United States
tru.ID is set to expand its fiootprint in the US after receiving another round of funding. Last week it announced that Sorenson Ventures has joined its seed funding round, alongside Episode 1, MMC Ventures and NHN Ventures, bringing the company’s total seed stage funding to $9 million.
Sorenson provides strong US-based connections which will be valuable as the company prepares to roll out its services into the US market.
Canada
The Saskatchewan government is putting plans to develop digital identification on hold, saying it will wait to see how similar programmes progress in other provinces before moving forward.
The province announced a request for proposals (RFP) for the Saskatchewan Service Connect will not proceed.
“There are benefits from observing the rollout of digital ID in other provinces in Canada. We have asked officials in the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement’s information technology division to contact their colleagues in other jurisdictions,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
“We will be watching very closely to observe how their digital ID programs progress.”
Uganda
The production of biometric passports, driver’s licences and other ID documents in Uganda will soon begin within the country when the process to fully set up all components of the state printing press is completed, reports The Independent.
The setting up of the printing press, part of which went operational on March 1 2021, is ongoing and German identity solution provider Veridos is the key partner working with the Uganda Security Printing Company (USPC) on the issuance of computerized driver’s licenses and secure biometric passports.
Veridos entered into a 15-year deal with Uganda’s government to set up a printing facility for digital identity documents in 2018.
Chile
Idemia has been awarded a new contract to provide digital ID services to Chile’s Civil Registry and Identification Service, as per Biometric Update.
The ten-year agreement will see Idemia work on upgrading existing ID documents as well as providing a novel digital ID for all Chilean citizens.
Face and fingerprint biometrics will be used to authenticate users for the new digital ID, as well as iris biometrics, which according to Idemia represents the first deployment of the technology in relation to Chilean identity documents.
The novel digital ID will be reportedly compliant with ISO and ICAO standards and will enable access to both online public and private services, including telemedicine and transport booking services.
Chilean citizens will also be able to share individual ID attributes online for remote ID verification.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s federal government is seeking a contractor to supply biometric registration kits as the country’s National ID Program (NIDP) takes form.
According to an invitation to bid from the Office of the Prime Minister, the contract which will be executed in two lots, consists of the supply of 300 biometric kits with carrying cases and 50 batteries, and a separate lot for 15 mobile registration kits with carrying cases.
The new Ethiopian national ID system includes both fingerprint and iris biometrics to ensure the uniqueness of each digital identity.
Ethiopia recently expanded its partnership with MOSIP, the India-based open-source modular identity system, in preparation for a biometric registration pilot that aims to enroll about 100,000 citizens for the national ID scheme.
Bahamas
Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas has announced plans to put in a place a National Identification System (NIS) and the issuance of digital ID cards to citizens by the first quarter of next year, EW News reports.
The PM made the disclosure as he addressed a Digital Transformation Symposium and said the digital ID system will be a springboard for the country’s digital economy development ambitions.
The government is also working to bring experts on board who can accompany efforts for the effective implementation of the digital ID scheme which will enable citizens of the Bahamas to enjoy access to a number of government services.
“I look forward to the rollout of the NIS over the next 10 months and the subsequent distribution of the national e-identity card to citizens of The Bahamas in early 2023,” EW News quoted the PM as saying.
Oman
Authorities of the Sultanate of Oman have said the civil ID cards can again be used by Omani and other Gulf Cooperation Council country travellers crossing the land border with the United Arab Emirates.
Muscat Daily reports that the move, which had earlier been suspended as a result of the Covidpandemic, is resuming and the Royal Oman Police (ROP) say other citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council can use their respective ID cards to travel to Oman.
The Omani Health Minister was quoted as saying the move to resume travel with the ID was confirmed by the Inspector General of Police and Customs.
Philippines
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has revealed that the total number of those who have had their biometrics collected for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) is more than 60.4 million, as of 16 March – a remarkable achievement amid the challenges triggered by the pandemic, Manila Bulletin writes.
“Despite the previous challenges posed by COVID-19 during the early implementation of the PhilSys program, the PSA achieved its targets successfully,” comments PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General in a statement.
The PSA has announced recently that Muslim registrants for the PhilID are not required to take off their face coverings during photo capture sessions for enrolment, according to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Australia
People in the Australian state of New South Wales may soon be able to verify their identity online from anywhere for government services in an upcoming pilot.
“Photo verification will enable millions of customers to complete government transactions anywhere, anytime or authenticate themselves using a photo verification login,” Service NSW CEO Damon Rees said.
“This will provide customers with greater accessibility to government services, especially customers with a disability, time poor customers and those in rural or regional areas, who are unable to or experience difficulty attending Service NSW centres.
The upcoming identity verification service comes months after NSW sought vendors to provide two new digital identity systems: One to deliver digital proof of identity and the other for digital identity sharing.
Canada
Canada is behind other advanced economies in adopting digital identification for accessing government services online, the federal government’s CIO has warned a conference of identity professionals.
“We are falling behind in competitiveness if we don’t advance this file,” Catherine Luelo reportedly old the IdentityNorth spring workshop last week.
“We had been in a position of being in front, and we are falling behind — in fact we’re very far behind.” What is needed are “purposeful actions funding, resourcing and, frankly focus” of all governments, she said.
