UAE | Government

International Technology Award for Emirates ID

Success in creating largest electronic public register earns due recognition

Staff Report
Published: 16:00 January 28, 2013

Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) has been presented the 2013 International Technology Award.

The award was conferred by the ‘World Record Academy’ in the United States in recognition of Emirates ID’s technological infrastructure.

The award is also in appreciation of Emirates ID’s level of advancement in technological applications and the quality of its achievements through 2012 in comparison to many governmental institutions around the world, an Emirates ID statement said.

Dr Ali Mohammad Al Khouri, Director General of Emirates ID, dedicated the award to President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Adviser and Chairman of Emirates ID; and Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Deputy Chairman of Emirates ID.

Dr Al Khouri said the international honour for Emirates ID was a tribute to its tireless efforts to implement its 2010-2013 strategic plan. He commended the efforts of the authority’s staff and said the organisation remained committed to adopting the highest international standards in the field of information technology and security.

Dr Al Khouri received the award from Abdullah Al Kindi , Information Technology manager at the authority’s central operations sector, in the presence of representatives of a number of sectors and departmental managers at the authority’s headquarter in Abu Dhabi last Wednesday.

Emirates ID’s achievement marks an international acknowledgement of its claim to the world’s largest database for the ‘integrated’ vital electronic public register records as part of the population register system for the UAE. Emirates ID received the certificate underscoring its first-of-its-kind achievement highlighted by a total of 103 million fingerprints and over 15 million facial recognition and digital signature records until October 11, 2012.

It may be noted that the Emirates Identity Authority has won several other local, regional and international awards in the field of information technology, including the Security Creativity Award of the British Institute of Technology and e-Commerce. Emirates ID also received the Information Security Award during the Annual International Technology awards ceremony. Other top honours for the authority include the best ID Introduction Programme granted by the Middle East Digital Cards Conference 2012, the Technological Invention and Quality award granted by the French Association for International Practices, the award for the Best Practice in a service project (Digital ID) awarded by the Arabian Computer Network, besides many international certificates such as the ISO Information Security (27001:2005) and the certificate in the International ID Standards from Gemalto International Group.