Identity Cards Bill

If there is a convergence of technologies and information for passports, we will have to be there. This does not mean, however, that we should be complacent about the management of the implementation of this type of system. The majority of the problems we have been talking about concern the management of the implementation. It is not about the technology and people asking why this or that has not worked—it is entirely due to the management of the implementation. For it is on project management that success or failure depends. Successful systems have proper project management; the unsuccessful ones do not. We have to go through a series of processes to ensure that the project management of such an important tool is absolutely right. When it comes to the implementation of large-scale computer systems, the technology today is pretty straightforward. In addition, the cost of storage is falling dramatically. PCs today have the memory of mainframes 20 years ago. We have to have a proper process of implementation, one which includes the development of demonstrators and pilots to model the processes, enabling proper specifications to be drawn up. Problems occur when the specifications are not right, when vendors promise certain things and there is a mismatch. That is when the cost escalates. We must also ensure that staff are trained properly in the use of the technology. At that stage, all bugs and snags can be removed before we move to the hard specification of the systems architecture. The final decision about putting biometric systems to work depends almost entirely on the application’s purpose. Do the advantages and benefits outweigh the disadvantages and costs? I believe, on what we know now, that this is almost the case. In the very near future, as we move into the digital age, this type of characterisation and identification will be commonplace, either in the public or the private sector. Digital accurate identification of an individual has immense value. It will revolutionise our healthcare systems, ensuring patients receive the best care for their condition. In New Jersey, I saw hospitals where the identification system shows what drugs people can have and all the side effects. Every patient is monitored on that basis. The cost of healthcare goes down dramatically once you know what individual patients are susceptible to. The system will combat fraud in our tax and benefit system. Of course we must ensure the security of the data storage and retrieval system, but that is not rocket science. It is very simple. There is enormous security in the data already kept, although nothing is 100 per cent sure in science. So the benefits of the technology are tremendous. At worst, the cost is minimal; at best, it is marginal. We have to work on that stage.