On Monday, the Police Office of Administrative Management of Social Order under the Da Nang Police Department began issuing chip-based ID cards for citizens in Hai Chau District’s Thuan Phuoc Ward at the Dam Rong 2 playing area cum community house.

A Da Nang police taking fingerprints of a Thuan Phuoc resident for the issuance of chip-based ID card

Tran Thi Hoan, 77, Head of the Fatherland Front Board of Binh Phuoc 2 Residential Area, expressed her satisfaction as the issuance of e-ID cards was conducted in a simple yet prompt fashion. All you need to do was to show off your existing ID cards, re-check your personal information, and have your fingerprints taken.

“The issuance of chip-based ID cards is quite necessary and highly effective. It is also relevant in light of the thriving Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0. Eligible residents have rights and responsibilities in doing this” Ms Hoan remarked.

Another citizen from Thuan Phuoc Ward , Mr Pham Duc Tue, was proudly in becoming one of the first persons in the city to be issued chip-based ID cards.

He highlighted the importance of such ID cards in meeting the requirements of the city’s administrative reform and e-Government development, thereby helping streamline administrative procedures for Vietnamese citizens in the time to come.

Lt. Col Pham Thi Dieu Thuy from the Police Office of Administrative Management of Social Order said, on 4 January, police officers issued chip-based ID cards for Da Nang’s key leaders who will attend the forthcoming 13^th National Party Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam in Ha Noi.

Since 5 January, the issuance of e-ID cards has been carried out for former revolutionary cadres, and civil servants and public employees who are with expired identity cards or in urgent need of such cards for their work at the Da Nang Administrative Centre.

In the coming time, the issuance of such digital ID cards will be carried out on eligible citizens on a large scale at 16 mobile locations in the city.

In September 2020, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a proposal by the Ministry of Public Security to roll out chip-based national ID cards as early as 2021.

The Ministry of Public Security inaugurated the distribution of barcode-based ID cards in 2016. Till date, this design is only available in 16 Vietnamese cities and provinces, with a combined total of 16 million cards issued, while the rest of Vietnam are still keeping to the old 9- and 12-digit ID versions.

Chip-based ID cards only differ from previous versions in the addition of an electronic chip, while other information, including the ID number, will remain unchanged.

The smart card, which is designed to be encrypted, will store facial recognition features, fingerprints, and anthropometry.

The new model is expected to simplify administrative procedures for Vietnamese citizens in the time ahead.

By LE HUNG - Translated by M.D