1 March 2003
ABU DHABI - The Ministry of Interior has awarded a Dh194 million contract to a leading French company dealing in fingerprint identification systems, for developing the national identity card (NIC) which will be issued to all UAE nationals and residents.
 
An agreement for the contract was signed by Major-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Under-Secretary of the ministry, and Jean-Paul Jainsky, Managing Director, Security Division of Sagem SA, at the General Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police.
 
The French firm, an international high-technology group which is the second largest French group in the field of telecommunications, the third largest European electronics company for defence and security systems and the world leader in fingerprint-based biometrics, will provide the technology and design the smart card. This company had been chosen out of 22  firms.
 
According to Maj. Gen. Shaikh Saif, the ID card will help prevent fraud and will replace the driving licence, health card, ATM, passport etc.
 
He told a Press conference that the ministry would start issuing the cards after 16 months, when the installation of electronic machines is complete. He said 22 registration centres would be set up across the country.
 
All nationals and residents will get their ID cards within the next three years. "This unique project will be executed in several phases during a period of three years. Once completed, the card will serve as the single most important identification document for all nationals and residents," Maj. Gen. Shaikh Saif said.
 
He said the idea was initiated three years ago on the directives of the President, His Highness Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and followed up by Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, and Lt. Gen. Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Staff of UAE Armed Forces.
 
The Ministry of Interior was entrusted to study the project and devise a mechanism to implement it. A special committee was formed. The committee visited a number of  countries to acquaint itself with the mechanism.
 
He said specifications and terms had been set for the NIC. Tenders were then invited from international companies. Twenty-two companies which are specialised in IT systems and modern technologies responded. He said Sagem was selected as it submitted best specifications and quoted lowest prices.

The under-secretary said every resident would have a permanent personal national identity number on their card.
 
He said the card would be of great benefit to the UAE society and individuals in terms of economic, social and security aspects, though the project's services were mainly civic rather than security-oriented.
 
"It will provide easy access to socio-economic services, ranging from government services to health and banking.
  
"The system will have many features which will help decision-makers in chalking out national strategic plans, such as e-government. It will also ensure more secure electronic transactions and accurate operations, like census, where it will help save both time and effort."
 
He said all residents would have their personal records stored in a central data-base linked with all government agencies, which could be accessed with the help of the personal number.
 
"The ministry will discuss with other governmental departments the possibility of merging their cards into the single NIC after signing agreements with them. Other establishments like Etisalat and banks will also adopt the procedure. It will be a multi-purpose card that will also help in crime prevention."
 
According to Lt. Col. Ahmed Al Raisi, Director of Information Technology Department, the new ID card will help reduce crime. "Once introduced, it will help the authorities to identify UAE nationals and residents with the help of their biological details that will be recorded in the card. It will have a 32k memory." He said the smart card would be fool-proof.
 
Mr Raisi said a law would be enacted according to which those who would fail to obtain the card within two years from the time of its launch would be denied access to services that would be rendered to cardholders.
 
The Ministry of Interior will sign agreements with various other ministries and economic institutions on the specification of the mechanism of the system. The card will be issued at a cost of Dh100 to nationals and Dh300 to expatriates. There will be no need to renew it. Newborns will have an identification number at birth and will be issued an NIC at the age of 15.

By Muawia E. Ibrahim

© Khaleej Times 2003