Ghana official blasts duplicated biometric efforts

Ghana's Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has slammed a process that he says has seen multiple ministries collect citizens' biometrics.Professor Kwesi Botchwey said organisations are quick to procure software to produce ID cards rather than putting their efforts to the attainment of an inte­grated national identification system.This can only lead to duplications and overlapping of information of registrants, he said.”You cannot have 10 different or­ganisations collating the biometric data of the same group of people. It would simply not sit down well,” he said, reported MyJoyOnline.”We want a system that is naturally accepted. Our plan is to form a task team that would continue the technical discussions and in-depth review of cur­rent systems,” Botchwey stressed.The newspaper noted that Ghana has spent about 21 million (US$5.2 m) on the mass registration and card distribution exercises, and in­stead of getting it right, state institutions such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Passport Office and the Controller and Accountant General's Department have spent millions on their own biometric data capture.

Also in the news:

Plurilock expands US team Germany mulls face recognition at all train stations Smart card-readers to check Indian fishermen identities