Emirates ID uniqueness

28/04/2014

The continued development of all the aspects of government performance, combined with the achievement of one accomplishment after the other and the provision of excellent and pioneering services are some features of the UAE smart government, which the Emirates Identity Authority was able to translate into reality through tireless efforts as embodied in its issuance of the smart ID card.

The Emirates ID was able to be a bridge that connected the various data by continuously developing the smart ID card as demonstrated by making it easily accessible and providing the best services to citizens and residents alike.

The ID card is one of the UAE’s most outstanding strategic projects and a mainstay of the project aimed at building the future government, shifting to the knowledge-based economy and strengthening the elements of security and global competitiveness.

Here lies the importance of holding the Open Government Data Forum under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Emirates Identity Authority, which is organized by the Emirates ID in co-operation with the United Nations Public Administration Network and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The forum, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is a unique opportunity to discuss the importance of open data for promoting the transparency and governance approach and support the process of achieving a balance between making data available and maintaining its privacy at the same time.

The UAE realized early the importance of making data and information available to those concerned at both the government and private sectors in such a manner that would support the involvement of the society in the process of development and help the government understand the needs of the society and meet the demands of global competitiveness. To this effect, the UAE implemented several information and service-related initiatives in the areas of knowledge and dissemination of statistics and data.

In this connection, Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Emirates ID Director General, underlined the importance of the role of open data in enhancing creativity in the interest of the society and markets in general and its effective contribution to promoting the success of decisions in the economic and social fields by providing the information necessary for establishing investments and taking decisions on the horizontal and vertical expansion of individuals, companies and organizations.

The UAE approach is one of the basic guarantees that support its aspiration to be one of the best countries in the world through government action which is based on clear guiding principles that put citizens at the top of government priorities and are characterized by responsibility, flexibility and innovation.

Based on this, all those who contributed to presenting a bright image of the UAE should be thanked, not only at the level of the Middle East but at the global level as well.

The UAE’s efforts to support and launch initiatives related to open data contribute to supporting the performance of government entities and their contribution to identifying innovative methods and strategies that enable governments to give added value to customers.

government entities are currently seeking to accelerate the pace of work to link their databases with that of the Emirates ID’s population register in an effort to improve the quality of operations and public services in the government sector, expand the scope of use of the ID card and its advanced applications in all sectors and activate the ID card to become an essential source of identification in direct or digital dealings.