The Government of Jamaica is scheduled to establish its first National Identification System (NIDS) pilot enrolment site in Kingston and St Andrew by August 2022.

The National Identification System is a project being undertaken by the Office of the Prime Minister, that intends to provide a comprehensive and secure structure to enable the collection and storage of identity information.

Floyd Green, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, gave an update on the status of the NIDS project while making his contribution to the 2022-2023 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (May 24).

“What we are going to do is to start with a national pilot [which] will be housed in Kingston and St Andrew just to ensure that any nuances are ironed out before the national rollout,” stated Green.

This initial enrolment pilot site is expected to become operational by August 2022, following which an additional five enrolment pilot sites are to be set up in Kingston and St Andrew before the year’s end.

“Continuing on that trajectory, we will expand beyond our pilot… and we will put in an additional eight sites in early 2023 in Greater Portmore, Mandeville, Old Harbour, Black River, Morant Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Maria and Montego Bay,” informed the minister.

He disclosed that it is expected that, by mid-2023, all other parish capitals will have enrolment sites.

Providing further details on the status of the project, Green shared that the software to power the card rollout, which includes enrolment, vetting, pre-enrolment and card personalisation, is about 97 per cent completed.

He stated: “Our National Identification Card Production Centre is 97 per cent completed and we have recruited all the staff already and all of them have been subjected to extensive background checks.”

He pointed out that the rollout of NIDS is also being facilitated through a partnership with Jamaica Post, which will see significant modernisation of the 24 post offices islandwide that will be used as NIDS enrolment sites.

In the meantime, Green informed that the procedure for enrolment into NIDS will be simple and easy to follow.

“The NIDS enrolment process is clear, hassle-free and it will mark the [next] stage of our digitally advanced lives,” he said.

To be eligible for enrolment into NIDS, the applicant must be a citizen of Jamaica, or ordinarily resident for six months and above.

Applicants will be able to pre-enrol online or visit the nearest enrolment centre.

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