SAP To Develop Smartphone App For Migrant Registration

German software giant SAP is reportedly developing a smartphone app to help migrants arriving in the country deal with local bureaucracy.

The app will also be used by officials to register migrants, and it comes as Germany closes its borders to try control the influx.

Charity App

The app is apparently part of a charitable move by SAP, and will be free of charge to migrants and authorities, a company spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying.

SAP is also apparently talking with government bodies to see if they could use it, but there have been no takers so far. The company had not responded to TechweekEurope at the time of writing.

The development of the app comes as many refugees apparently have smartphones in order to keep in contact with friends and family back home. Those smartphones are also used to help the migrants locate accommodation or find information about border controls.

The idea behind the app is a simple one. According to the SAP spokesman, the app will allow migrants to fill in personal data, details of any relatives in Germany, education and work experience while they are still on the road.

German officials would then be able to access the registration forms from databases, allowing them to keep track of the refugees and monitor who is still in the country.

Germany has seen an influx of refugees of late after Angela Merkel opened Germany’s borders to unregistered refugees. But at the weekend she was forced to introduce border controls, and she has defended her approach saying the impulse was right.

The German chancellor also rejected claims that her decision had made Europe’s refugee crisis worse by encouraging others to head for Germany.

Germany and Austria have called for EU summit on refugee crisis, whilst Croatia and others have said they cannot take any more refugees. There have been also been clashes between police and refugees in Hungary, leading to protests from the United Nations.

Track Record

The track record of refugees and technology has not always been a good one.

In January 2013, migrants who are legally allowed to live in the UK were told to go home, after a gaffe involving the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and IT contractor Capita. The services firm blamed inaccurate and out of date records.

That same year the Home Office accidentally published the personal details of 1,598 people who were in the process of being deported from the UK.

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