The visiting World Bank mission met with the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) on 21st October 2025, to review progress on key components of the D’MADD Project. Discussions focused on realigning the project with the digital governance reforms, infrastructure upgrades, and legislative priorities critical to advancing the Maldives’ digital transformation agenda.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Jerome Bezzina and Ms. Anna Zita Metz, Co-Task Team Leaders from the World Bank. Dr. Mohamed Kinaanath (Minister of State for Homeland Security and Technology), Mr. Abdulla Hussain (Deputy Minister), Mr. Hussain Naushad (Senior GDS Specialist), Ms. Shazra Mohamed Saeed (Project Manager for DDP), and Senior Software Engineers Mr. Hany Naseer and Mr. Mohamed Aiman represented NCIT.

Dr. Ibrahim Waheed (Project Manager), Mr. Ahmed Haleem (Communications Specialist) and Ms. Fathmath Shafa Hussain (Project Officer) participated from the D’MADD PMU team.

Dr. Kinaanath confirmed that the draft Digital ID Bill and the Maldives Digital Service (MDS) Bill had been submitted to the Attorney General’s Office, marking an important step toward institutional reform. The team agreed that while restructuring activities for NCIT are well underway, the allocated funds under the Financing Agreement could be redirected toward capacity building, public consultations, and benchmarking exercises to strengthen NCIT’s expanded mandate.

The World Bank team emphasized the importance of aligning these efforts with international best practices and proposed revising the Terms of Reference to reflect the current reform stage. It was agreed that training and exposure to global models would be prioritized to ensure sustainability.

Under Component 1.2, updates included completion of the meeting room setup and ongoing consultancy work for the SDWAN activity. Proof of Concept faced challenges, prompting a shift to a two-stage procurement process to improve transparency and participation. The Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan (BCDRP) has been finalized, with recommendations focusing on digital transformation and data center improvements. NCIT is exploring options for a national cloud and secondary data center, supported by MoUs signed with international partners for digital cooperation.

The discussion also re-addressed the Data Protection Bill, which remains pending in Parliament. The team noted that timely submission is critical to avoid funding reallocation and safeguard project objectives. The bill’s passage will enable progress on activities such as the Toolkit development and the Digital ID system, which includes hardware procurement for the National Data Center and consent platform integration.

On data sharing and interoperability, NCIT proposed leveraging the Climate Data Platform (CDP) as the foundation for a National Data Exchange, minimizing duplication and optimizing resources. The group agreed to adopt this approach, ensuring scalability and cost efficiency while maintaining compliance with data protection requirements.

Finally, updates on the eFaas program were shared, with version 2.0 scheduled for early 2026 and version 3.0 in Q1 2026. Enhancements include improved user interfaces and accessibility features for vulnerable users, aligning with the Digital ID framework.

The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to accelerating legislative processes, strengthening institutional capacity, and advancing digital infrastructure to achieve the Maldives’ long-term digital transformation goals.

An additional meeting for NCIT was held on 22nd October to present the details of the Maldives 2.0 and e-Faas version 3.0. The presentation was conducted by Mr. Mohamed Nasru (Senior Software Engineer) and Dr. Mohamed Kinaanath.