Abuja biometric smart card program to facilitate smart city digital transformation

The CEO of the Havel Corporate Concept, an affiliate of Nigerian hardware and data protection firm ioSafe Nigeria, says July is the target release date of a road map for transforming Abuja into a smart city, which also includes a biometric smart card program.

NAN News reports that Dr. Ahmed Badanga says the proposed Abuja Residents Smart Card Project would incorporate biometric data to enable the holders to access government, security, financial, and transportation services, and possibly to make payments. He wants to build “a reliable database of all residents of Abuja to support the proposed smart city,” to “enhance an effective and realistic ecosystem for planning, especially in the provision and delivery of social services and amenities.”

“This is critical, considering the continued influx of migrants seeking economic opportunities and better life, thereby increasing the city population with implication on social services, infrastructure and security,” Badanga says.

An awareness campaign is planned ahead of phased implementation. The intent is to explore a public-private partnership on financial agreements and in the sharing of expertise, risks, and rewards. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has been named as a potential government collaborator.

The smart city project is among many similar digital transformation efforts happening globally. Abuja’s project aims to facilitate real time access to digital services and transactions for citizens through an AI-enabled app – in line, says Badanga, with UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, “to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.”

“This will create an Abuja where all activities and responsibilities are interconnected with an array of sensors and data collectors, distributed throughout the city, and monitored centrally.”

On a national level, Nigeria is exploring harmonization of its biometric digital identity credentials.

Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital ID cards  |  Nigeria  |  smart cities