Bahrain sees high uptake of digital ID, CRVS services through online platforms

Bahraini authorities say there was a massive uptake of digital ID and civil registration services using digital platforms in 2023, with 743,000 identity transactions completed online.

The Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) says of this number of ID transactions, over 700,000 of them were completed using a dedicated government portal, smart devices and other online methods, The Daily Tribune reports.

Some of the services sought included issuance, renewal and replacement of some ID documents, civil records data update, address information update, viewing and printing of ID card details, as well as ID card declarations.

Shaikh Subah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, director of Identity and Population Registry at the iGA, lauded the development, saying it aligns with the vision of the government in integrating innovative digital services to make service delivery more accessible and seamless.

The project to expand access to identification services using online channels is overseen by the Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Information and Communication Technology, Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.

Per the iGA official, digitizing access to government services is an important step in Bahrain’s digital transformation process – the major objective being to cut the time and cost needed to obtain certain services, and in a convenient and secure manner.

The outlet mentions that with the increasing tilt towards digitization of identification services, requests requiring physical contact in Bahrain now account for just about 5 percent of all transactions, and which mostly have to do with first-time issuance of residence permits, update of biometrics such as fingerprints as well as update of signatures, among other services.

According to Shaikh Subah, attaining this objective has seen government investment in enhancing data exchange and automated processing systems, as well as in the capacity building of Identity Directorate technical staff.

Other novelties with the country’s identification services introduced in 2023 include a national birth system, a births and deaths records digital archiving project and a Central Population Registry System.

Early last year, HID Global won a biometric passport contract in Bahrain.

Article Topics

Bahrain  |  biometrics  |  civil registration  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  identity management