A local solutions provider is looking to modernize the country's driver's license and vehicle registration systems; a move executives believe will save the government hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Digital Access Control Systems (DACS) has partnered with three international firms, the Datacard Group, Giesecke & Devrient and the UTSCH Group to do so. According to the company's owner, Franklyn Robinson, the technology that he is proposing to the government has the ability to produce up to 1,200 cards an hour. He claims that under the current systems, the country continues to be shortchanged.
"Let's bring these items up to international standards or at least start the process. The current driver's license lacks technology to verify certain things. So what we're proposing is to bring the driver's license, car plates and registration stickers all up to international standards and have those elements talk to each other. This would allow law enforcement agencies to verify the license plate, decal and the make of the car. All of this can be done electronically," he explained.
"Modernizing these systems are critical when you consider that The Bahamas is not only looking to sign on to international trade agreements like the World Trade Organization (WTO), but more and more Bahamians are traveling further. And you will find that places in Europe don't even use money, it's all card-based."
"If you look at the card, it has 12 different security elements within the one card. Now you don't need the 12 different security elements because the government may decide that you only need two or three of the elements. So that would determine the cost of the equipment."
Robinson confirmed that this is now the fourth proposal that his company has presented to the government for consideration, with the first one dating back to 1995, nearly 20 years ago. Still, he remains confident that if implemented, it will solve a lot of the challenges that the Road Traffic Department and other government agencies are currently experiencing, particularly when it comes to the issue of fraud.
Already, DACS has produced various identification cards for corporate entities in the country, including 28,000 cards for the Atlantis Resort during the second and third phase of its construction and the 5,000 accreditations for The Bahamas Games. Robinson said the company continues to develop the technology and forge partnerships globally.
Charles Beneby, who is a consultant to the company, said the technology is easily accessible and not cost-prohibitive. Incorporating this type of technology, he said, is just a matter of how fast the government can approve it and make the transition over to the new system.
"Ultimately, the decision needs to reflect the growing demand for The Bahamas to meet international standards in how we operate. And really, that's our desire for this project. We're not talking about a massive outlay of capital to get it up and running. It is well within reason that we could accommodate such adjustments to this area because the technology is out there and not cost-prohibitive," he revealed to Guardian Business.
At the end of the day, Robinson said these partnerships will provide Bahamians with a drivers license that is compliant under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), reflective license plates with automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) features, vehicle registration and titling software and secure digitized voter's card with mobile capture unit systems.
jump headline: Card modernization could reduce fraud, says firm

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