GovMesh Digest: Bhutan builds a decentralised digital government model with a centralised agency

Bhutan’s story is one of those featured in the GovMesh Digest special report. You can find the individual stories on the other participating governments at GovMesh 1.0 here. 

The young GovTech Bhutan, only three years old, has positioned the small Himalayan kingdom as a global leader in digital identity, having implemented the world’s first decentralised, self-sovereign national identity platform known as NDI. 

At GovMesh, the agency’s Deputy Chief ICT Officer, Jampel Ngedup, shared how the formation of GovTech Bhutan represents a significant shift from the previous structure where IT functions were distributed across the various government departments.  

GovMesh is a by-invite-only event for emerging digital governments in the region, and its inaugural edition happened in March 25 in Singapore. 

One central unit to lead WOG digital transformation 

GovTech Bhutan, operating under the Cabinet Secretary's Office, was tasked with the significant undertaking of consolidating the IT functions across the different departments and spearheading whole-of-government digital transformation. 

Ngedup shared that the agency began with a lean team of just 50 to 60 employees, and noted that it has since more than doubled in size to approximately 130, with further expansion plans. 

The agency’s Secretary, Jigme Tenzing, previously shared with GovInsider: “The world previously didn’t look to Bhutan as an innovator of digital solutions. In fact, we were looking to Singapore, India and Estonia." 

The formation of GovTech Bhutan, as a separate agency to centralise IT functions, is likened to Japan Digital Agency.  

At GovMesh, Japan Digital Agency’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer Sota Mazishuma said his agency was formed to fulfil the vision of “Government-as-a-Service” and “Government-as-a-Startup”. 

NDI digital wallet to integrate 15 more government services 

Having laid the foundations to enable efficient, safe and accessible delivery of public services, NDI has embarked on the next steps to integrate e-government and other online services. 

Digital ID is one of the three key pillars supporting Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). 

As of tFebruary 2025, approximately 219,500 citizens have been onboarded to the NDI wallet, according to Ngedup. 

The NDI wallet is currently integrated with 13 government-to-citizen services, providing access to digital degree certificates, as well as services offered by the private telecommunications operator Tashi Cell, he said. 

The next phase of integration would look at adding another 15 government services (such as the e-Registration & Licensing Information System known as eRaLIS offered by the Road and Transport Authority), audit clearance, and civil servants' credentials and services. 

During the initial stages of its launch, the NDI wallet only enabled the issuance of verifiable credentials (VCs).

This was followed by the first level of integration, which is password-less login for common government services, Ngedup noted. 

The second level of integration then looked into facilitating data sharing from VCs to government systems, with the third level being integrating digital or electronic signing for these systems.  

GovTech Bhutan is actively working on developing these policies to facilitate wider adoption of digital signatures, he added. 

Read more:  

• Infographic: Rethinking national digital IDs: A decentralised approach, Jan 2, GovInsider 

• Digital assets power Bhutan’s national development, Dec 3, GovInsider