Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Joins Secure Identity Alliance (SIA) as an Advisory Observer

In its capacity as an Advisory Observer, Nigeria NIMC, represented by Mr Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, Director General/CEO, will chair the Advisory Committee of the OSIA (Open Standards Identity API) initiative

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Secure Identity Alliance

Jun 17, 2019, 03:00 ET

PARIS and JOHANNESBURG, June 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Secure Identity Alliance (SIA), the global identity and secure digital services advisory body, today announced that Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has joined the SIA as an Advisory Observer.

In its capacity as an Advisory Observer, the NIMC, represented by Mr Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, Director General/CEO, will chair the Advisory Committee of the OSIA (Open Standards Identity API) initiative, SIA's ground-breaking global program that set the standards guarding against vendor lock-in for technologies and solutions used by government agencies worldwide in the implementation of their respective identity programs.

Allowing governments to exert full control over their national identity programs, the OSIA initiative provides the standardized data formats and open interfaces that eliminate the interoperability challenges which all too frequently hamper the evolution of national ID systems.

Injecting new levels of flexibility and openness, OSIA enables seamless connectivity between all components of the identity management ecosystem – independent of technology, solution architecture or vendor – to assure the seamless interaction of services. With these open standards in place, governments can plan and evolve their systems in complete confidence.

As OSIA Advisory Committee Chair, Mr Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, Director General of the NIMC, will play a critical role in overseeing the work carried out by the OSIA GitHub Community and OSIA Workgroup. This includes the development of functional and technical interface documents to support the Open Source API, developed in collaboration by SIA vendors and now available on GitHub.

"I'm delighted that the era of vendor lock-in is fast coming to an end, yet many agencies and governments across Africa remain unaware of the potential opportunities that OSIA unlocks—including a reduction in the total cost of ownership of their ID systems," said Mr Aziz. "Part of my role will be to spread the word and ensure everyone knows they can access the interconnectivity resources they need to enable high functioning and interoperable ID ecosystems."

"Representing an industry-wide commitment to breaking down the technical barriers that, until now, have stood in the way of achieving the United Nations goal of establishing legal identity for every citizen by 2030, the OSIA initiative will help enable the sovereign ID systems that ensure citizens around the world benefit from universal coverage from birth to death, free of discrimination," commented Frédéric Trojani, Chairman of the Board, Secure Identity Alliance.

"The work of the Advisory Committee of the OSIA (Open Standards Identity API) initiative will be critical, going forward, in helping to ensure governments around the world can implement the most appropriate solutions for their needs, without commercial or technical restrictions, and we're delighted that Mr Aziz from NIMC will help guide and shape this vital program," he continued.

"The OSIA initiative represents a new era of openness and collaboration between the world's largest identity providers to resolve the interoperability and data sharing challenges that previously left governments with limited options, should they need to evolve their ID ecosystems," commented Debora Comparin, Chair of the OSIA Workgroup. "The industry's open standards vision means governments are now free to use any technology they choose and can take advantage of innovative and emerging technologies as they see fit – confident that there will be no need to discard existing legacy ID investments."

Supported by all major ID vendors, OSIA (Open Standards Identity API) will enable governments to eliminate today's identity silos and extend coverage to provide universal legal identity for all. SIA warmly welcomes governments, and stakeholders within the wider identity community, seeking to contribute to this industry-wide initiative.

About the Secure Identity Alliance

Secure Identity Alliance is dedicated to supporting the provision of legal, trusted identity for all, and to drive the development of inclusive digital services necessary for sustainable, worldwide economic growth and prosperity.

We believe legal, trusted identity is the cornerstone of rights protection, social inclusion and digital economic development - and the access point to a wide range of essential public and private services.

We bring together public, private and non-government organizations to foster international collaboration on the issues of legal identity, to help shaping policy and to provide technical and implementation guidance for national and international ID systems.

Its Board Members are De La Rue, Gemalto – a Thales Company, Idemia, IN Groupe and Veridos.

For more information on the Secure Identity Alliance, visit: www.secureidentityalliance.org.

Follow the Secure Identity Alliance at @secureidentity1

About Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) established by the NIMC Act No. 23 of 2007, the NIMC has the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria, register persons covered by the Act, assign a Unique National Identification Number (NIN) and issue General Multi-Purpose Cards (GMPC) to those who are citizens of Nigeria as well as others legally residing within the country.

The NIMC Act 2007 provides for the establishment of the NIMC, its functions, powers, establishment of the National Identity Database, assignment and use of General Multi-purpose cards, and the National Identification Number (NIN). The Act also provides the Commission with powers to make regulations connected with its functions. The NIMC Act 2007 provides the repeal of the law that created the former Department of National Civic Registration (DNCR) and the transfer of its assets and liabilities to the NIMC.

SOURCE Secure Identity Alliance