New Zealand extending online government services with ID innovation

Govt-backed online identity system – ‘RealMe’ ready to go (Scoop)

From this week, New Zealanders can begin signing up for RealMe - the only online identity verification service backed by the New Zealand government.

Instead of waiting in line with paper identity documents each time they want a service requiring ID from a government or private sector organisation, people will soon be able to prove their identity online with RealMe and apply for services from home.

New Zealand seems to be quietly building a very advanced ID infrastructure that links government identity documents, government services and the postal service together through biometrics, facial recognition in this case.

Innovations for Successful Societies: Liberia, Civil Service & Biometrics

Cleaning the Civil Service Payroll: Post-Conflict Liberia, 2008-2011 (Princeton.edu)

William C. Allen, director general of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), reflected on his time as minister of information in Liberia’s transitional government from 2003 to 2005.

“On any given day I would come into the office, I would see about 60 persons,” he recalled. “I was in my office one day and I heard this noise and a drove of people in the hallway.

I said, ‘What is going on?’

They said, ‘Today is payday.’

I went out there and I tell you I saw faces and people that I had never seen in my life. They had occupied the entire stairwell. I said, ‘Gee, if I had all these people working every day at least I could do something for this country.’ So right there I knew I had a problem.”

Jonathan Friedman has put together a superbly-written and detailed narrative on the use of biometrics to foster efficient civil service by weeding out ghost workers. The quality of the writing shines through. The level of detail doesn't overwhelm this story of innovation which Mr. Friedman tells in a compelling way,.

Download full PDF here (10 pages).