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Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz says that his ministry is playing its part in ensuring an early introduction of the National Identification and Registration Act, 2021 (NIDS Bill) in the new year.According to Vaz, his ministry has issued the notice requested for December 1, when the first information commissioner for the long-delayed National Identification System, Celia Barclay, took office."An appointed day notice (ADN) bringing the provisions regarding the office of the information commissioner into force on December 1, 2021 was gazetted and, pursuant to the Data Protection Act (DPA). Data controllers will have two years from December 1, 2021 to become compliant with the new Act," Vaz told the Jamaica Observer.Closing the parliamentary debate on the Bill in the Senate on November 19, Leader of Government Business and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith had assured members that the information commissioner would start to build out, "and everything will come from there"."So, when I say it [Data Protection Act] is imminent and that the work is proceeding, it will be safe to ensure that there is alignment when both [Acts] come into effect," Johnson Simith told the Senate.Prior to that Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, who piloted the final draft of the NIDS Bill through the House of Representatives a month earlier, had pointed out that the Government wished for the DPA to be implemented this year, even though most of the data involved would not be affected for years.Despite the fact that his wish for the DPA to be enacted this month was not realised, it appears that the Chuck is content to work with the two-year notice, which should allow ample time for compliance.As information commissioner, Barclay will have strategic oversight for the establishment of the office in keeping with the DPA.She was appointed recently by the governor general, on the advice of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Leader of Opposition Mark Golding. An attorney-at-law, Barclay has a history of working in estate administration.She specialised in insolvency administration and the administration of deceased estates and is also skilled in legal assistance, dispute resolution, legal research, public speaking, and legal writing, as well as in public administration and office management.NIDS will provide a comprehensive and secure structure to enable the collection and storage of identity information for all Jamaicans, on a voluntary basis.This secure voluntary tool can verify an individual's identity, facilitate the electronic signing of documents and securely access a range of Government services online.In April, 2019 the Constitutional Court had highlighted deficiencies in the original 2017 NIDS Bill, which was eventually pulled and the vexing issues addressed in the new draft tabled late in 2020 by Holness.It was reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament and was passed with 14 amendments, supported by the Opposition in the House of Representatives.