The government is preparing a new public education drive to address lingering doubts about the country’s digital ID cards and build wider trust in its technology‑based national projects, the minister driving the initiative said.
Sen. Jonathan Reid, Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology, acknowledged that some Barbadians remained apprehensive about the digital ID initiative, a sentiment he said was typical of most new technology‑based products.
But in a keynote speech on the opening day of the Global Business Conference, hosted by BIBA – The Association for Global Business – at the Wyndham Grand Sam Lord’s Castle, as part of Global Business Week, he sought to assure citizens that the digital ID cards are a secure, advanced and efficient means of verifying identity while enabling a wide range of seamless digital services.
Sen. Reid announced that a new communications campaign is being launched to strengthen public trust in its technology‑driven national projects, beginning with the rollout of the digital ID cards.
He emphasised that it was “fundamental to build an advanced system of trust. That’s the only way digital identification and the digital economy is going to work.”
The minister, who is tasked with driving the efforts to create a future‑ready economy and position the island as a global leader in digital transformation, innovation and sustainability, said the old laminated identification cards are now outdated and can be easily forged.
Noting that the original cards were designed four decades ago primarily for voter registration, he said the new digital IDs can do much more. Still, he acknowledged, “you have a lack of trust” and “you have issues whether what is being told to you is the truth.”
To address this, the ministry will, in the coming months, roll out a nationwide communications campaign to explain clearly and simply how the digital ID system benefits Barbadians and enhances convenience in everyday life.
At the same time, Sen. Reid explained that participation would remain voluntary.
“You can choose. And that’s fundamentally the message that we want to be bringing to the country over the next few months, that it’s just a simple thing of verifying who you are, what you have, what you own, what’s your responsibilities, what are your opportunities. . . That’s all. And it’s a place that can store those things, whether it’s on your phone, whether it’s a card, whether it’s a website”.
On the broader issue of technology and economic growth, Sen. Reid noted that significant investment in cybersecurity will be essential to underpin the government’s expanding use of digital platforms.
(IMC)
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