Suppliers to the project include Qatar Project Group International (QPGI) and ProtechT, as well as Axalto, the sole supplier of the cards, associated readers and services; Precise Biometrics, which is providing fingerprint biometric match-on-card technology; and Daon, which is supplying its core biometric infrastructure product, DaonEngine, and finger, face and iris biometric snap-in interfaces to biometric matching algorithms.
The cards can be used for identification and e-government services as well as at border crossings. Citizens who have a smart card reader connected to their home PC will be able to use the card to declare a household employee, change of address or obtain civil records. And the contactless feature will come into use at border crossings.
“Citizens will need to register for their ID card at their local city hall,” explains a spokesperson for Axalto.
Colonel Saleh Khamis Al Kubaisi, head of the computer systems department of the Qatar Ministry of Interior, comments: “Worldwide concerns related to security, border control and financial criminality are prompting governments to fight identity theft attempts, and Qatar is no exception. But there is also a strong will in our government to use a technology that can also improve our citizens’ lives and contribute to the modernisation of our administration. The smart card technology strikes us as the best means to meet all these needs.”
An estimated 700,000 cards are expected to be rolled out over the next three years.
Frédéric Trojani, director of Public Sector and Transport Business Segments at Axalto, told SDW: “The Qatari government is still in the process of selecting a supplier for its ePassport system, and the ePassport and ID card will be implemented side by side.”
Quelle/Source: Security Document World, 19.05.2006
