Podcast 🎧 & blog: Interoperability is next in the plan for Costa Rica

Costa Rica has one Minister for four domains – science, innovation, technology, and telecommunications. It is Paula Bogantes Zamora, who joined us on stage at the latest e-Governance Conference 2024 for a panel on leadership in driving digital transformation.

Very fittingly so, as Costa Rica keeps advancing on its path towards effective and all-encompassing digital transformation. From healthcare to education, through digital identity and interoperability, a lot has been done already in the country.

Bogantes joins us for a chat on achievements, challenges, and future plans – during and beyond her term as Minister – in a small Central American country that keeps digitalisation at heart.

Digitalisation in Costa Rica – taking stock

Advancements

“What’s the status of Costa Rican digital transformation? It depends on who we compare ourselves with, right? If we were to look at the region, and by region, I mean Central America, we are, according to different ranks, the number one country when it comes to digital transformation. If we compare ourselves with Europe, I’m gonna say we’re lagging behind,” Bogantes begins.

Costa Rica, in fact, has advanced significantly in digital transformation. The country is equipped with strong regulatory frameworks for data protection and cybersecurity and has initiated several key digital projects. For instance, the Ministry of Transportation is working on a digital driver’s license, while the national elections agency is developing a digital ID for all Costa Ricans. Plus, the government is promoting the use of digital signatures to streamline services and reduce reliance on paper.

“From a central government perspective, we’re enhancing our efforts to go paper-free, something Estonia did several years ago,” Bogantes points out.

Challenges

Challenges though, of course, remain. Infrastructure gaps, the need for more digital skills among the population, and resistance to change within the government ranks are blocks to overcome. From our conversation, the latter comes off as one of the most significant challenges Costa Rica faces in its digital transformation journey.

“That’s the number one problem. Everyone wants to stay within their comfort zone. We’ve been doing things a certain way for years, so why change? Overcoming this resistance requires training and demonstrating the benefits through examples from other countries,” Bogantes says.

Political challenges also pose an obstacle – a supportive legislative environment is needed to implement digital transformation. “It requires support from Parliament, which can be complex due to political dynamics. In some European countries, bills are passed in months; in Costa Rica, it’s more complicated and often becomes political. For successful digital transformation, the best interests of the country should prevail, but this is not always the case in politics,” Bogantes warns.

Also, the cybersecurity attack in 2022 underscored the need for healthy defense mechanisms and placed digital transformation at the forefront of the national agenda. But as the Minister noted, here again, “support from the highest levels of government, including the President, is crucial for these initiatives to succeed,” she says.

If defense spending goes into something else

On this last point, the experience with a cybersecurity attack, it may come as surprising to some that Costa Rica still does not pursue public spending in defense and military. It is more of a conceptual point, rather than a practical one. But it is foundational, historic – a decision that dates back to 1948, that has allowed the country to focus resources on other things.

“People need to understand that we are a very small economy with only 5.2 million inhabitants. We’re one of the smallest countries in Central America. And this decision has proved wise over time, especially during the pandemic. The resources we refocused went into healthcare and education, ” she explaines.

Something which proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Costa Rica was very successful with its vaccination campaign, also thanks to our digital health care file established in 2017. This digital file allowed us to efficiently identify and reach out to senior citizens for vaccinations. Now we need to move to the next stage. Connecting information from private hospitals with our digital health files will enable us to create better public policies and awareness campaigns.”

Digital identification and interoperability as the next goals

Costa Rica’s digital transformation goals for the near future include the implementation of a comprehensive digital ID, a digital driver’s license, and the development of a digital wallet. “The digital ID will connect to many other services, and we’re focusing on interoperability to ensure seamless data sharing across sectors. We have the digital signature already, but we need to encourage more Costa Ricans to use it.”

Interoperability stands out though as a cornerstone of these efforts. By focusing on that in healthcare first, the government aims to demonstrate the tangible benefits of digital transformation to citizens, increasing broader acceptance and support for future digital initiatives. “We are launching interoperability using X-Road, the software developed and maintained by Estonia, Finland, and Iceland. And e-Governance Academy is providing us with the assistance to ensure we do it right. On the architecture, but also on implementing best practices,” Bogantes says.

Next, “moving to zero paper within the central government aligns with our strong environmental policies. It’s contradictory to boast about our environmental achievements, like generating 99% of our electricity from renewable sources, while still relying on paper.”

Last on the list, but never as the least, comes another dividend of digitalisation. “Digital transformation supports transparency, an area where technology can help us combat corruption. In Latin America, corruption is a concern, and technology enables more transparent governance, making it harder for corrupt practices to go unnoticed,” Bogantes continues.

“I think through all these efforts, we can be an example in the region. And we’re eager to help neighboring countries on their digital transformation path too. Central America is our second largest commerce partner after the US: imagine the impact of a regional digital ID that could be used across Central American countries. This would streamline trade, travel, and cooperation, much like the EU’s digital single market,” she suggests, concluding.

Listen to all Digital Government Podcast episodes >>> ega.ee/digital-government-podcast