Dear Editor,
The Government/Opposition should think about merging the responsibilities of the country's pension scheme (NIS) and management of national pension fund into an executive agency. Fashioned off the social security administration in the United States, the new agency would be the National Insurance & Pension Authority (NIPA).
Too many older Jamaicans are without pension. The goal would be for every working Jamaican to pay into the system, therefore, allowing them to have a dignified living in their golden years. This agency should also be given the sole responsibility to issue Tax Registration Numbers, renamed National Insurance Number (NIN). As part of the process, before issuing the NIN, NIPA would capture personal data such as date of birth, birth certificate registration (birth entry) number, and a digital fingerprint for their database system.
The strategic goal for such information is to eventually allow for different agencies to cross-check data. This would feed information to the national identification system, which in the end would see a modern Island Traffic Authority becoming the sole issuance the national identification card. This makes financial and budgetary sense.
What's more, the police agency would be able to access information about any individual, including fingerprints; the passport agency would be able to cross-check information; and the island traffic authority would have a database that would only need simple SQL commands.
Michael Brown
miguelbro@yahoo.com
Time to integrate national ID systems
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The Government/Opposition should think about merging the responsibilities of the country's pension scheme (NIS) and management of national pension fund into an executive agency. Fashioned off the social security administration in the United States, the new agency would be the National Insurance & Pension Authority (NIPA).
Too many older Jamaicans are without pension. The goal would be for every working Jamaican to pay into the system, therefore, allowing them to have a dignified living in their golden years. This agency should also be given the sole responsibility to issue Tax Registration Numbers, renamed National Insurance Number (NIN). As part of the process, before issuing the NIN, NIPA would capture personal data such as date of birth, birth certificate registration (birth entry) number, and a digital fingerprint for their database system.
The strategic goal for such information is to eventually allow for different agencies to cross-check data. This would feed information to the national identification system, which in the end would see a modern Island Traffic Authority becoming the sole issuance the national identification card. This makes financial and budgetary sense.
What's more, the police agency would be able to access information about any individual, including fingerprints; the passport agency would be able to cross-check information; and the island traffic authority would have a database that would only need simple SQL commands.
Michael Brown
miguelbro@yahoo.com
Time to integrate national ID systems
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