Civitas ID receives $500,000 grant to build open-source Digital Public Infrastructure closing the documentation gap. Aug 11, 2026, 06:00 ET * $500,000 two-year grant from the Gates Foundation to advance open-source Digital Public Infrastructure designed for people excluded from formal systems due to documentation gaps * Advances open-source technology leveraging open standards and artificial intelligence * Addresses the documentation gap that prevents nearly a billion people from fully participating in the global economy, initially focused on displaced populations where the barrier is most acute SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Civitas ID, a US-based nonprofit building open-source digital identity infrastructure, today announced a two-year, $500,000 grant from the Gates Foundation. The funding continues the development of a resilient Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) specifically designed to close the documentation gap that prevents nearly a billion people worldwide from fully participating in the global economy. Civitas is initially focused on displaced populations where the barrier is most acute, with technology built to serve the wider population over time. A barrier keeping people around the world from formal work, banking, healthcare, and education is not poverty alone. It is the inability to prove who they are and what they have done in a way institutions recognize. Civitas is developing three components to close that gap: verifiable digital credentials that institutions issue and verify, a wallet where individuals hold and control their own credentials, and a platform that helps people navigate the services and aid available to them. Together they are designed to be durable, adopted by governments and multilateral institutions, and adapted by partners. Civitas is actively developing partnerships and pilot programs in Colombia and Kenya to close the documentation gap. "Nearly a billion people lack documentation institutions will trust," said Colin Walsh, Founder and Board Chair, Civitas ID. "Civitas is initially focused on the 117.8 million forcibly displaced, where the barrier is most acute. They carry skills, ambitions, and the will to build stable lives. This funding from the Gates Foundation lets us build the digital public infrastructure to address the problem at scale and shift the paradigm from aid to self-reliance." The architecture is open-source and inspectable, built on W3C Verifiable Credentials, Decentralized Identifiers, and open protocols. The credentials are designed for institutional recognition across governments, banks, employers, healthcare providers, and schools. Human-centered design research led by IDEO.org has anchored the technology development in the actual needs of the people it serves. The objective is that people own their identities and use verifiable credentials to unlock opportunity, stability, and long-term mobility, wherever they are. ABOUT CIVITAS ID Civitas ID is a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 39-2324240) building open-source digital identity infrastructure. Civitas ID's mission is to turn documentation from an economic barrier into an institutionally recognized bridge to opportunity and integration. The organization's vision is a world where everyone can prove who they are and what they have done, wherever they are. Civitas ID has assembled a global ecosystem of humanitarian, academic, financial, technology, and legal partners across deployment corridors in Colombia and Kenya. Learn more at civitasid.org. SOURCE Civitas ID

Arnold & Porter Seattle office expands with Life Sciences and Technology Transactions partner Ken Miller. August 3, 2026 SEATTLE, August 3, 2026 - Arnold & Porter announced today that Ken Miller has joined the Life Sciences and Technology Transactions teams of the firm's Corporate & Finance practice as a partner. Ken will reside in the firm's Seattle office. The firm's Seattle office serves as a hub for regulatory, litigation, and transactional work across key practices, including corporate and technology transactions, real estate, class actions, complex commercial litigation, employment disputes, and healthcare and hospital matters. With Ken's arrival, Arnold & Porter's team in the heart of downtown Seattle has increased to 40 attorneys and staff since opening the office in July 2025. Building on this steady and purposeful growth, the firm expects to continue expanding its team in the region. Pallavi Mehta Wahi, chair of Western U.S. Strategic Growth and head of Arnold & Porter's Seattle office, said: "Ken brings a combination of deep regional roots and global experience, spending his entire career in the Pacific Northwest while working on transactions in global health, technology, and life sciences. That blend is exactly what our clients in this region need, and it reflects what Arnold & Porter is building here in Seattle." Derek Stoldt, co-chair of Arnold & Porter's Corporate & Finance group, added: "Ken has a strong track record advising clients on the full range of technology and life sciences transactions, both in private practice and in-house. He knows this market well and will be a valuable addition to our Corporate & Finance team, while also expanding our highly regarded tax-exempt practice to the West Coast." Dan Kracov, chair of the firm's Global Life Sciences Industry group, commented: "Ken understands global life sciences work from the inside out. That perspective, paired with his transactional skill, makes him a natural fit for our group and a real asset to clients working across borders and disciplines." Ken brings more than 25 years of experience leading complex, high-value, multiparty transactions in technology, life sciences, and global health. Ken joined Arnold & Porter from the Gates Foundation, where he served for over a decade, most recently as Deputy General Counsel. In that role, Ken led legal strategy for the organization's $1.8 billion global health portfolio. He structured transactions that have transformed how life-saving therapies are developed, manufactured, financed, and delivered to the people who need them most. This includes a global tuberculosis vaccine program, a landmark public-private initiative spanning pharma, philanthropic capital, and global health organizations, now in Phase 3 clinical trials with 20,000 participants across five countries. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Ken spent 17 years in private practice at an Am Law 100 firm. There, he built a technology transactions practice focused on strategic licensing, IP acquisitions, investments, collaborations, and M&A. Ken's technology transactions experience spans a wide range of industries, including life sciences, semiconductor, and software, giving him a distinctive ability to structure complex transactions where these sectors converge. He has also clerked for the Washington State Supreme Court and the Washington State Court of Appeals. In joining the firm, Ken said: "We are entering a remarkable period of innovation in life sciences, technology, and global health, and clients increasingly need advisors who understand both the transactional and regulatory dimensions of that innovation. Arnold & Porter has built something distinctive: deep life sciences, technology, regulatory and tax-exempt capability combined with a serious commitment to Seattle at exactly the moment this region is defining itself as a global center for AI-driven innovation. I have spent my career in the Pacific Northwest working on some of the most complex transactions in global health and technology, and I can't think of a better platform or a better moment to build the next chapter of that work." Ken earned his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Puget Sound. About Arnold & Porter. Arnold & Porter combines sophisticated regulatory, litigation, and transactional capabilities to resolve clients' most complex issues. With over 1,000 lawyers practicing in 16 offices worldwide, Arnold & Porter LLP offer an integrated approach that spans more than 40 practice areas. Through multidisciplinary collaboration and focused industry experience, Arnold & Porter LLP provide innovative and effective solutions to mitigate risks, address challenges, and achieve successful outcomes.

Engage youth in building an integrated and inclusive digital health system for Bangladesh. The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, is implementing a project to strengthen Bangladesh's healthcare system by enhancing Digital Public Infrastructure for Health (DPI-H) and empowering youth as key drivers of transformation. The project will run from September 2025 to March 2027. It addresses the critical gap between youth education and public service innovation by equipping young people with digital and policy skills. This approach aims to bridge innovation and implementation - improving health service delivery while creating meaningful employment opportunities. Recognising youth as both innovators and beneficiaries, the project places youth engagement at the centre of DPI-H development. By strengthening their capacity in digital technologies and health policy, the initiative contributes to more inclusive, efficient, and sustainable healthcare systems. Additionally, the project tackles the mismatch between education and employment in Bangladesh by focusing on DPI-H - a sector requiring both technical expertise and health-system knowledge. This integrated approach supports progress toward SDG 3 (Health), SDG 4 (Education), and SDG 8 (Employment). Activities. July 28, 2026 Measles in Bangladesh has highlighted the urgent need to close immunity gaps, restore routine immunisation services and strengthen the country's capacity to detect and manage infectious disease outbreaks. May 19, 2026 Bangladesh's health sector continues to face deep structural challenges despite major achievements in reducing maternal, child and neonatal mortality since independence. April 27, 2026 A digital health system can transform healthcare only when it is built around people, not platforms. For Bangladesh, the promise is not merely to introduce more apps, cards or databases, but to create a system where a patient's journey is connected from the community clinic to the hospital, from prescription to pharmacy, and from prevention to follow-up care. If designed well, digital public infrastructure could reduce gaps in access, support overstretched health workers, improve accountability and create a new generation of tech-health professionals. OP-EDs. March 19, 2026 Bangladesh has made steady health gains, but high out-of-pocket costs and system inefficiencies persist. Strengthening digital public infrastructure could be key to delivering universal health coverage - if gaps in access, governance and trust are addressed