Agile DPI at play: Colombia uses five-day sprint to build its verifiable credentials pilots

A farmer in rural Colombia who needed to prove his identity to access an agricultural programme previously had to go through a tangle of manual checks and interagency data requests. 

Thanks to the Rural ID card (known as Cédula Rural in Colombia) developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a process that once took three days could soon take a few clicks in around 30 seconds. 

The working prototype was developed in a five-day bootcamp organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) in early May in Bogotá. 

Partnering with the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI), MinTIC brought together selected public agencies in a closed, technical working environment to design and test verifiable credentials (VC) prototypes built around their agency’s own challenges. 

VCs sit at the intersection of identity and data exchange layers of the digital public infrastructure (DPI), allowing individuals to verify their identity without needing a central authority to intervene each time. 

Speaking to GovInsider, a representative from MinTIC’s Digital Government Directorate shares that the selected agencies were the National Digital Agency (Agencia Nacional Digital), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Migración Colombia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Police. 

Building for real problems 

“Rather than focusing solely on theoretical discussions, the bootcamp was structured around real-world use cases proposed by participating government entities,” says the representative. 

The MinTIC chose a collaborative, sprint-based methodology to enable the agencies to “move quickly from identifying institutional challenges to designing and validating practical solutions.” 

The event also deliberately placed technical teams alongside digital transformation leaders and decision-makers to ensure that prototypes can survive the institutional reality. 

The multidisciplinary teams then go through a practical process of mapping information flows, identifying where VCs could add value, assessing functional requirements, and evaluating the DPI components needed to support each use case. 

Explaining CDPI's partnering role, its Country Operations Associate for Latin America, Ana Maria Bermudez, shares with GovInsider that the non-profit supports the governments in the capacity building process to scale their DPI.

But ultimately, "[the governments] have built it, they understand it, and they own it completely," she says.

The use cases that made the cut 

According to the representative, the Rural ID Card, which facilitates rural producers’ access to government services and programmes, wasn’t the only promising use case to emerge from the week.  

Migración Colombia also developed a Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) that allows individuals to prove their migration status instantly with both public and private institutions. 

Sharing more about the development process for the Rural ID Card’s team, “institutional data was integrated through information-sharing services, resulting in a functional solution deployed in a testing environment.” 

The prototype is now mature enough for potential deployment alongside Colombia's national digital wallet, pending the necessary institutional validation and sign-off, he adds. 

“The outcomes demonstrated the potential of VCs to simplify processes, reduce repetitive document requests, improve information verification mechanisms, and strengthen data-sharing frameworks across public institutions,” the representative adds. 

CDPI's Bermudez highlights that whether it was the Ministry of Agriculture configuring their issurance flow or Migración Colombia connecting their identity infrastructure, CDPI and the agency teams worked through the technical decisions together.

"The knowledge was transferred in the doing," she adds.

A foundation for scaling 

The representative shares that the country’s broader DPI strategy focuses on building on open standards, reusable components, and citizen-centered digital services. 

“Work will continue with participating institutions to further refine the use cases, validate legal, technical, and operational considerations, and determine the conditions required for scaling and long-term sustainability,” he explains. 

Beyond working prototypes, the representative hopes that the bootcamp has built the capacities of participating agencies, specifically a deeper understanding of the governance, data protection, and citizen experience factors needed for a successful implementation. 

Moving forward, Colombia will continue building out its DPI through new use cases, evolving its national digital wallet, and continuing to develop reusable components across the government. 

He highlights that the longer-term vision is one where citizens have greater control over their personal data, and interact with government services more efficiently. 

Policy without implementation is just intention.  

The bootcamp was Colombia's attempt to bridge this gap, while building public officer capacities to support future innovation initiatives in the country.