Kurdistan Region launches digital driver's license system

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday launched a new digitalized driver's license system in Erbil in the latest step of a wider initiative to digitalize public services in the Region.

"The electronic driving license will be a basis for collecting data of Kurdistani citizens so that in the future we can both issue driving licenses electronically and provide a basis for other services to be done electronically," Barzani said at the launching ceremony.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) ninth cabinet is working towards digitalizing all public services in the governmental establishments and institutions, in efforts to offer greater transparency and efficiency.

"The new digital driver license system is the 1st system that relies on and feeds the central Population Information System (PIS). The new driver license card is also the 1st official document to assign a digital identity number (UPN) to citizens," Hiwa Afandi, the head of the KRG's Department of Information Technology tweeted.

The new digital system includes minimum age requirements for different types of drivers' licenses, ranging from 16 to 20 years old.

Barzani further praised the new system and said it will enable citizens to attain "faster" services.

Afandi hailed the initiative as a "giant transformational step."

PM Barzani last month praised the ongoing digitalization of many government services, saying "we have reached milestones in becoming an e-government."

The new system is active in Erbil province but “will be deployed soon to all provinces,” Afandi told Rudaw English on Wednesday.

“In the coming days they [Sulaimani and Duhok provinces] will be fully operational,” he added.

The Kurdistan Region's interior ministry in 2020 signed a contract with a German company to begin the process of digitalizing drivers' licenses and vehicle registration.

In a virtual conference that year, a number of top KRG officials voiced their support for digitalizing the ministries and cited the need to reduce bureaucracy.