I tried to make this very short but ended up with this long write-up. Apologies.
In Dr. Bawumia’s recent speech on digitization he stated that the impact of digitization has been grossly underestimated and added that if he had to choose between 1000 interchanges and the Ghana Card, he would opt for the Ghana Card.
I have observed the commentary that has met this statement with both amusement and surprise.
I will even limit this discussion to just that Ghana Card as opposed to discussing the whole spectrum of digitization and digitalization and the impact on economic development.
One critical factor that forms the basis for any sustainable development is the availability of a national identity system anchored by a credible national identity database.
#Why_is_this_important?
There are a “million and one” reasons but let me make this brief and simple.
#Credit_Scoring_System
A national identity system linked with a credible national credit bureau system will mitigate lending risk and unlock a new level of credit system for the Ghanaian. Thereby, expanding access to credit for the Ghanaian.
In more advanced societies, the database allows for a credit scoring system, which makes it easy for individuals to access credit cards by providing just their names and date of birth.
Good credit scores make it possible for individuals to purchase cars etc on credit.
Once the citizens know that when they default, they will destroy their credit rating, they are forced to take care of their financial obligations, this also give lenders some more comfort.
#Planning, #Revenue_Mobilization & #Resource_Allocation
A national ID system will make it possible for the country to have credible data for planning, revenue mobilization and effective resource allocation.
#Fraud & implications for Financial Services, Digital Commerce etc
A national ID system helps mitigate identity fraud and will improve financial services and digital commerce.
#Cost_Savings
A credible and harmonized national ID Card system will result in massive cost savings by centralizing citizenry identity data and mitigate the data duplications. The millions in cost savings can then be used to fund infrastructure or channeled into other development efforts.
#Crime
A national identity system will ensure that the biometrics of both citizens and non-citizens are captured in a single database. When crimes are committed, fingerprints of suspects can be matched with the database to identify suspects.
A FEW CASES
The case of #Spain
A national ID system for example is credited with making Spain one of the most developed and disciplined countries in Europe.
Once upon a time, Spain was one of the most underdeveloped and undisciplined countries in Western Europe. The citizens were not paying their fines.. speeding tickets, parking fines etc and were breaking the law with impunity.
The country developed a national ID system and when it was comfortable that everyone had been captured, enforcement kicked in.
People at the airport waiting to board flights could not because the system had flagged them that they had fines to pay. People could not access all type of services.. renew their driving licenses, passports, or other important services.
Queues started mounting at various police stations as people rushed to pay their fines or negotiate some repayment.
Apart from the revenues raised, it set triggered a new sense of discipline and order which helped set Spain on the path to development.
#Estonia
“Secure, authenticated identity is the “birthright” of every Estonian: before a newborn even arrives home, the hospital will have issued a digital birth certificate, and health insurance will have been started automatically”. All residents aged 15 or over have electronic ID cards, which are used in healthcare, electronic banking, online shopping, signing digital contracts, encrypting e-mail, tram tickets, and much more. In addition to making it easier for Estonians to go about their daily lives, Estonia’s online systems add 2% per year to its GDP and the use of electronic signatures in the country helps save 2% of Estonian GDP per year.
#Australia
In joint research conducted by Australia Post and Boston Consulting Group, The potential value of a digital identity solution for Australia is identified as up to AUD 11 billion that could be saved through reduced cost to serve, cost of fraud and improved client experience. This AUD 11 billion represents approximately 1% of the Australian GDP.
#UK
A joint study between the Open Identity Exchange (OIX) and Ctrl-Shift indicates that identity assurance costs for organisations could fall from today’s £1.65 billion to less than £150 million
The issue is simple….
A national ID system will make it possible to raise revenue, plug revenue leakages and make funds available to build and maintain infrastructure like interchanges etc. It’s even that same database that will even be used to take decisions on where to even site that interchange.
How is this difficult to understand?
