The Customer Requirement

The Context

In 2004 the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo with the support of the United Nations have initiated a process for the disarmament and reintegration of Ituri’s estimated 20.000 combatants from different armed groups. Through its Post Conflict/Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration Unit the UNDP is coordinating the process by providing technical operations and financial support to the Government and by facilitating the formulation of strategies and policies.

In order to carry out the registration, identification and subsequent data management, UNDP has requested a biometric registration and identification system combined with an ID card issue and database management component and central database for registering 20.000 ex-combatants in Six Transit Sites in the region of Ituri (north-east of DRC).

The Solution

UNDP contracted the design, development, installation and management of the DDR Registration System to BioID Technologies SA. BioID provided an integrated system that carries out:

  1. Registration of ex-combatants with Iris Recognition
  2. Database Management
  3. Document Management
  4. Data Center design and management in outsourcing
  5. Data Center design and management in outsourcing
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Upon successful biometric registration with Iris, establishing that the individual is applying for benefits for the first time, basic demographic information is entered like Name, Date of Birth etc. complemented with information describing social economic, military and professional background and the individual’s health status.

Also application logon for operators and system administrators is secured through Iris Recognition identification transaction. As a result, any session in which new individuals are enrolled and registered in the system or database maintenance is being done is automatically linked to the operator that was identified at the start of the session such that an automatic audit trail is created.

Data from the various transit sites is subsequently synchronized through an Internet based network such that registration at one location will automatically result in the possibility to identify and administer an individual across all transit sites.

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Furthermore, the Government in Kinshasa is provided with a central database and reporting facility where data is combined in a single database that constitutes an in-depth information source on the population registered.

After training the operators and completing the systems installation at the transit sites at the beginning of September 2004, BioID continues to support the operation both with local engineering support and through its International competence center.