IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Mr Opoku gave the advice at the inauguration of the new biometric passport processing centre in Sunyani. The biometric passport contains personal data in an electronic form including scanned photograph and the finger prints of the applicant. Mr Opoku said the increasing cases of impersonation, identity fraud, forgery and embezzlement among others necessitated the new security features in passport.

To that end, the commission has called on the organizations that have the capacity to provide equipment for biometric registration to avail themselves of the opportunity.

This is in the line with the EC’s arrangement to replace the existing voters register that was compiled in 2004.

MTN is keen on partnering government and other agencies to deliver the digitalisation of the National Identification system, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN Group Chairman, has said.

Mr Nhleko said the significance of the National Identification as a bedrock for National digitalisation agenda, and the efficiencies and cost benefits of e-government presented real potential for meaningful partnership with government.

The exercise, which began in November, last year, covered 25 schools in Central, Brong Ahafo and Upper West Regions.

Speaking to journalists in Accra on Wednesday, GhIPSS General Manager in-charge of Project and Business Development, Archie Hesse said a second phase of the programme was underway and would continue till April.

The biometric ID cards is also aimed at preventing the duplication of records and ensure effective verification system at the point of healthcare service delivery.

A pilot programme will begin this month in the Greater Accra Region.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Sylvester Mensah, who disclosed this, said the project will spread across the country by the end of the year.

It would also start work on piloting electronic claims (E-claims) processing and host an extended stakeholder review of the capitation pilot in the Ashanti Region to inform its improvement and the subsequent nationwide rollout of this provider payment method.

The Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester A. Mensah, disclosed this when he addressed members of the core management team of the NHIS and some key stakeholders at a management retreat held at Elmina in the Central Region.

The personnel unanimously and vehemently kicked against the system.

As part of efforts to get as many people to use the biometric e-zwich cards which can be used to perform various banking and retail functions, the government has ordered that henceforth all national service personnel should be enrolled onto the e-zwich system.

The Ghana digital ID program has started delivering multi-application credentials to citizens, the start of an ambitious effort that officials say will result in the issuance of cards to some 16 million citizens within a year. Eventually, Ghana’s ID card could outpace similar ones in Europe in terms of how people can use them, according to Cryptovision, a vendor involved with the project.

The first GhanaCard was recently issued to the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. It offers identity verification and “will enable strong two-factor authentication as a password replacement for e-government services online and will be used for the digital signature of electronic documents,” Germany-based Cryptovision says.

The exercise will be conducted in one registration centre in an urban area and another in a rural area, says Eric Mensah-Bonsu, the Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the EC.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in this capital of eastern Region Monday, he said that for the urban area, the Nursing Training School Registration Centre in the New Juaben Municipality has been chosen, whilst the Akyem Abenase Presby Primary School Registration Centre in the Akyemmansa District had been selected for the rural area.

K. K. Sam, the Western Region (Province) Secretary of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi, the Western Region capital, over the weekend .

Let’s adopt only three acceptable identity cards- NITA Director

The Director in charge of IT Applications at the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Mrs. Veronica Boateng is advocating for three acceptable identification cards in the country, instead of having about seven different identification cards.

“We can use only three identification cards which will have the same functions of all the seven existing cards we have in Ghana,” she told Daily Express in Accra.

The ‘most advanced’ electronic identification card in the European Union will be offered to the community, it was revealed by the Gibraltar Government at a press conference yesterday.

Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister, said at the Gibraltar International Airport’s Wessex Lounge that the £1.36 million project will see the first card issued at the end of June.

The Artificial Intelligence Institute of SA will host an international seminar on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the design of digital identities (IDs) in South Africa.

The seminar is one of a number of catalytic projects of the recently-launched institute, which is located within the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

Wie die britische Innenministerin Jacqui Smith am Mittwoch bekanntgegeben hat, soll die Erfassung von Fingerabdrücken und Fotos, die für einen Antrag auf nationale Ausweise (ID-Cards) notwendig sind, künftig in Kooperation mit privaten Unternehmen durchgeführt werden.

Die Ministerin erwägt eine Zusammenarbeit mit Postämtern, Apotheken und Fotofachgeschäften. Mittlerweile hätten The Post Office, die National Pharmacy Association sowie die US-amerikanische Photo Marketing Association International bereits ihr Interesse an einer Kooperation bekundet.

As Guyana continues to undergo an unprecedented transformation, the Government is moving ahead with the introduction of an electronic identification card that will contain biometric data of citizens and aid in enhancing security at a national level.

During his recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was asked about Chinese tech company Huawei. While in China on a State visit, President Dr Irfaan Ali met with Huawei top executives and there is talk of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) campus being set up by the company in Guyana.

The government began replacing the old paper ID cards mid-2003 with the new versions, which feature an embedded chip storing a photo, thumbprints and other identifying information. About 3 million of the new cards are now circulating in the city's population of 6.9 million, and the replacement is expected to be completed around 2007.

Members of the public will be able to have their irises and fingerprints recorded as part of the UK Passport Service (UKPS) awareness raising campaign taking place around the country. They will also have the opportunity to see how the new e-Passports will be read and take part in an interactive demonstration of the new UKPS standards for photographs, which come into force today. This biometric technology would also form the basis of the proposed national identity card scheme.