Work starts on ID card "building blocks"

Work has started on the IT systems to run the new passport interview process which could eventually form the basis of the government's ID card plans.

From late 2006 all first-time adult passport applicants, of which there are around 600,000 every year, will attend a face-to-face interview as part of the Authentication by Interview (ABI) project.

Siemens Business Services has been awarded a £6.9m contract to develop the software to support this process. The company has had a contract with UKPS since 1997, and the new deal will see it develop software which will integrate with the existing software it maintains.

The Home Office told silicon.com: "This is additional to work under existing contracts to make sure that the ABI project can progress smoothly and is fully integrated with the normal passport application processes."

While procurement for the ID cards scheme will not begin until after Royal Assent of the ID cards bill, the Home Office said "the process and infrastructure that UKPS is developing will have the ability also to act as a building block for a future ID card enrolment network and system".

The system may be extended to cover other types of passport applications in future - especially if enrolment of fingerprints or iris images becomes needed for passports or identity cards.

Earlier this week Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the ABI initiative will deter and detect fraudulent applications among first-time applicants.

He said research by the UKPS has found that first-time adult applications account for 74 per cent of all fraudulent applications, even though this group accounts for less than 10 per cent of all applications processed annually by the agency.

"A fraudster will now be faced with having to act out their false identity and risk a real possibility of detection," he said.