On 2 November, TECHPARK CV hosted the Cabo Verde Workshop: Digital Identity & eID, 2026 edition. For one afternoon, the room brought together public institutions, the banking sector, document issuers and technology companies to discuss the state of digital identity in the country.
Caixa Mágica Software was one of the three sponsors, alongside LIZAR Systems and DevTrust Consulting. We presented the Digital Identity 2030 session.
This article sums up the day and the ideas we brought. The full programme and the context before the event are in our preview article.
How did the L.ID Cabo Verde digital identity workshop go?
The workshop was organised by L.ID Conference & Digital ID Hub with Kindness Blossom. It follows the LisbonID format, which Caixa Mágica co-organised in Lisbon in May 2026. In Cabo Verde, the format was shorter and focused on local opportunities.
The afternoon moved between talks and hands-on moments. Anyone arriving at registration could try a digital credential. Anyone staying for the break could see DRACO at work. The end of the day was set aside for networking and B2B meetings.
How was the afternoon structured?
Rather than repeat the programme talk by talk, we have split the afternoon into five blocks.
| Time | Block | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 14:00 to 14:45 | Registration and opening | Registration, networking and the L.ID Demo Credential experience, followed by the institutional opening. |
| 14:45 to 15:50 | The starting point | IMIJ spoke about the secure identity infrastructure the country already has. DevTrust presented opportunities by sector. Caixa Mágica looked ahead to 2030. |
| 15:50 to 16:45 | Issuance and demo | Filipe Carvalho of LIZAR Systems spoke about physical and digital issuance. During the break, DRACO and the L.ID Demo Credential showed the process live. |
| 16:45 to 17:20 | Ecosystem and finance | Eng. Hélio Varela spoke about a home-grown digital ecosystem. Banco de Cabo Verde brought the view of the financial system. |
| 17:20 to 18:30 | Panel and closing | A panel on where digital identity creates value today, questions from the audience and a closing summary by DevTrust and LIZAR. |
What did Caixa Mágica present?
In the Digital Identity 2030 session we looked at what will change in digital identity by the end of the decade. We left the room with three ideas.
To go further, we have written about who must accept the European wallet by December 2027 and how an organisation integrates as a relying party.
Why has digital identity become more urgent in Cabo Verde?
In early 2024, an employee of the engineering firm Arup in Hong Kong joined a video call with people he believed were the company’s chief financial officer and other colleagues. All of them were AI-generated imitations. By the end, he had made 15 transfers totalling around HK$200 million, close to US$25 million, as reported by the South China Morning Post and Fortune.
The case shows a limit that applies to every country. Recognising a face or a voice is no longer enough to trust someone at a distance. Verification has to rest on something a video cannot imitate: a credential issued by a trusted body, digitally signed and verified by whoever receives it.
This is where new trust models stop being theory. A bank opening an account remotely, a public service accepting an online request or an operator activating a contract all need to know that the person is who they claim to be. They also need to know it without storing more data than necessary. For digital identity in Cabo Verde, with the population spread across the islands and a large diaspora, remote relationships are the rule.
What does digital identity change for the Cabo Verde diaspora?
A large share of Cabo Verdeans live outside the archipelago, many in Portugal and other European countries. For them, digital identity issued in Cabo Verde has very concrete effects. It is the difference between handling something remotely and having to travel, wait for a consulate appointment or ask a relative to deal with it. The benefit is clearest in three situations.
In every case, what makes the credential useful is the same: shared standards and services willing to accept it. That is why we argue that decisions on digital identity in Cabo Verde should also look beyond the country’s borders, to where many of its citizens live.
What did LIZAR show?
At 15:50, Filipe Carvalho of LIZAR Systems took the conversation to the physical issuance of the document, where many digital identities begin. In the break that followed, LIZAR showed DRACO live, alongside DevTrust’s L.ID Demo Credential experience.
The full chain, from physical issuance to the digital wallet, is in our article on the partnership between Caixa Mágica and LIZAR.
What lessons do we bring from Portugal?
We have developed and maintained the Portuguese Citizen Card middleware since 2011. Fifteen years on the same system leave lessons that apply to any country building its digital identity.
- Digital identity is infrastructure. It does not end on launch day. New versions of operating systems, browsers and card readers mean the software has to be adapted every year. The budget must plan for that maintenance from the start.
- Compatibility drives adoption. Citizens do not choose their computer or phone to suit their ID document. The system has to work with the equipment people already have, including older models.
- Services pull the credential. A credential only gets used when there are useful services on the other side. The first services to accept it shape how citizens see it.
- Both worlds coexist for years. The physical document and the digital credential will live side by side for a long time. Planning for that avoids duplicate systems and confused citizens.
None of these lessons is unique to Portugal. They are the ones we find most useful for anyone building digital identity in Cabo Verde now, with fewer legacy systems to maintain and more freedom to choose.
Where should digital identity in Cabo Verde start?
For an organisation in Cabo Verde that wants to accept digital identity, we suggest five steps. They work for a bank, a public service or a telecoms operator. Step four refers to two public standards: ICAO Doc 9303 for travel documents and ISO/IEC 18013-5 for mobile credentials.
- Pick one service. A high-volume service where identity checks currently require travel or paper. That is where the benefit shows fastest.
- Define the attributes. List what the service really needs to know. Often it is enough to confirm age or residence, without asking for the whole document.
- Plan for no network. Decide what happens when the connection drops. In-person verification should work offline and synchronise later.
- Require open standards. Ask for compliance with ICAO Doc 9303 for travel documents and ISO/IEC 18013-5 for mobile credentials. This protects the investment and widens the choice of suppliers.
- Measure from day one. Set indicators before launch, so you know whether the service works and where to fix it.
These are the indicators we suggest tracking in the first year.
| Indicator | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Time to enrol | How long it takes a citizen to complete the process, from the first step to confirmation. |
| Drop-off | How many people start and do not finish. It shows which step is hard. |
| Offline | What share of in-person checks happens without a network and how often they succeed. |
| Fraud stopped | How many identity theft attempts the system blocks, compared with the previous process. |
Which questions remain open?
We brought five questions on digital identity in Cabo Verde to TECHPARK CV and explained each one in the preview article. None of them gets solved in one afternoon. All five are still on the table.
- Which services should accept digital identity first?
- How is issuance quality guaranteed on every island?
- What happens when there is no network?
- How is citizens’ privacy protected?
- Which skills stay in the country?
What comes next?
The workshop was a starting point. These are the next steps on our side.
Frequently asked questions
The workshop
When and where did the L.ID Cabo Verde Workshop take place?
Who organised and sponsored the workshop?
Were there live demos?
Caixa Mágica and next steps
What did Caixa Mágica present?
Where is the full programme?
What is the next L.ID event?
How can I talk to Caixa Mágica about digital identity?
Digital identity in Cabo Verde
Why do deepfakes make digital identity more important?
Where should a bank or public service start?
Which standards should an organisation require?
What is selective disclosure?
Does digital identity work without the internet?
