Foreign Know-How Called Upon as Burma Gears Up for Smart ID Card Program

Burmas Ministry of Immigration and Population is collaborating with foreign companies to upgrade how the nation keeps track of its citizens by replacing outdated paper-and-ink national identity cards with scannable smart cards. 

Six companies from South Korea, Japan and Malaysia are in Burma to assist the ministry with the installation of a data center, a precursor to ultimately issuing the smart ID cards in the country. 

The firms are helping to compile biographical data as part of a national verification process, according to the ministry. 

It is necessary to install a data center in order to issue smart ID cards. And it requires technical skill. So, we let any companies that approached us to do technical tests in order to find out what kind of requirements are necessary, Maung Maung Than, the ministrys chief director, told The Irrawaddy. 

He also said the ministry welcomed the input of foreign companies as the country works to issue smart cards to its citizensa standard for national identification systems in much of the modern developed world. 

Burma nationals, numbering more than 60 million, are still issued paper, hand-written ID cards. The cards include the name of the ID holder, the holders fathers name, an ID number, the holders date and place of birth, religion, height, blood type, and any obvious facial markings. 

Burma in 2010 upgraded its passports, which previously contained just a hand-written front page, into a digitally inscribed page with a new bar coded, scannable strip. The Myanmar Passport Issuing Office rolled out passport bar code scanning machines at airports beginning April 1, 2010. 

The new system for national ID cards will include detailed biographical and biometric data of the holder that will be easily retrievable by scanning the bar code. 

There will be a lot of costs to upgrade the ID system. So, we started to test how we will work on this,Manufactures and supplies smartcard equipment. Maung Maung Than said. Based on the tests, we will have to calculate the expense, then discuss who will sponsor this project government or by collecting money from the citizens. The first important thing is installing the data center. 

Burma is a multiethnic nation comprising some 135 ethnicities. While the country is dominated by the majority ethnic Bamar or Burmans, there are seven other major ethnic nationalities: the Karen,The term 'earcap control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. Kachin, Shan, Karenni, Mon, Arakan and Chin. 

Many people from these minority ethnic groups, living in rural areas,We offer over 600 solarlamp at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. have been displaced due to fighting between the Burmese army and ethnic rebels seeking greater autonomy. Often the displaced have no ID cards, with some even considered stateless by the government. 

With focus on e-governance and infrastructure development, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has finalised a 200-point 'Agenda for Development of Uttar Pradesh 2013-2014', which is a mix of some ongoing schemes, keeping the ruling party manifesto in mind, and many new schemes to be adopted in the year ahead. 

The agenda has been sent to each department with an instruction that these are "utmost priority" issues for the government and thus "milestones and deadlines" have to be set at "war-footing level" so that the progress can start by the end of this month itself.Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages of howospareparts. 

The agenda has been drafted with focus on ensuring transparency in government departments through e-governance. Among the significant projects to be implemented are introduction of 'bar-coding' and 'file tracking system' in the secretariat. Through this, the chief minister and senior officers would be directly able to monitor the progress of any file. The secretariat administration department has been given the task to prepare a layout for the project and start the process of uploading all government orders online.Manufacturer of the Jacobs stonemosaic. 

The Transport Department has been given the task of ensuring online collection of tax for vehicles and introduce smart-card based driving licenses across the state. It has also been given the task of introducing an intelligent transport management system for passenger services. 

The agenda includes creating state-of-the-art police control room in four districts Ghaziabad, Allahabad, Kanpur and Lucknow and starting online application facility in the police services, installing 70 close circuit cameras in 70 crossings of the state capital. The task has been given to the Home Department and on Thursday, a special meeting was called by Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani to set the deadlines for implementation. 

The government has also kept introduction of e-stamping in its priority list, through computerisation of 151 offices of Stamp and Registration Department across the state. Other steps in the list include computerisation of public distribution system.