ANALYSING THE EMPLOYEE PERCEPTION OF BIOMETRIC SYSTEM IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES

Abstract

This project discusses an exploratory study of government employees’ perceptions of the introduction of biometric authentication at the workplace Government Offices. The author suggest that studying the factors affecting employees’ acceptance of new technology will help ease the adoption of biometric technology in other e-government applications. A combination of survey and interviews was used to collect the required data. Interviews were conducted with managers and questionnaires were given to employees from two different government organisations in Government Offices to investigate the employees’ perceptions of using biometrics. The results of this study indicate a significant digital and cultural gap between the technological awareness of employees and the preferred authentication solutions promoted by management. A lack of trust in technology, its potential for misuse and management motives reflect the managers’ need to consider their responsibilities for narrowing these gaps. It was apparent that overcoming employees’ resistance is an essential issue facing biometric implementation. Based on the research the authors recommend that an awareness and orientation process about biometrics should take place before the technology is introduced into the organisation. As part of the “Digital India” program of Government of India, it has been decided to implement common Biometric Attendance System (BAS) in the Central Government Offices (Agencies) located in Delhi which may be extended to offices of the state and governments and other government institutions in future. The proposed system would enable an employee to register attendance by simply presenting his/her biometric (finger print/Iris). This event will be authenticated online after one to one match with the bio-metric attributes stored in the UIDAI data base against the employee’s Aadhaar number. 7 For implementing this project, the Central Government Organizations need to follow a structured approach in coordinating with different stakeholders. The purpose of this document is to serve as handbook for the Central Government organizations that are implementing Bio-metric Attendance System for their employees.