The Department of Registration of Persons procured 700,000 polycarbonate cards from Thales for its Electronic National Identity Card (e-NIC) project to be implemented by year-end, top officials said.
“We need 1.6 million more cards,” Director General of the Department of Registration of Persons, M.S.P. Suriyapperuma told ‘Biometric Update’.
The new electronic NICs will include biometrics, as part of the new system. The electronic IDs will include biometric features such as fingerprint, iris, and face recognition details, for more security and efficiency in identification confirmation.
Suriyapperuma said Sri Lankan banks are accessing their repository and verifying certain details of clients.
The plan is to integrate the Sri Lanka Unique Digital ID project with the e-NIC, she added.
e-NICs will assign unique ID numbers, centralise various types of IDs, and capture data such as birth certificates and tax identification. “Digitisation enables the collection of data, and data-driven policy initiatives are important to drive the right outcomes,” Suriyapperuma said.
An awareness program was held at the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka in Colombo recently, to discuss the e-NIC process and operational aspects. The initiative aims to streamline e-NIC implementation and ensure a smooth rollout for citizens.
Meanwhile, the Registrar General’s Department plans to complete the digital population registry, an electronic database of basic information on all Sri Lankan citizens, in Colombo this month. The project aims to create an efficient life events registration system, increase information sharing with government institutions, and ensure data accuracy.
The digital birth certificate will be issued for those born after January 2021 in Colombo, alongside handwritten birth certificates. The project is backed by the civil registration and vital statistics project, with the Ministry of Digital Economy, United Nations Development Programme, and Asian Development Bank as partners.
– Biometric Update
