The chairperson of the Commission on Elections in the Philippines said the commission will use new technology in the 2025 national elections. The technology will help to replace the old machines. The commission has already completed the biometrics, signature, facial and fingerprint. If these are integrated, it will help address the challenges of having a voter voting multiple times from one province to another city.
However, the commission is still struggling with funding challenges that limit the determination of the technology used. The new technology will replace the previous vote counting machines (VCMs) used in May 2022 polls. Vice President Sara Duterte has supported this move by advising Commission on Elections to consider doing away with ballot shading or handwriting on ballots during elections.
During an event organized by Breast Cancer International in conjunction with the office of the Vice President during the commemoration of International Women’s Day, Ghanaian Vice President Mr Bawumia announced that Ghana would start issuing card numbers to all new babies effective 31 March 2023. This was during a presentation in which the vice president highlighted some of the digital programs the government was planning to carry out in Ghana.
The digital identity will interact with the national information management system. All government-held data about Kenyans will also be linked to their digital identity, and all public services will be availed through digital channels.
South African cabinet approved a draft National Identification and Registration Bill 2022, which will see the creation of a single integrated national information system for all persons living in South Africa. This will involve the integration of the three existing databases into one database being used in the country. On 18 February 2023, the Minister of Home Affairs revealed that final touches were being made on the bill, which would be released for public comments.
Chile’s authorities extended Idemia’s (a company specialising in biometric identification services) contract to help upgrade the country’s civil registry is being extended by a year. Chile had signed an initial 10-year contract with Idemia, which involves the provision of digital ID cards and biometric passports by Idemia. However, the cost has reduced from the initial US$700 million to $276 million after the Chilean Civil Registry declared that it would operate the system. Idemia has been offered a one-year extension to maintain the old system.
The president of Sierra Leone launched the first securitised ID card on 31 January. The president noted that this first multipurpose securitised ID card was vital for development planning and policy-making. The chip-based biometric ID, banks, microfinance institutions, forex bureaus, financial service providers, and mobile money providers would easily authenticate their customers at very low costs for trusted financial transactions.
