Smarter Driving Licenses: What Are We Waiting For?
Wellingborough, UK. – With more than 1.4 billion documents worldwide in circulation at the end of 2012, drivers’ licenses are the second-largest credential application after national IDs. However, with only 12 percent of licenses at end of 2012 being “smart,” it’s the application with the lowest smart card penetration.
Is this about to change? The short answer is not any time soon, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).
Electronic driving licenses (eDLs) are key to preventing fraud and forgery, and in addition can help streamline administrative processes by adding an electronic fine collection or storing traffic violations on the license. Other functionality can also be added, such as storage of medical information, voting card or travel documents when adding ICAO compliance. Asia, for example, is the region with the largest installed base of eDLs, accounting for almost 85 percent of the total eDL install base in 2012. Japan is a key market in the region, representing nearly 40 percent of the world’s installed base of eDL at the end of 2012.
In contrast, no eDLs were shipped in Europe in 2012. Although France is projected to begin issuing eDLs in 2013, IHS believes that at this time the French eDL project will actually start in the fourth quarter of 2013.
And there have been rumors that Turkey and potentially the United Kingdom will adopt eDLs during the next five years, providing for a large potential upside in Europe moving forward.
Meanwhile, the low level of eDL deployment is in the Middle East/Africa (MEA) region can partly be attributed to relatively muted automotive penetration in the population.
In the Americas, on the other hand, adoption of eDLs is forecast to be largely driven by Mexico .However, the United States and Canada are also projected to contribute, although it has been assumed that the eDL rollout in the United States and Canada will be limited to a small number of states, particularly those around the United States-Canada border.
Overall the smart card eDL installed base is projected to increase from 12 percent of all drivers’ licenses installed at the end of 2012 to 20 percent at the end 2018. Notwithstanding the expansion, drivers’ licenses will still be the application with the lowest smart card penetration at the end of the forecast period.
To this end, IHS believes that the market is missing a real opportunity.
“By adopting smart driving licenses, so much more can be achieved,” said Filomena Berardi, senior analyst for Financial and ID Technologies for IHS. “For example, penalty points and convictions could automatically be recorded, so there would be no need to send off your driver’s license. In addition, biometric data, insurance information and health information all could be stored on the card. It would mean that if a driver was involved in an accident or pulled over by the police, the information would be readily available. This is merely the tip of the iceberg, and the use cases for eDLs are endless.”
“Even so, the market is disjointed and governments are largely unaware of the value of eDLs for drivers,” Berardi added. “As a result, it’s up to the bureaus, integrators, and suppliers of integrated circuits to get the message out there.”
by the Editorial Staff
