FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Why the citizen eID is so important

Why the citizen eID is so important

Governments must be able to manage the information about citizens that is by law stored with various agencies, but it’s not easy integrating all that data, mainly because the agencies were set up at different times without a master plan to coordinate the information gathered. Each agency had to come up with its own way of managing citizen data. 

Some form of “mapping” is thus needed if the government wants an integrated “single view” of the information. In Thailand, the Interior Ministry has long done a good job in assigning a 13-digit ID number to each citizen at birth and issuing a smart ID card when they reach the age of seven. This is the card that everyone must present in any dealings with the government. 
Several government agencies currently use “smart” card readers, negating the need for copies of the ID card to be made and reducing duplication and waste in paper.
However, doing things online with government is another matter. With citizens now accustomed to using their smartphones for various purposes, they naturally expect to do the same when using online government services. Many government agencies have indeed produced mobile applications for this purpose, but the extent of “e-services” and the use of “eIDs” are largely limited. People still have to register several different eIDs to use the various government mobile applications.
The challenges in establishing a unified eID scheme lie in how it can be managed effectively, the best means of secure online verification and, perhaps the most difficult aspect of all, how to make sure eIDs work seamlessly across all agencies. 
These problems must be overcome to establish an integrated eID system, an essential step in making government truly digital.

nationthailand