The government plans to introduce biometric voting by the next election date in 2012, hoping to use technology to streamline the critical process and eliminate corrupt practices.
Biometrics is the term used to describe automated methods of recognising a person based on a physiological or behavioural characteristics.
Some of the features that can be used to independently verify a person’s identity include measurements of their face, fingerprints, handwriting, hand geometry, iris, retinal vein, and voice.
Biometric technology is quickly becoming the foundation of secure identification and personal information data bases for countries around the world.
The proposed use of the technology should put an end to rigging claims which have characterised most of Kenya’s elections and which partly contributed to the outbreak of violence after the 2007 elections.
“This would eliminate many of the issues that have traditionally surrounded elections,” said Ministry of Information permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo.
The proposal is one among a raft of new technology based initiatives that the government hopes to introduce to streamline the provision of state services to citizens, under its e-government movement.
Chief among proposals the ministry will be actioning this year is a new shared service centre for state offices that will allow government agencies and employees to access data from a central repository.
The Government Internet Exchange Point (GIXP) will allow ministries and agencies to connect directly with each other, eliminating the need for third party connections and enhancing security of information stored in government offices.
“This also means more information could be made available at district level — eliminating the need to travel to regional centres to access government products — and would translate to citizens being able to access more efficient services,” said Dr Ndemo.
The state also plans to spend a portion of the Sh2.6 billion it was allocated in this year’s budget to invest in a national data centre where documents and archive footage vital to the country will be stored.
Improve access to services
In other moves aimed at improving access to services, Dr Ndemo said the Judiciary had recently agreed to use tele-presence to improve efficiency in the court system.
The approval means courts can now use video-conferencing, which allows users to attend meetings virtually using an internet connection, to conduct their business minimising the need for extensive travel and arising expenses.
Other e-government initiatives being undertaken include the digitisation of land records at the Ministry of Lands as well as a move by the Ministry of Immigration to move applications for passports and IDs online. Governments around the world are turning to technology to enhance delivery of services to their citizens.
A US study by ForeSee Reseach found that citizen satisfaction with e-government far surpasses satisfaction with the federal government overall.
In America, the improvement of e-government services over the last year is due largely to an increase in the performance of federal e-commerce and transactional sites, which improved an impressive 4 per cent over last year.
E-government websites are the most traditional used method of e-government delivery, with most falling into four categories: departmental main sites; news or information sites, career sites and e-commerce or transaction sites.
The latter have been the best performing sites for the last two quarters.
“The high levels of satisfaction with e-commerce and transactional federal websites indicate citizens` eagerness, willingness, and enthusiasm to take advantage of online government services,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results and author of the report.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Kui Kinyanjui
Quelle/Source: Business Daily Africa, 30.07.2009
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