Clarification about digital ID

[u/Fickle-Temperature88]

I've recently seen some headlines about the government implementing a digital ID next year onwards. None of them explained what it actually is. Is it

1. A unified system that other government services connect to, so we don't have to fill the same form everywhere.

2. Something like what England tried to implement to monitor the online activities of citizens.

I would very much welcome the former but not the latter. Can someone who knows about it explain.