YET another milestone has been reached to bring the vision of  a single electronic identification card for all government and business transactions to reality as a US$35.4 million contract was signed today at State House between Germany-based company, Veridos and the Government of Guyana.

The implementation of the Single Electronic Identification Card allows for the issuance of work permits and resident identification through a more coordinated approach that will see holders of the registration numbers using that single identification for all transactions, President, Dr Irfaan Ali confirmed today.

Government embarked on this process in October 2021, and sought the support of the United Arab Emirates.

Since then, two companies submitted prototypes which were assessed by technical teams from Guyana’s National Data Management Authority (NDMA) and Office of the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Advisor.

Veridos was the company that presented the best solution for Guyana. Dr Ali said the company is partly owned by the Federal Government of Germany, and a company that also prints currency.

The Head of State said that the proposed electronic ID cards are compliant with global ISO Standards and is accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for international travel, which would see Guyana positioned among a set of nations with one of the most advanced electronic identification systems.

The e-ID system promotes the idea of one citizen and one identity which will significantly support government’s push towards e-government services, removing the hassle from doing business in Guyana.

Through this card, Dr Ali said, the need for prove of address and other documentation by banks could be removed since financial institutions would have access to full details about the customer including finger print scans.

The single identification system marks another step taken by the Dr Irfaan Ali administration to mainstream the use of technology in health, national security, education, and economic improvement.

Last month, President, Dr Irfaan Ali underscored his government’s vision to build a technology and data-driven nation and economy which could also see some of Guyana’s tech services exported. At the time, he was speaking at the opening of the new Teleperformance location at Middle and Thomas Streets, Georgetown.

Dr Ali had said for Guyana’s operations to meet the technology-driven goal, responsiveness from both the public and private sectors was crucial.