Within the U.S., it’s attainable to retailer a digital model of your driving licence in Apple Pockets in your iPhone. (Supplied your state permits this: presently simply 10 do, whereas an extra 9 have promised to take action sooner or later.) However there are few indicators of this changing into an choice for iPhone homeowners in the remainder of the world.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle made the announcement on January 21. The pockets app, which will likely be accessible for Android in addition to iOS, will launch later this yr, and the digital driving licence may even be piloted in 2025. Different parts of the scheme could take longer to fall into place, however all authorities providers, ministers insist, will likely be required to supply “a digital alternative alongside paper or card credentials” by the tip of 2027.
“Along with CDs, the Walkman and flip phones, the overflowing drawer rammed with letters from the government and hours spent on hold to get a basic appointment will soon be consigned to history,” Kyle mentioned. “GOV.UK Wallet will mean that every letter or identity document you receive from the government could be issued to you virtually.”
The federal government additionally introduced a brand new GOV.UK app designed to make it simpler (and extra “in tune with modern life”) to make use of public providers equivalent to reporting misplaced passports, and plans to make use of tech within the public sector.
