Consultancy services needed for Samoa National ID project

By Soli Wilson 24 May 2019, 1:00PM

The procurement of consultancy services to provide assistance for the development of the National ID system is underway.

The Ministry of Finance is inviting requests for expressions of interest regarding the consultancy services to provide technical assistance to the Government to assist in establishing a national ID system and upgrade the existing civil registration systems. 

A public notice said Samoa has applied for grants from the World Bank for this purpose.

"This assignment is focused on assisting the Government with strategic planning and the technical design and procurement of both systems, including core software and hardware," the notice reads. 

"It is closely linked with broader development imperatives for Samoa to invest in digital identity management to support digital platforms, including e-government, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public and private service decision-making and services’ delivery, including financial inclusion."

In 2017,Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sa’ilele Malielegaoi highlighted the importance of the National Identification Card.

Like the United States green card, the new ID will replace voters ID and can be used as a Health or Medical ID,  and other services such as Samoa National Provident Fund, a drivers  licence and may even replace a Voters ID during election. 

Since then, the Government has been pushing to provide training and awareness programmes as preparations for the establishment of the National ID.

"With the development of National ID, we are doing a digital transformation of the country in which national ID will be the core of all the activities in terms of digital transformation. We need to be protected, hence this workshop," said the Minister of Communication Information and Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai during a special Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) training last month for the I.T Taskforce to support Government ministries and agencies protect Samoa from potential cyber-crime attacks.  

Last year, Afamasaga said his goal for Samoa is digital identification for all citizens by the next election.

By Soli Wilson 24 May 2019, 1:00PM
Samoa Observer

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