From paper to digital: Kenya launched national digital birth register developed in cooperation with Estonia

Birth certificate is more than a document; it is the key to education, health care and other essential government services. For many Kenyan citizens, however, securing one has long been a difficult process. Parents often faced repeated trips to government offices and delays caused by shortages of paper forms, only to notice errors due to manual data entry. Each year, approximately one-fifth of all births remained unregistered. 

In cooperation with Kenya’s Civil Registration Services (CRS), Estonian experts helped to create a digital birth registration solution that allows to register a child’s birth in the Civil Registry while still in the hospital. This makes the entire process many times faster and more convenient for families and helps the state reduce and prevent errors in the population register. 

ESTDEV funded the development of the e-service as part of the Team Europe human-centered digitalization initiative. The necessary analysis and initial designs of the e-service was done by Trinidad Wiseman, and development was completed by ADM Interactive in collaboration with the CRS. One day, everybody who is born in Kenya will use this system. 

Estonia’s digital expertise helps Kenya tackle longstanding challenges 

Before the reform, Kenya’s manual, paper-based system was struggling to keep up. As Alexander M. Chege, head of ICT at CRS, explained, delays were common and administrative costs were high. Parents could wait months between the time a birth was recorded and when they received a certificate. Hospitals had to physically transport forms to registrar offices, while errors in data entry often required citizens to undergo expensive and time-consuming corrections. 

These inefficiencies have real consequences. Without timely registration, children risk being excluded from school enrolment, health care or social services that require proof of identity. For the state, inaccurate data undermines planning for everything from immunisation campaigns to education policy. 

Estonia is recognised as one of the world’s most advanced digital nations, with 100% of public services available online. Through ESTDEV, that expertise is being shared globally with partner countries eager to modernise their governance. 

After the creation of initial prototypes by Trinidad Wiseman, Estonian digital solutions agency ADM Interactive collaborated with CRS to develop a solution that integrated with the country’s legacy systems. Rather than replacing infrastructure, experts from ADM and Kenyan teams worked together to modernise it. This included co-creating new “micro”-service solutions for hospitals and parents, consulting on technological architecture and ensuring processes were designed around citizens’ needs. 

While this particular e-service did not use GovStack modules, the project drew on GovStack principles. Standards coming from GovStack principles (e.g. Design with the User, Open Standards, and Reusable Component Library) enabled Kenya to initiate one life-event service—birth registration—while ensuring the system could later be expanded to cover marriages, deaths and other events. 

As Riho Pihelpuu, ADM’s CEO, emphasised, the approach was not about imposing a one-size-fits-all model. It was about partnership, knowledge transfer and building sustainability into the system. 

The changes are substantial. Hospitals can now enter birth details directly into a secure digital system. Information is validated against Kenya’s Integrated Population Registration System, dramatically reducing errors. Each newborn is assigned a unique digital identifier at birth, creating a permanent record from day one, including the necessary multi-factor authentication and validation procedures. 

For parents, the benefits will be even more visible once the integration with Kenya’s eCitizen portal goes live. Through a familiar platform already used for other government services, families will be able to modify their child’s details, request a birth certificate and pay for the services without leaving home.  

Digitalisation also promotes inclusivity, as vulnerable groups, including women, rural citizens and individuals with disabilities, can access services more easily. As Chege notes, “The service is available online and therefore accessible to all without a requirement to travel long distances.” 

Impact and lessons for future government e-services 

Faster and more accurate birth registration does more than save time. It accelerates access to vital services, such as education and health care. It fosters trust between citizens and the government, demonstrating that public services can be efficient, transparent and citizen-centred. It also provides the state with better data to guide policy and allocate resources. 

For hospitals, the system reduces administrative burdens, freeing up staff to focus on patients rather than paperwork. For the government, it strengthens interoperability, with data now seamlessly integrated across agencies via the eCitizen platform. 

According to Katrin Winter, ESTDEV’s regional head for Africa, digitalisation in and of itself isn’t the end goal. “Digital public services, such as Kenya’s birth registration, enable service design with a human-centric approach. Our aim is to ensure local governance is efficiently and transparently delivered and accessible to citizens. The co-creation and collaboration process between Kenya and Estonia has been a key to this success,” said Winter.    

The project has highlighted several lessons that will guide Kenya’s broader digital transformation and serve as inspiration for other countries: 

As Pihelpuu said, “Everybody who is born in Kenya will one day use this system. And the same infrastructure can be expanded to cover all life events.” 

An opportunity for Estonia’s private sector 

ESTDEV’s mission is to transfer Estonia’s digital expertise to places where it can make the most difference. Co-creating solutions with local partners ensures they are sustainable, scalable and truly impactful.  

“The Kenyan people have energy. They want to push forward. It’s inspiring, but if you want to do something there, you need to build up relationships and a network. You need to be there,” said Pihelpuu. “If you want to do a standardised, routine project, then don't go to Kenya. If you want to explore, if you want to grow, if you want to feel the energy, then go.” 

Kenya’s experience illustrates that, with the right partnerships, digital innovation can do more than modernise services; it can transform governance and empower citizens.  

This e-services development project was undertaken within the framework of a € 2.4 million digital development project in Kenya, aimed at supporting the country’s digitalisation and the creation of a transparent, efficient digital society. ESTDEV manages the project as part of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Human-Centred Digitalisation. GIZ supports implementation through the Digital Transformation Center (DTC), and Germany and the European Union have provided financing.