Foundational identity systems (FIDS) have been used to optimise service delivery and inclusive economic growth in developing countries. As developing nations increasingly seek to use FIDS for the identification and authentication of identity (ID) holders, trustworthy interoperability will help to develop a cross-border dimension of e-Government. Despite this potential, there has not been any significant research on the interoperability of FIDS in the African identity ecosystem. There are several challenges to this; on one hand, complex internal political dynamics have resulted in weak institutions, implying that FIDS could be exploited for political gains. On the other hand, the trust in the government by the citizens or ID holders is habitually low, in which case, data security and privacy protection concerns become paramount. In the same sense, some FIDS are technology-locked, thus interoperability is primarily ambiguous. There are also issues of cross-system compatibility, legislation, vendor-locked system design principles and unclear regulatory provisions for data sharing. Fundamentally, interoperability is an essential prerequisite for e-Government services and underpins optimal service delivery in education, social security, and financial services including gender and equality as already demonstrated by the European Union. Furthermore, cohesive data exchange through an interoperable identity system will create an ecosystem of efficient data governance and the integration of cross-border FIDS. Consequently, this research identifies the challenges, opportunities, and requirements for cross-border interoperability in an African context. Our findings show that interoperability in the African identity ecosystem is vital to strengthen the seamless authentication and verification of ID holders for inclusive economic growth and widen the dimensions of e-Government across the continent.

翻译：基础身份系统（FIDS）已被用于优化发展中国家的服务交付与包容性经济增长。随着发展中国家日益寻求利用FIDS实现身份持有人的识别与认证，可信互操作性将有助于发展电子政务的跨境维度。尽管潜力巨大，但非洲身份生态系统中FIDS互操作性的研究尚属空白。这面临多重挑战：一方面，复杂的内部政治动态导致机构薄弱，FIDS可能被用于政治博弈；另一方面，公民或身份持有人对政府的信任度普遍偏低，数据安全与隐私保护问题因而至关重要。同样，部分FIDS存在技术锁定问题，互操作性因此充满歧义。此外还存在跨系统兼容性、立法、供应商锁定系统设计原则以及数据共享监管条款不明确等问题。从根本上说，互操作性是电子政务服务的必要先决条件，支撑着教育、社会保障、金融服务（包括性别平等领域）的最优服务交付——正如欧盟已展现的范例。更具凝聚力的数据交换通过互操作身份系统将创建高效数据治理生态，并推动跨境FIDS的整合。基于此，本研究识别了非洲背景下跨境互操作面临的挑战、机遇与需求。研究结果表明，非洲身份生态系统中的互操作性对于强化身份持有人的无缝认证与验证、促进包容性经济增长、拓展全大陆电子政务维度具有关键意义。