Technology failure in Dresden: Digital passport photos were missing!

Technology failure in Dresden: Digital passport photos were missing!

From May 1, 2023, citizens in Germany need a digital biometric passport photo to apply for a new ID card or passport. However, this new regulation presents the citizens' offices in Dresden with considerable challenges, since technical problems make the processing of these digital images impossible at the moment. As the Sächsische.de , affected citizens must have a passport photo on paper.

The difficulties result from a nationwide system change that contributes to preventing document fakes and improving the safety of IDs. According to the new regulation, passport photos must be sent to the registration authorities from verified photographers via a secured photo cloud. However, the software required does not currently work in terms of the citizens' offices in the old town, Blasewitz and Neustadt. In addition, the in -house recording devices are out of operation.

technical problems and transition periods

An error in the software manufacturer is given as the cause of the current problems. The city administration of Dresden therefore recommends examining the necessary documents before visiting the citizens' office and considering current information. Citizens with appointments in the citizens' office should prepare for possible delays and bring a passport photo on paper. In order to give the citizens enough time, a transition period was introduced until July 31, 2023, while the photographs are also accepted in paper form.

The need for digital identities is in a larger context. Digital identities are crucial for the digitization of public administration and local services, which not only affects security aspects, but also improves the efficiency of communication in virtual space. Digital identities are already widespread in various sectors such as finance, healthcare or e-government, so that it is important to give the technical implementation of such systems a high priority.

The future of digital identities

The Civitas Connect emphasizes that there are different models for creating and managing digital identities, including isolated, fed and state identities. In Germany, for example, the new electronic ID card (NPA) has been introduced since 2010, which supports electronic functions, but continues to suffer from little acceptance.

With the online access law (OZG), which provided the digital provision of administrative services by 2022, as well as the OZG 2.0, which is aimed at in June 2024, which is aiming for a uniform digital identity, the path is paved into the digital future. The Federal Government is also planning a state digital wallet (Eudi Wallet) until 2027 to further promote the use of digital identities.

The current problems in the Dresden Citizens' Offices illustrate the challenges associated with the implementation of such digital systems. It remains to be hoped that technical errors will be quickly resolved in order not to endanger the progress in digital identity management.