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The Alliance for Change (AFC) Chair and Member of Parliament (M.P) Mrs. Cathy Hughes, in a statement, expressed alarm with Government’s recent announcement of entering into a US$34 million contract with a German company for the production and roll out of an electronic citizenship card that will consolidate the data of the holder into a digital format.
Hughes- who was the Minister of Public Telecommunications during the A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government-pointed out it was the coalition government that established the Ministry of Public Telecommunications with the primary focus to examine the issues of internet governance, digital skills development, digital promotion, digital entrepreneurship, e government, cybersecurity, post and telecommunications.
“We are quite aware of the power of technology if implemented in a cohesive manner and with the requisite legal protections, to improve access to government service, the ease of doing business and ultimately the development of a strong robust economy and overall growth and development.”
However, of grave concern with regards to the electronic identification (E-ID) announcement, the AFC said, is the piecemeal approach to what should be a clearly defined structured approach to a complex issue – that is moving our paper-based systems in Guyana into the digital world of the 21st century. “This must be based on a clearly articulated policy backed by an action-oriented road map for implementation. Neither of these have been presented to the people of Guyana.”
Hughes said what society has heard from the government amounts to ramblings that refer to work permits and immigration issues for the most part, but the government has failed to provide a cohesive eGovernment approach which should include plans to implement the following:
“eServices – which seeks to improve the delivery of government services to citizens through an enabling ICT based environment
eParticipation – which reduces the digital divide – in Guyana between the hinterland, poor and remote communities, across our 10 regions and internationally for our diaspora especially
eAdministration – a secure computing environment for the Government of Guyana in keeping with industry standards, a whole-of-government approach with interoperability among government agencies.”
The above recommendations, the M.P said, should also start with broad consultation where the Government lays out their holistic e-Governance agenda and identifies the key and enabling building blocks of the proposed system.
“An e-ID should be just one of these blocks and others would include – e-health, e-education, e-agriculture, e-tax, e-police to name a few. Integration with other digital systems such as our passport issuing and border control, birth and deaths registries are also being considered. It remains unclear the integration of this e-ID system with GECOM’s systems and the opposition’s call for the use of biometrics for identification at place of poll.”
A national programme of this magnitude, the former minister pointed out, would need to start off with the digitisation of our registries, recalling there were over 100 young ICT proficient Guyanese who were in the process of doing this who were fired when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic took office in August 2020.
According to the M.P, who has shadow ministerial responsibility for the telecommunication sector, “this e-ID project ideally should form part of modernising the General Register Office [GRO] which is the entity responsible for Guyana’s civil registry.” Further, GRO’s legislation may need to be updated for this level of digital modernisation, in addition to a comprehensive range of legislation that will be required in addition to data protection and cybersecurity, she noted.
Hughes said many countries have passed legislation regarding data storage and protection, including prohibiting the storage of citizens’ data outside of the national territory and questioned what the Government is doing to ensure similar best practices.
“Where is Government’s public articulation of systems and assurances that will guarantee the rights of all Guyanese? Our Citizens must also have rights like those guaranteed under the EU General Data Protection Regulation at a minimum. They must be able to know which individual or Government Agency has accessed their personal data, when and for what purpose. The penalties for illegal access to citizens’ data should also be highlighted.”
Given this scope, Hughes advised, the major fundamental issues have not been addressed in the public domain to date and are totally missing from what should be an intelligent, informative discussion on a national issue. “We in the AFC feel this is not just a coincidence but a deliberate attempt by the PPP not to be transparent as is its modus operandi.”
There has been no public information programme to inform, educate and engender trust in such a system targeted to the people of Guyana which will require access to one’s most private personal data, she declared. “This project also did not come to the Parliament for the requisite discussion and scrutiny.” These omissions are all too glaring to be accidental and therefore it could only be concluded such is the disdain with which this government holds its citizens who it is supposed to serve, she declared.
