Angolan ID card gets green light

 

The Angolan Government has officially approved the design of its new ID card, triggering production start-up by LaserCard for the initial supply of secure optical memory cards for the country’s national ID programme.

Issuance of cards to Angola’s adult citizens is scheduled to begin in the capital, Luanda, later this year.

Delivery of the US$8.8 million card backlog will begin this quarter and is scheduled to be completed this fiscal year. The cards will be issued as secure wallet-size ID credentials to citizens nationwide and will store personal data including personal and biometric identification.

“Building a successful national ID program of this complexity is a large-scale and long-term undertaking,” says Robert DeVincenzi, president and chief executive officer at LaserCard. “The Angolan government and our team of partners have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to ensuring that each phase of this process has been properly executed, which bodes well for the long-term success of the programme.”

Card production follows the build-out of the nationwide fixed and mobile infrastructure required for card issuance. LaserCard recently completed delivery of the card personalisation equipment that forms the core of this system. LaserCard is a subcontractor to the Angolan government’s prime contractor, DGM-Sistemas of L.D.A. DGM-Sistemas and other team partners have been engaged in the implementation of the national IT infrastructure and criminal registry database to support the personal data capture, card issuance and downstream application processes.