The government of Angola has commissioned a complete ID management system, the contract for which has been awarded to DGM-Sistemas.
The company, based in the Angolan capital Luanda, has partnered with LaserCard Corporation to supply 8 million optical memory cards for the new national citizen ID program. This initial batch of cards will be issued as the infrastructure for the project is being built; an additional 4 million cards may be issued subsequently.
Ashbury Satcom is supplying Inmarsat BGAN satellite communications to the project, in a deal initially worth between 250GB and 1TB of Inmarsat BGAN airtime. Portugal-based IdentiCard S.A. – LaserCard’s value-added reseller – have developed the system architecture, while Unisys Corporation is responsible for systems integration.
The DGM bid includes $90 million of products and services to be provided by LaserCard including optical memory cards, card personalization systems, printer consumables, installation and training. Registration data will be relayed to government headquarters via the Hughes 9201 Inmarsat BGAN satellite terminals.
Key factors emphasized in the proposal to the Angolan government included the security characteristics and high data storage capacity of the optical memory and the fact that the optical memory's digital security has never been compromised. Purchase orders are expected to be received through Identicard S.A.
"We are pleased to receive our first national-level award for optical memory cards in the African continent," said Bernard C. Bailey, Chairman of LaserCard's Board of Directors. "This is an endorsement of our strategy to focus on ID management programs in rapidly developing countries and a key reference for other African nations looking at their homeland security requirements.”
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