Thursday, Mar 10, 2011
Gulf News
Information in system needs updating to accommodate changes
Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) has fixed a five-year validity period for Emirati national ID cards because of the five-year life span of the electronic chip in the card, the authority explained yesterday in a statement.
The lifespan of the electronic chip in the national ID card is five years, Eida said.
And there may be biological changes in an individual with ageing which affects biometrics like fingerprinting. Such changes have to be recorded in the system, Eida said.
Other reasons for fixing a five-year validity period are possible changes in an individuals address, academic qualification, career and marital status, the authority explained. The information on the system has to be updated in accordance with such changes, the statement said. However, the statement did not say what prompted the authority to explain the reasons behind the validity of the card.
The authority said it is upgrading the standard of the card to make it more useful to users.
The validity of the cards for expatriates ends with the expiry of their residence visas.
Online services
Meanwhile, a senior Abu Dhabi Government official said the online services provided by Abu Dhabi e-government [project] support the use of the ID card as a fundamental tool for verifying the identity of the beneficiaries of the services. Rashid Lahej Al Mansouri, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre, praised the efforts made to complete the work to link the ID card project and e-government services.
In a recent meeting attended by the officials of the centre and Eida, the authority made a presentation on the progress achieved in the project and the time-frame for the remaining work. The technical work of the project is expected to be completed by the end of April this year.
Strategic projects
The strategic objective of activating the electronic ID application project is to facilitate and secure online transactions across the UAE through verifying the identity of the user and beneficiaries of the services, said the Eida statement.
Meanwhile a delegation from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) of Pakistan visited the Eida head office to familiarise themselves with its strategic projects.
Dr Eng. Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of Eida, welcomed the delegation led by Tarek Malek, Nadra deputy chairman, who also made a presentation on the projects of Nadra, particularly the ID registration project and other projects for setting up a national database in Pakistan.
Other reasons for fixing a five-year validity period are possible changes in an individuals address, academic qualification, career and marital status.
Staff Report
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