Digital Public Infrastructure

I walked into the Prime Minister’s Office as an outsider. I had no civil service rank, no bureaucratic pedigree, no political patron. What I had was a passport horror story, eighteen years of reformatting systems abroad, and a foolish conviction that the government could be nudged to serve the people it had been designed…

At the end of the five days, I thought I would evaluate what we had learned, the usual thing to do before concluding a workshop. As expected, the fifteen participants commented on very positive things about what they had learned about digital technologies and how they would go back to their workplaces and start…

My role was first to convince the politicians and civil service that it was possible, then to design the interventions in various ministries, and finally to roll them out and demonstrate that common people benefited.

The inside of the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital was just like any other government office. Similar desks and chairs and computers. Similar cars going in and out. Similar trees and flowers adorned the campus. However, three things were absolutely different: security, people and decisions. The security was the highest in the country…

The funny thing was that all the information I provided to the passport office on my application form already existed with the Ministry of Education. All the information Stitchwel provided already existed with the Ministry of Local Government at the birth registration office. So, why couldn’t they share this information with the passport office?…

Aithorix compares his journey with Stitchwel’s and discovers how unequal the system really is 

Last episode had Aithorix reminisce his first time at a passport office in Bureaunia as he waited more than eight hours to collect a passport form. This week, he concludes his memories about the entirety of the passport process and how he felt as he left Bureaunia to go for higher studies.