A social registry is a centralized database of households and individuals used for identifying, registering, and assessing vulnerable populations. OpenSPP's Social Registry provides the foundation for all social protection programs.
Who is this for: National governments building population registries, humanitarian organizations managing beneficiary databases, registration agencies needing interoperability with external systems.
graph LR
A[Data<br/>Collection] --> B[Validation &<br/>deduplication]
B --> C[Eligibility<br/>assessment]
C --> D[Enroll in<br/>programs]
E[Change<br/>Requests] --> B
Data collection - Registrants provide information via surveys, field registration, or self-registration
Validation - Data is verified against documents and cross-checked with other systems
Deduplication - Matching algorithms identify potential duplicates for review
openspp.org
Social Registry#
A social registry is a centralized database of households and individuals used for identifying, registering, and assessing vulnerable populations. OpenSPP's Social Registry provides the foundation for all social protection programs.
Who is this for: National governments building population registries, humanitarian organizations managing beneficiary databases, registration agencies needing interoperability with external systems.
What Social Registry Does#
When deploying social protection programs, you need to know who is eligible and how to reach them. Social Registry provides:
Unified registration for individuals and households with flexible data collection
Deduplication to prevent duplicate registrations across programs
Eligibility assessment using configurable rules and proxy means testing
Change request workflows for managing data updates and corrections
External integration with CRVS, national ID, and other government systems
Standards-aligned API for secure data sharing with authorized systems
Core workflows#
Workflow
Purpose
Key Users
Registration
Collect demographic, socioeconomic, and household data
Registrars, Enumerators
Deduplication
Identify and merge duplicate records
Data Managers
Eligibility assessment
Apply criteria to identify eligible populations
Program Managers
Data maintenance
Process updates, corrections, and appeals
Registrars, Validators
Key capabilities#
Registry management#
Individuals and groups - Register both individuals and households/groups
Flexible data model - Custom fields for country-specific requirements
Geographic hierarchy - Organize by administrative areas (region, district, village)
Document management - Store and verify identity documents
Change request system#
OpenSPP includes 11 change request types for managing data throughout the beneficiary lifecycle:
Change request
Purpose
New registration
Add new individuals or groups
Add member
Add members to existing groups
Update info
Modify demographic or contact data
Update live status
Record births, deaths, migrations
Split group
Divide a household into separate units
Merge group
Combine multiple households
Assign to program
Request enrollment in a program
All changes flow through configurable approval workflows.
API & integration#
DCI-compliant API - Standards-aligned integration with Digital Convergence Initiative
CRVS integration - Connect to civil registration systems (OpenCRVS compatible)
National ID lookup - Verify identity against national ID databases
Consent management - Track and enforce data sharing consent
Search & filtering#
CEL expressions - Build powerful filters using Common Expression Language
Saved searches - Store and reuse complex search criteria
Bulk operations - Apply actions to filtered result sets
How it works#
graph LR A[Data<br/>Collection] --> B[Validation &<br/>deduplication] B --> C[Eligibility<br/>assessment] C --> D[Enroll in<br/>programs] E[Change<br/>Requests] --> BData collection - Registrants provide information via surveys, field registration, or self-registration
Validation - Data is verified against documents and cross-checked with other systems
Deduplication - Matching algorithms identify potential duplicates for review
Eligibility assessment - Configurable rules (including proxy means testing) rank households
Program enrollment - Eligible registrants are enrolled in social protection programs
Ongoing updates - Change requests maintain data accuracy over time
Security and access control#
Role
Access level
Typical users
Registry viewer
Read-only access to registry data
Coordination staff, auditors
Registrar
Create and update registrations
Field officers, enumerators
Validator
Approve registrations and changes
Supervisors, data managers
Registry manager
Full administration and configuration
System administrators
Dependencies#
Social Registry is the foundation module that other products build upon:
spp_registry - Core registry data model
spp_change_request_v2 - Change request workflows
spp_dci_client - External registry integration
spp_api_v2 - REST API for data exchange
spp_studio - No-code expression builder
spp_area - Geographic hierarchy management
spp_consent - Data sharing consent tracking
Next steps#
New to Social Registry?
Docker installation - Install OpenSPP with demo data
User guide - Learn the interface
Setting up for your organization?
Configuration guide - Configuration overview
Understanding the concepts?
Registry - Registry concepts explained
Learn More#
World Bank Social Registries Sourcebook - Comprehensive guidance on social registry design
Digital Convergence Initiative - Interoperability standards for social protection
GIZ Dynamic Inclusion - On-demand registration approaches
Global examples#
Social registries are used in over 50 countries:
Country
Registry
Notable features
Brazil
Cadastro Único
Dynamic registration, used by 27+ programs
Pakistan
NSER
National scale, biometric integration
Indonesia
DTKS
Integrated with multiple welfare programs
Colombia
Sisbén
Multidimensional targeting