In an audacious technological mission, India is building a near foolproof database of personal biometric identities for nearly a billion people, something that has never been attempted anywhere in the world.
Poorer Indians who have no proof to offer of their existence will leapfrog into a national online system, another global first, where their identities can be validated anytime anywhere in a few seconds.
"India will outdo the world's biggest biometric databases including those of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US-VISIT visa programme," says Nandan Nilekani, the technology tycoon who heads the programme popularly called by its acronym UIDAI.
The United States' visa programme is a biometric database of 120 million. In comparison, the UIDAI has already registered 200 million members, less than two years after the first enrollment. By 2014 half of India's population will have an identity tagged to a random, unique 12-digit number.
The information is stored in a fortress like data centre in Bangalore With its internet-class open source backbone, the database will accommodate more than 12 billion fingerprints, 2.4 billion iris scans and 1.2 billion photographs. Even more groundbreaking, once established and stored, a person's identity can easily be verified and authenticated using a cell phone, smart phone, tablet or any other device hooked to the internet.
"By starting on a clean slate and reconfiguring the structure, we have opened up a whole new set of possibilities," says Mr Nilekani. The project will stay abreast of the latest in biometrics, cloud computing and connectivity.
The project is technology-neutral, not locking in to any particular hardware or software. In another pilot in the same region, people are authenticating themselves on a simple device connected to the network and withdrawing money from their new bank accounts. In the future, every outlet with such a device can potentially serve as a cash-dispensing "micro ATM". In the coming years, UIDAI holds the promise of being a game changer.
With a unique identity, previously anonymous poor Indians can have access to services such as bank accounts, mobile connections and driving licences.
Poorer Indians who have no proof to offer of their existence will leapfrog into a national online system, another global first, where their identities can be validated anytime anywhere in a few seconds.
"India will outdo the world's biggest biometric databases including those of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US-VISIT visa programme," says Nandan Nilekani, the technology tycoon who heads the programme popularly called by its acronym UIDAI.
The United States' visa programme is a biometric database of 120 million. In comparison, the UIDAI has already registered 200 million members, less than two years after the first enrollment. By 2014 half of India's population will have an identity tagged to a random, unique 12-digit number.
The information is stored in a fortress like data centre in Bangalore With its internet-class open source backbone, the database will accommodate more than 12 billion fingerprints, 2.4 billion iris scans and 1.2 billion photographs. Even more groundbreaking, once established and stored, a person's identity can easily be verified and authenticated using a cell phone, smart phone, tablet or any other device hooked to the internet.
"By starting on a clean slate and reconfiguring the structure, we have opened up a whole new set of possibilities," says Mr Nilekani. The project will stay abreast of the latest in biometrics, cloud computing and connectivity.
The project is technology-neutral, not locking in to any particular hardware or software. In another pilot in the same region, people are authenticating themselves on a simple device connected to the network and withdrawing money from their new bank accounts. In the future, every outlet with such a device can potentially serve as a cash-dispensing "micro ATM". In the coming years, UIDAI holds the promise of being a game changer.
With a unique identity, previously anonymous poor Indians can have access to services such as bank accounts, mobile connections and driving licences.
