"As I listed in a previous thread I cannot understand why we are still in the paper age,"
I could guess that there are several reasons, one being simply cost.
How much extra per head would it cost to set up and maintain an online database that could identify a person and provide details of their racing licence?
What would the criteria of recognition be? Should the steward accept a claim that the person is who he says he is, or would the claim have to be verified by someone? Would that person have to be an officer of the club, since a friend might be unreliable? What if this was one's first visit to a track?
Otherwise, if the system recognises biometric data, then each steward has to be provided with fingerprint recognition equipment and a good quality data line to the MSA (and some better security on the database too).
And what does this achieve? the occasional person who forgets his licence doesn't suffer any inconvenience. Is it really worth tens of thousands of pounds just to avoid the inconvenience of maybe 100 people in a year?
I can see the next step, you won't need a licence it will all be done by fingerprint recognition, until the computer goes down on Sunday morning. Then you will be yelling for a paper system because no-one raced as no-one had proof of their licence.
I'd guess that though paper may not be the most modern system, it probably ranks up with the most cost efficient for the job it is doing.
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