NIDS Public Education Campaign Rollout Likely During First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2023/24

To support the planned rollout of the National Identification System (NIDS), the Government will be advancing a public education campaign that is likely to commence in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023/24.

Speaking during Wednesday’s (March 1) meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, explained that procurement for the undertaking is ongoing.

“There was a procurement process for a supplier to deal with the public education campaign in the last quarter of last year. That procurement process is being finalised, currently, along with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) for final approval with the supplier,” Mr. Morgan said.

“I suspect that within this quarter, the public education efforts will start before the rollout of the sites,” he added.

Contextually, the Minister informed that the Government will go to tender for 19 post offices across Jamaica to be modified as NIDS enrolment sites, with a broader goal of 24 facilities in total.

Last October, the Central Sorting Office (CSO) was reopened following renovations and completion of modifications as the first NIDS enrolment centre.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, told the Committee that during the new fiscal year, the NIDS project will focus on operationalising the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and National Identification and Registration Inspectorate, which are the primary institutions through which the service will be delivered.

He indicated that the project will continue implementation of the national identification card and operation birthright, where Jamaicans can receive free birth certificates to enable their enrolment in NIDS, “even as the digitisation and indexing of the civil records at the RGD (Registrar General’s Department) continue”.

The project also requires continued work with the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) to implement the electronic ID, the e-passport and to enable e-gates at Jamaica’s major international airports.

Additionally, Dr. Clarke said the project will “continue to personalise engagement around the identification card and strengthen national identification card security and privacy controls”.

NIDS is an electronic form of identification that will provide a comprehensive and secure database for capturing and storing the personal information of citizens and non-nationals, ordinarily residing in Jamaica.

The NIDS project is being jointly executed by the IDB and Government of Jamaica.