By: Ana Horvat (Nova24tv)
The Slovenian biometric card was awarded as the best new national ID card for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Thanks for this goes to the former Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, who encouraged the production of ID cards for the purpose of digitalisation and signed on the production already in 2021, but the top of the current Ministry of the Interior conveniently kept this information quiet.
At a conference in Abu Dhabi, an expert commission of international experts in the field of security printed matter and identification documents awarded the Slovenian biometric card the award for the best new national ID card for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, wrote STA. The contract for production was already signed in 2021 with the CETIS company by former Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, who insisted on progress and digitisation, while the current government would now like to take credit.
The Slovenian biometric card was a great move towards progress and digitisation, and the former Interior Minister Aleš Hojs worked extremely hard for this during his mandate. The signing of the framework manufacturing contract, which took place at the end of 2021, was a big step towards modern digitised services that are safe and reliable. The signatories announced at the time that users of electronic services will have everything they need for their identification in one document, both in the physical and electronic world, and they will also be able to use the new identity card for electronic signing.
The award for the best new national identity card is thus the fruit of the work and vision of the former government, although the current government would like to take credit again. According to STA, the Ministry of the Interior wrote that it was a “joint achievement of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Public Administration, and the contract manufacturer Cetis,” but they omitted to thank the actual actor who is the reason we have biometric cards today.
Thus, after the signature on the production in 2021, on March 28th, 2022, all administrative units and diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Slovenia began accepting applications for the issuance of new biometric identity cards. A significant innovation in the application process was the taking of two fingerprints for citizens over the age of 12. The form of the new ID card, which contains a memory medium (chip), was also changed. The chip contains data that is also visibly written on the card form, a photo and two fingerprints in biometric form.
As they explained, by awarding this prestigious international award every year, independent experts recognise outstanding achievements and technical perfection of documents. In addition to Slovenia, the United Arab Emirates was also awarded with the award for the best new national identity card this year.
