Bhutan's 7-Year-Old Prince Becomes First Digital Citizen Of The Country

India's neighbouring country Bhutan took a major step towards the advancement of its digital infrastructure recently and introduced the world to its first-ever digital citizen, its seven-year-old prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk. This is a stepping stone for the country's digital development.

Bhutan is slowly working towards coming out of the least developed countries list of the United Nations and for this, the country is determined to facilitate progress in technology and economy. The country is taking steps towards creating a stable and effective technological infrastructure to modernise the country's operations. A major step in this direction is the introduction of digital citizenship in the country. And the first citizen to get digital citizen status is none other than the young prince of the country.

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Bhutan's First Digital Citizen

The eldest son of Bhutan's king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the 7-year-old Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk is the first Bhutanese to receive the first-ever Bhutan National Digital Identity (NDI) mobile wallet becoming the country's first digital citizen. The wallet provides safe and verifiable credentials to the citizens of Bhutan with the use of cutting-edge technology. This NDI is designed in such a way as to provide better control over their personal information and limit who can access their information, ensuring protection and privacy.

NDI is based on the model of 'self-sovereign identity' whose framework is the Decentralised Identity (DID) technology and is developed by DHI InnoTech and GovTech Bhutan. Ujjwal Dahal, the director of DHI InnoTech said, "Bhutan NDI will ensure that citizens and residents can access the services they need in a secure and efficient manner".

Digital citizenship is the ability of people of a country to safely and responsibly navigate the digital environment and technology. It is the ability of citizens to be active and respectful members of the digital space. India has always had friendly ties with Bhutan and has reportedly been helping the neighbouring country to build its digital framework. The two neighbours are also collaborating on technological projects like the construction of the third international gateway of Bhutan, which India is supporting by providing a concessional rate to decrease its cost of operation.