The National Identification System (NIDS) card pilot phase was oversubscribed within the first 24 hours of applications being opened, as citizens rushed to be the first to participate in the process.

Last week Wednesday (April 5) Floyd Green, the minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibly for NIDS along with the NIDS social media team posted a link where citizens could go and sign up to be a part of the NIDS card pilot programme.

The initial target for the pilot phase was to have 300 citizens enrolled in the process. However, more than 350 had applied to be the first to experience the card application process.

While speaking with Our Today, minister Green said that he and the NIDS team are encouraged by the fact that people are eager to volunteer and want to be the first batch to go through the process.

“In fact we posted the link for less than a day and we only used social media and within that time I had to take down the link as there was a number of people saying that they tried to sign up and unfortunately were sent a message to say that it was now oversubscribed,” said the minister.

Encouraged by the level of support the card pilot phase has received, Green told Our Today that the NIDS project team decided to include everyone who was able to apply for the pilot phase before the link was disabled.

“Whatever the final number is we will take on board all those people. Already the NIDS project team has started to contact people to set their appointment dates. I think some people have already gone in to go through the process. This is a part of the pilot, so the intention is that they will go in and they will go through the process and then they will give us feedback,” he explained.

Citizens who volunteered to be a part of the pilot will receive an email from the NIDS team inclusive of the time and date they are to report to the NIDS enrollment center which is at the central sorting office on South Camp Road in Kingston.

Volunteers will also be instructed to bring their birth certificate, valid form of identification and other documents needed to go through the process. Additionally, their biometrics information will be taken inclusive of a photograph, finger print and signature when they arrive at the office.

After their identification is vetted and confirmed, the card will be printed and participants will be given a date to collect their card.

“This is still the test phase so it will be a test card. In order to really go through all the elements of the pilot, we will still have to print and personalise the cards to give to them so they can vet it. But that card will not be their actual national identification card for use when we rollout nationally,” Green told Our Today.

“Fortunately, the people who have already gone through the pilot, once they give the NIDS team the permission to keep their data and to print a NIDS card for them, then they will be among the first to get the actual card as well,” he further explained.

NIDS, an electronic form of identity, will provide a comprehensive and secure database for capturing and storing the personal information of citizens and non-nationals ordinarily resident in the country. Members of the Jamaican diaspora will also be able to register for the new identification card.

– Send feedback to [email protected]