1.1 billion Civil ID documents to be issued by 2018: Report

Biometrics Research Group, Inc. has released a special report that examines the numerous electronic credentials and processes emerging within the National and Civil ID market.

The research group has estimated that the total number of unit shipments of National or Civil ID documents worldwide will be at 500 million by the end of 2014 and will reach 1.1 billion by 2018. This number includes national identity cards, e-Passports, e-Health cards, eIDs, drivers’ licenses and other electronic documents.

Biometrics Research Group Inc., the parent company and publisher of BiometricUpdate.com, defines “National ID” or “Civil ID” as a general identifier used by governments to verify a citizen and establish a link of trust.

National ID, which is synonymous with Civil ID, is a means for tracking citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other government related functions. Examples of this could be for the purposes of document issuance, border management, voter registration or employment background checks.

Typically, National or Civil ID programs are large-scale identity management solutions. Governments have a vested interest in knowing who is being issued a driver’s license or who is receiving state-sponsored health care. Civil or National ID allows governments to track such service delivery and consumption in a unified fashion unlike traditional national ID number systems.

The report juxtaposes the use of traditional national ID number system, such as the use of Social Security in the United States, against all comprehensive systems such as India’s Aadhaar biometric registry used for the delivery of social services.

The new report also describes the shift towards using ePassports, an emerging, interoperable international border credential that incorporates fast and reliable identity authentication with biometric verification.

Biometrics Research Group estimates that revenues within the global ePassport market will reach US$10.2 billion by 2015. The research firm projects that vendors that will benefit most from this revenue stream will include: Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Safran Morpho and Oberthur Technologies.

Additionally, the report also found that governments are embracing the use of electronic credentials. The Biometrics Research Group Inc. expects the market for electronic identity (eID) cards to reach US$5.2 billion by 2015.

You can read the report here.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  civil ID  |  e-ID  |  ePassports  |  national ID