Technology advances in biometric scanners, storage, and portability of the equipment now make enrollment faster and more accurate. Manufacturers go to great lengths to create systems that can operate in harsh conditions. “New enrollment and verification equipment is 10 times lighter in weight and more energy efficient
Technology advances in biometric scanners, storage, and portability of the equipment now make enrollment faster and more accurate. Manufacturers go to great lengths to create systems that can operate in harsh conditions. “New enrollment and verification equipment is 10 times lighter in weight and more energy efficient than they were just five years ago,” explained David Gerulski, VP at Integrated Biometrics.
New units are small, rugged, energy efficient, and light weight. “This allows national ID programs to work because they can be easily transported into the field and in remote areas to enroll citizens. What once took two large suitcase-size trunks to enroll in the field, now exists in one case smaller than an average carry-on bag — closer in size to a briefcase,” Gerulski added. “Additionally, these mobile biometric fingerprint sensors are integrated in small handheld devices that police, customs, and military officials can use in their day-to-day jobs identifying criminals, accident victims, and terrorists on the spot.”
Equipment durability and technical specs are only some of the considerations to take into account when implementing a biometric national ID system. “In order for biometrics to be useful, they must be of sufficient quality for automated recognition and this translates to quality assurance during enrollment (i.e., when applying for the ID card) and during verification (i.e., when verifying an identity claim). This requires outreach and training for the applicant, the users, and the officials administering the technology and processes,” added Daniel Bachenheimer, Unique Identity Services, Global Lead at Accenture.
Other issues hinders project implementation
Despite being early adopters of biometric technology, the market is still difficult for new entrants. Gerulski named a few common problems: “Asian governments are often hard to crack into. Officials have been buying from the same companies and suppliers for years. New technologies are often passed over for older ones because of familiarity of the product. There is a tendency to wait until a crisis to make a purchase.” However these problems are not typically “Asian” and can be found with other government-funded projects across the world.
The complexity and scale of the projects, budget requirements, etc., are problematic in many locales and can cause numerous delays. Nonetheless, most of our interviewees shared that overall projects in Asia are typically implemented to plan. “We've seen political, technical, and operational challenges cause delays but nothing major/insurmountable,” said Bachenheimer.
For companies operating in the field, the recommendation is to be “hands-on” from early on. “We try to be involved from the beginning stage once a new opportunity is observed,” said Moon. “First of all, we put a high priority on selecting the right partner (local partner or global partner) to offer the right solution for the end customer. We actively participate in many ID related events/forums, introducing the benefit of our fingerprint scanners for national ID enrollment projects. In addition, we always develop new opportunities with a local partner and governments directly before and RFP comes out. This enables us to provide the most suitable solution.”
Global trends using biometric national IDs
Future developments of biometric national IDs will likely be in wider scale adoption and spillover to other services for example tax processing, health administration, immigration processing and social services. “My opinion is that social services will actually be the biggest driver. When individuals realize that their social services will be delivered faster, without error and at a lower cost, they will be more keen on accepting national ID programs,” said Gerulski. It is now left to see if this prediction will come true.