The National Insurance Commission (NIC) and the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) will integrate their motor insurance database next year, to eliminate commercial vehicles without insurance cover on the road.

The integration would enable passengers to use their mobile phones to check whether commercial vehicles they are about to board are properly insured.

Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, announced this at the National Insurance Commission ‘Chairman's cocktail reception’ in Accra.

The event attracted key players in the insurance industry to interact and take stock of the progress made and chart the way forward.

Vice President Bawumia said the insurance industry has very important roles to play in the digitisation programmes of government because insurance is intertwined with the entire architecture of the economy; saying, "It is heart-warming to know that the industry is digitizing its operations".

“After meetings with the DVLA and the National Insurance Commission about creating better synergies between them, it is expected that the Motor Insurance Database will be connected to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) system in January 2020 so that before a vehicle is issued with a road worthiness certificate, it can be verified whether it has a valid insurance cover from a licensed insurance company.

“The motor database will also make it possible for the travelling public to verify the authenticity of the insurance policies of commercial vehicles before they board such vehicles. All you have to do is to enter the number of the car on your phone, even if it is a ‘yam’ phone, and you can tell if the trotro or bus you are about to board is properly insured or not.

" This certainly brings better awareness and protection for the ordinary Ghanaian.

“The database will also help to stop the leakages from the insurance revenues through fake motor insurance stickers. Already, after the digitisation of the DVLA, the incidence of ‘Goro boys’ has been curtailed. Same thing has happened at the Passport Office.

"So we are getting there. The digitisation agenda, which is designed to make accessing government services easier, is on course," Dr Bawumia said.

Vice President Bawumia said even though digitization brings significant advantages and opportunities, it also creates vulnerabilities which could be critical and should be carefully managed.

He said the government is taking steps to protect the nation’s information infrastructure as part of the digitization programme.

Dr Bawumia said appropriate laws have been passed to provide the needed framework for the fight against cyber criminals, citing the Electronic Transactions Act and the Electronic Payments Act, to regulate and protect electronic transactions and payments.

He explained that the Data Protection Act also protects the private data of government, citizens and businesses in Ghana.

The National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy, he said, was developed to monitor and protect the nation’s cyber space.

The National SIM re-registration exercise scheduled for early 2020 is another initiative to mitigate cyber-crimes committed using mobiles phones, he added.

While commending the board, management and staff of the Commission for a good job so far, Vice President Bawumia urged them to closely collaborate with the industry and relevant government institutions such as the DVLA and NITA to ensure that its digitization efforts are in sync with the government’s policy and strategies to help achieve the objectives.