EyeDentity

Kebele ID you can count on

We are EyeDentity, a small team planning to use iris-recognition to address the issues of the Ethiopia identification system and is concerned with the quality and authenticity of the National ‘Kebele’ cards in Ethiopia. Currently the Ethiopians are using the Kebele cards as identity documents, however, the Kebele card system has challenges such as a lack of unique identification number which makes it easier to forge, and cannot be verified.

We are proposing a biometric solution which is secure, reliable and accessible to all. The solution will equip Ethiopian nationals with digital Kebele ID that can be used everywhere in the country. The proposed ID will empower citizens and provide a centralized database to the Ethiopian government.

The system will use personal data as input including personal signature, iris information of an individual and generates ID number,Kebele Card , public key and private key to help the system to be more secure. All which will make it easier to verify, and can be trusted by banks, tax and other institutions. The ID system will have added functionalities to empower citizens such as profiles - can have something to prove about their background & professionalism, medical records.

With iris recognition, we can digitally sign a citizens information with their unique iris identifier. We chose the iris recognition due to the uniqueness of the human iris itself. Unlike fingerprint recognition, the accuracy of iris recognition is not affected by human physical contact. Citizen Information generated,  are all saved data on the centralized database. Public officials and institutions will use the mobile application to verify citizen's identity, scanning the  QR code from the card , while public-private keys for ID holder to authorize access.

The most important part of the system is the iris recognition feature, which allows for unique identifier which will be linked to the ID number, public and private key and the QR code. Therefore, making the ID cards more secure, unique and reliable.  The ID number generated will have 13 numbers digits:   

- 6 digits for  date of birth YY/MM/DD

-3  digits for kebele code

    -4 digits for random generate numbers

- Last digit for error detection ( checksum algorithm )

The banks and other institutions will first need to be registered and verified on the system before they can request access to the  information. The proposed system will also use public-private key functionality to ensure privacy and protection. For example, if a bank or any other other government institution request access to personal information, they will need a  private key of the card holder to be granted access. This functionality will ensure system's transparency regarding who has access to data and for what purpose with accessed authorization from individuals.

Our system will also be creating a centralised database for the Ethiopian government, which they currently do not have.  

The current Ethiopian ID is valid for two-years. Our system will be able to register new IDs and those that due for ID renewal. The system will be deployed in WeredaNet, which is a government to government network, connecting Kebeles. 3G connectivity to access the system through a mobile application. All the data will be stored in a centralised database that can be accessed by all the Kebeles.

The system interface will display a simple and easy follow in order to register and verify citizen information. Information will displayed in local languages. The enrollment terminal will have a simple User Interface making it easy to navigate from the enrolment to verification process. The citizen is issued a card with a 2d barcode requiring only a secure 4 digit PIN for secure access as consent during. identification.

Verification from institutions only rely on the API response from signed requests for verification from the users. Access can be made simply through the applications  QR code reader, however this feature is extended as an to the API which will use the users private key to make requests to the server.

WeredaNet is a network that was provided by the great Ethiopian government to connect kebeles to the internet. We understand that some kebeles are not connected to the WeredaNet and would have to send physical paperwork to the central government/municipality/office. We intend to replace the collection of the citizen information from the kebeles with a single Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) App which utilizes communication mechanism among proximate nodes. This technology was developed for developing region and disaster situation and prototyped with the Raspberry PI.

By introducing this system in Ethiopia we want to unify the country and empower the citizens with digital IDs. The plan is to pilot the system in Addis Ababa, and in the three year period, we hope to deploy the system in all the Kebeles throughout the country, deprecating the current ID system in the great city of Addis Ababa. We want privacy and security over user information and hope this can be extended to their most valued assets to secure their identity. In the next five years, we hope to have every citizen registered and have digital ID.

The is finely equipped with local knowledge and awareness of the Ethiopian Identity System. We have various machine learning projects that are applicable to iris detection and recognition while operating low energy consuming and affordable systems on raspberry pi. with the appropriate project management  and system design practises we can fulfill our role as a supplier.

Revenue model:

Key partners:

•  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• The Australian Government

• The Omidyar Network

• MIT

• Ethiopian National government

Customers:

• Kebeles
• Banks
• Intelligence and security services
• Police
• Tax Agency
• Administration and social services
• Other purposes authorized by law

Revenue streams (from customers):

Subscription based model

We took this task to provide a feasible solution for the African landscape along as an opportunity for use our skills we have aquired from our research in Japan. This can be difficult and in most cases can fail due to the lack of transparency. We hope this could be a great learning experience for us.

Connectivity: Some Kebeles are not connected to the weredaNet

Solution: A delay tolerant network to the weredaNet