The Department of Registration of Persons is awaiting a shipment of 300,000 additional polycarbonate cards from Thales of France to implement the Electronic National Identity Card (e-NIC) project, officials said.
“We have procured them from Thales, and we still need 500,000 more cards,” Director General of the Department of Registration of Persons M. S. P. Suriyapperuma told Biometric Update. This follows the 700,000 cards the Department received in March from Thales. e-NICs will incorporate biometrics into the system. These e-NICs will feature biometric data, including fingerprint, iris, and facial recognition, to enhance security and efficiency in identity verification.
Suriyapperuma said that Sri Lankan banks are currently accessing the repository and verifying specific client details, and some banks have completed their projects to be in line with this project to be implemented by June.
She said the intention is to integrate the Sri Lanka Unique Digital ID project with the e-NIC.
The e-NICs will assign unique identification numbers, consolidate various identification types, and capture data such as birth certificates and tax identification information. Suriyapperuma said that digitisation enables data collection, and data-driven policy initiatives are important to achieve the desired outcomes.
A team from India’s MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform) is now in Sri Lanka to test the minimum viable product on the digital ID management platform.
“We wanted to make sure that the environment, along with the other conditions, is right to launch the MOSIP. The minimum viable product testing was extensive, and the high security biometrics for the digital ID will also go through testing,” an Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) official said. MOSIP offers countries modular and open-source technology to build and own their national identity systems.
The official said that since the MOSIP platform is designed to be a foundational identity system, the testing done focused on the core elements needed for a basic identity management platform. He also said the testing was for functionality and early validation.
Sri Lanka’s Digital Economic Ministry is prioritising cloud, digital ID, and bus and train tickets as high-priority projects. The Ministry will analyse gaps in the current system and implement the MOSIP grant from India to revamp the digital ID system.
