2026-11-05 –, Jasmine Stage 4
What does it take to turn decentralized identity from technological innovation into national public infrastructure – and what can other countries learn from Bhutan’s pioneering experience? Bringing together the Geneva Research Lab for Digital Impact (GRL) at the University of Geneva and Bhutan’s National Digital Identity technical team, this fireside chat draws on independent research and first-hand implementation experience to explore the opportunities, challenges and tradeoffs of decentralized identity at national scale, offering practical lessons for governments and Ethereum builders.
As one of the first countries to implement self-sovereign identity at national scale – and the first to anchor its national digital identity system on Ethereum – Bhutan had few direct precedents to follow. Building on existing models and decentralized technologies, it had to rethink their application to national public infrastructure.
The discussion unpacks the technical, institutional and societal choices behind implementation – from Ethereum’s role and the transition from Polygon to the governance, legal and operational conditions required for success. It explores the challenges of building trust, driving adoption and ensuring inclusion, as well as the opportunities and tradeoffs for countries with different levels of digital infrastructure, institutional capacity and population scale.
Emma Luu Van Lang is Head of the Geneva Research Lab for Digital Impact (GRL) at the University of Geneva, a research and impact platform advancing inclusive and sustainable digital transformation. With over a decade of experience in international development and social impact, she leads GRL’s strategy and initiatives, bridging research, policy and practice to understand what it takes for digital innovation to deliver meaningful societal impact.
GRL’s work focuses on the human, institutional and ecosystem conditions that enable digital infrastructure and emerging technologies to deliver impact beyond their technical design, including the factors shaping their adoption, governance and long-term sustainability. Through research, learning and cross-sector collaboration, GRL translates evidence into practical solutions and helps inform decisions that support the responsible and inclusive adoption and scaling of digital innovations.
Kinzang Dorji is the Technical Lead for Bhutan's National Digital Identity (NDI), leading the engineering of the country's self-sovereign identity platform anchored on Ethereum. The work spans the full stack, from credential issuance and verification infrastructure to the citizen wallet, with a central focus on empowering digital trust: delivering secure, reliable and interoperable digital identity that puts people in control of their own data.
Tshendu Gyeltshen is a Technical Lead with a strong interest in digital innovation, software development, and building practical solutions that create real impact. His work centers on leading engineering efforts, solving meaningful problems, and contributing to secure, user-focused digital systems that support people and communities.