Sudan is launching a civil registry project that expects to have the fingerprints of 8 million of the 16 million citizens and foreign residents collected for the country’s national database, according to a Sudan Tribune article.

Beyond simply collecting the biometric data of all the population, other aspects of the project include creation of a system for personal ID number and subsequent ID card that makes use of the collected biometric data for citizens and the establishment of a fiber optic-based communication network.

Collection of the data will be occurring in 32 centers across the country with an additional 1,024 mobile units all being administered by Sudan’s Ministry of the Interior, who is also managing the overall project.

Eventually, the Sudan government plans to require a national ID card for any citizen looking to utilize government services such as school registration, banking transactions, drivers licenses and passports.

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