UK ID Card Set Up Costs to Rise
The UK’s Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has said that the while the set up costs associated with the introduction of the national identity card scheme have risen, the total costs over a ten year period have fallen from £5.43 billion to £4.565 billion.
Publishing the figures in its twice-yearly report, IPS said that a number of factors altered the cost estimates since its last report. These included:
The estimated profile of issuing fingerprint biometric ID Cards and passports has changed to a more gradual roll out from 2009 but a faster roll out from 2012, resulting in an overall increase in costs;
The introduction of ID Cards in 2009, aimed at people working in sensitive areas of national infrastructure, and the issue of identity cards in 2010 to young people who want them;
The estimated cost for replacing the current passport application system has been reduced following more detailed analysis;
In order to enroll fingerprint and photograph biometrics in the most convenient and cost-effective way, IPS now plans to provide this through the open market.
IPS says taken together this will result in a net decrease of around £975 million in cost over the ten year Cost Report period including the impact of inflation.
The cost of setting up the scheme for the ten years from October 2007 has risen, however, from £245 million to £335 million, the report said.
The figures come with a big warning attached. IPS notes that there is a significant probability that the estimates will change in the light of further experience. In particular, it should be noted that costs reflect the estimated outcome of a number of competitive tendering processes, the first of which has only recently commenced. In addition, IPS said, the cost estimates reflect a number of key assumptions around the number of applications for passports and/or identity cards, the operation of the enrolment processes, and achievable levels of staff productivity, all of which may well change.
Breaking down the costs it is claimed the manufacture and distribution of biometric passports and identity cards (40%). The cost of the necessary technology infrastructure will account for less than a fifth (16%) of all costs. Meanwhile, the wholly “customer-facing” functions of enrolment offices and the customer contact centre will account for 10% of all costs.
To the ridicule of anti ID card campaigners, IPS said that the private sector will be asked to collect and supply biometric data in a bid to drive down the cost of issuing identity cards.
The move has apparently been prompted by the high cost of establishing regional offices for verifying passport applications.
Despite the cost alterations, card fees remain guaranteed "at £30 or less" during 2009 and 2010, IPS said.
Security Document World
***
Please visit identity LOOP, a web-based portal dedicated to providing timely, well-researched and free-to-access information for all those involved in purchasing, manufacturing and integrating identity-centered solutions.
May 09, 2008
Read more about Biometric Industry Events and Conferences.
Read more about Biometric Industry Useful Links.
Read more about Biometric Technologies:
Fingerprint, Iris Recognition, Hand & Finger, Facial Recognition, Voice/Speaker, Consultants, Smart Cards/Multimodal, Signature/Keystroke, 2D Barcodes, Sensors, Middleware/Software, Vascular Pattern Recognition
Read more about Biometric Applications:
Physical Access Control, Logical Access Control, Justice/Law Enforcement, Time and Attendance, Border Control/Airports, HIPAA, Financial/Transactional, Integrators/Resellers, Safes, Door Locks, Other
May 09, 2008
back
