The Parliament has begun its preliminary debate on the "Maldives 2.0 Digital Transformation Bill" that was filed by the government, which states the digitalization of most services provided by state agencies and making arrangements for all those services are to be made available on one portal.

Gadhdhoo Constituency MP Mohamed Ali submitted the bill on behalf of the government, which reads that a special program under the name "Maldives 2.0" needs to be conducted in changing most services to be given digitally with the aid of modern technology. One of the objectives of the program is to establish a portal named the "Citizen Portal", where state agency services that are to be digitalized be made available under one platform. The bill also reads that a roadmap which details how Maldives will be digitalized, along with the portal and other digital services, is to be included as well.

However, instead of setting a deadline, the bill reads that it is to be left to the "Digital Transformation Council", which will be created under the bill after it is ratified.

Article 18 of the bill reads that the Citizen Portal must be established via a trusted system where a digital identity can be used. The government has also filed a bill to the Parliament for an act titled the Digital Identity Act, which will state regulations regarding the portal. A data exchange system between state agencies is to be established along with the portal.

Services provided by all state institutions will need to be made available on the "National Citizen Portal" that is to be established once the bill is ratified. Local councils will be included as well.

Features to be included in making the portal accessible

As per the bill that is currently being debated upon in Parliament, the introduction of the portal that has digitalized services once the bill is ratified must be user friendly.

The bill requires the application that is introduced in using the portal must be available in Dhivehi, along with it being easy to understand without looking at digital literacy.

The administration that is created under the bill after ratification will need to ensure the application is created in such a way that those with disabilities find the service easy to use as well.

As per the bill, most of the efforts in digitalizing Maldives are to be done by the administration that is created, named the "Maldives Digital Service". The leader of the administration will take on the position of "Commissioner for Digital Technology", which will be created as a position.