Zimbabwe seeks local IT consultant for biometric authentication API project

Zimbabwe, through its Public Service Commission (PSC), has launched a tender for the selection of a local IT consultancy firm for the development of an Application Programming Interface (API) for the government’s biometric authentication program.

TechZim reports that the idea of developing the biometric authentication API is to increase the flexibility of the country’s civil service biometric registry which was put in place in 2018 to check the phenomenon of double-salaried and ghost workers.

The API is expected to enhance the functionality of this biometric registry system in the country.

The call for tender was recently published in Zimbabwe’s Government Gazette and specified that any company applying for it must meet certain criteria.

The tender outlined that interested firms must be registered entities; must be registered with the Procurement Regulatory Authority; should have at least 10 years in IT business assessment; have qualified auditors; boast knowledge in e-governance; and must be versed with public service business processes.

Last year Zimbabwe removed about 20, 000 ghost workers from the civil service payroll thanks to its biometric registry, which it now wants to bolster by building the API.

There are also concerns about privacy regarding the API project given that the APIs work with people’s data, the report noted. It is hoped therefore that whichever firm will be chosen for the job will provide the required data security guarantees to make sure that the biometric information of civil servants in the registry is not at risk.

Article Topics

Africa  |  API  |  authentication  |  biometric database  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  identity verification  |  privacy  |  tender  |  Zimbabwe