitation Center
This diverse mix of expertise enriched the discussions, ensuring perspectives from policy, technology, academia, and development practice were integrated into the outcomes.
Expert presentations featured:
- Gates Foundation: Shared the global DPI vision, including the MOSIP open-source ID platform, already being adopted in 25+ countries, including the Philippines, Morocco, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka.
- World Bank and Asian Development Bank: Presented global and ASEAN-wide lessons on interoperability and digital identity for financial inclusion.
- NDID & CDG (Thailand): Highlighted Thailand’s decentralized digital ID model and practical applications in banking, e-KYC, and social services.
- Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs: Shared the rollout of biometric ID cards, underscoring both achievements and challenges in governance and sustainability.
Key Learnings and Actionable Insights
The three-day program combined field visits, expert talks, and systems-thinking sessions. Major learnings included:
- Learning from Thailand’s decentralized digital ID architecture as a regional example.
- Addressing vendor dependency, privacy, and governance challenges from Nepal’s experience.
- Exploring privacy-preserving technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and federated systems.
- Enabling technological innovations for gender intentional and pro-poor Digital ID use cases.
- Positioning AIT as a regional DPI knowledge hub to support countries in South and Southeast Asia.
The workshop concluded with a shared commitment to strengthen collaboration, build in-house technical capacity, and ensure that digital identity as a DPI becomes a platform for inclusion, empowerment, and trust.
