The Ministry of Economy and Finance has officially launched a project to digitalise and transform Cambodia’s social assistance system. The aim is to harmonise the registration and management of data, with a focus on two key cyber solutions.

Deputy Prime Minister and finance minister Aun Pornmoniroth, who chairs the National Social Protection Council (NSPC), unveiled these digital solutions during the project’s launching ceremony on June 13. The solutions include a digital social media platform and a social assistance database.

Significant progress has been made in Cambodia’s social assistance system, according to Pornmoniroth, as confirmed by the NSPC general secretariat.

This progress has played a crucial role in maintaining a balanced life for the people and the Kingdom’s socio-economic wellbeing.

“With proactive cooperation from ministries, institutions, development partners and stakeholders, Cambodia has effectively managed crises and reduced their negative impact to a manageable level,” he said.

Chan Narith, finance ministry undersecretary of state and NSPC secretary-general, provided an update on the pilot project as of May 31 this year.

He said the project has successfully linked identities of nearly 80,000 beneficiaries, eliminated duplicated data and created unique Social Protection IDs (SPIDs) for over 40,000 individuals. It has also classified more than 30,000 incomplete identification records.

Narith highlighted the verification of over 40,000 registrants and the provision of social protection IDs to relevant ministries and institutions’ information technology systems. These systems include the poor family identification system, information technology system for pregnant women and children under two years of age, Health Equity Fund’s Health Expense Verification System, and information technology system of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). These systems use a base ID under each card number issued to beneficiaries, ensuring data synchronisation and updates.

“The project aims to harmonise the registration system and management of social assistance data,” said Narith.

He further explained that the project is fully supported by the registrants themselves, as it eliminates the need for multiple applications or accounts. Instead, they can use a single registration platform with one form and one account to register for any programme.

The Digital Social Protection Platform serves as a comprehensive digital platform for registration, interaction, and identity verification within the social protection system.

It includes features such as joint identity registration, registration for the National Social Assistance Fund, identity and rights verification, biometric data utilisation, and duplicate data checks with relevant ministry and institution registration systems.

The Social Protection Registration Database plays a vital role in facilitating interoperability among social assistance and NSSF operators. It enables synchronisation, updates, and data exchange within a common ecosystem, including demographic, biometric and socio-economic information. The system generates a unique 10-digit social protection ID for each registrant, thus simplifying the process.