Bahrain's Smart Card was demonstrated before hundreds of delegates and speakers from across the world on the first day of the international 'Smart Society' conference yesterday.
The acting president of the Central Informatics Organisation, Shaikh Ahmed bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa, opened the 'Smart Society-Act Now?' meeting, organised by the Bahrain Information Technology Society at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Present were the Minister of Social Affairs, Dr Fatima Al Beloushi, government, CIO and BITS officials, including the BITS President Mohammed Nass.
"We're proud to be the co-organiser of the conference which coincides with our initiative to launch the smart identity card in the Kingdom and complement our efforts to strengthen awareness about it," Shaikh Ahmed said.
"This will help prepare the business community to utilise the card and offer new electronic services to customers," he said. Shaikh Ahmed said the emergence of smart card technology and Bahrain and the GCC's shift to adopt smart cards necessitated a forum to help executives understand the potential of the card.
"The conference on the smart card technology is important to educate our people in the technology," he said. The conference will cover technology and business aspects of the cards.
Delegates from the US, Germany, Malaysia, Britain, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are taking part.
The keynote speaker yesterday was Dr Jerry Brightman, president of the Leadership Group, US, who highlighted technology and change leadership in the Smart Society.
A CIO team, led by Yousif Salman Al Bader, change management manager of the smart-card project, demonstrated the processing and use of smart cards.
The delegates will receive their cards during the conference, Shaikh Ahmed said.
"Progress has been made in completing the first stage of the project to design and issue the cards to the leadership and senior officials in the Kingdom," he said. "The second stage of issuing cards to about 30,000 citizens will start by June, followed by a nationwide rollout of the project.
"The smart card is an outstanding achievement which will speed up efforts towards Gulf unification and the integration of Gulf citizenship. The card will facilitate the movement and interaction of GCC citizens," Shaikh Ahmed said.
The Bahrain smart card is a multipurpose card which will replace the CPR, identity card and driving licence. It will contain personal data including employment, biometrics, health, and e-purse. Several companies are taking part in an exhibition on the margins of the conference, to showcase the latest information technology products and services including the smart card and biometrics technology.
BITS has organised the event with the Saudi Computer Society. The sponsors include Computer World, Bahrain Investors Centre, Software AG, Multimedia Super Corridor, Gulf Business Machine-International Business Machines, esGulf, Microsoft, Gulf Air, Tricubes and ActivCard.
© Bahrain Tribune 2005
