Latin America Moves Closer to Digital Identity Interoperability

Latin America’s long-standing ambition to enable cross-border use of national digital identities is entering a more concrete phase.

The idLAC (Identidad Digital de Latinoamérica y el Caribe) initiative aims to allow citizens to access public services in participating countries using their home-country digital identity, without the need for physical presence or duplicate registration.

The programme is expected to move into an implementation phase from March 2026, with 13 countries already committed to participation.

The initiative has its roots in bilateral interoperability between Uruguay and Brazil, two countries with relatively mature digital government ecosystems ¹. Rather than mandating a single regional identity scheme, idLAC is built around a regional ‘broker’ model. This broker acts as a trusted intermediary, connecting national identity providers with public-sector service platforms in other countries, while preserving national sovereignty over identity enrolment, issuance and lifecycle management.