Back to home

Gemplus awarded contract to deliver smart cards for nationwide ID program in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

  • Sagem awards Gemplus a contract in the Middle East to deliver over two million cards to the UAE population
  • Ministry of Interior of the UAE deploying smart card-based ID program to its citizens to improve quality of public service
  • Sagem and Gemplus collaboration results in second successive ID contract win, reinforcing strength of their joint ID offering

Luxembourg - April 30th 2003 - Gemplus International SA (Euronext Paris SA: GEPL.PA; Sicovam: 005768; NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card solutions, today announced it will deliver smart card technology and related services to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its nationwide ID program. The contract involves the issuance of over two million smart ID cards to the entire UAE population beginning summer of 2004.

Gemplus acts as a sub-contractor delivering smart cards, software, and services from its "ResIDent" secure ID solution, while Sagem, the world leader in biometrics-based ID systems, is the prime contractor providing advanced biometrics technology with the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) and system integration. The UAE nationwide ID program marks the second successive contract win in the Middle East for the Sagem-Gemplus partnership, which was formed earlier this year to strengthen the companies' offerings to the national ID market. The first contract was in the Sultanate of Oman, scheduled to rollout end of 2003.

"Gemplus is pleased to be selected as the smart card technology provider for what is sure to become a landmark technology infrastructure in the Middle East," said Gilles Michel, President Gemplus Financial & Security Services. "This significant contract win proves the strength of our secure ID offering "ResIDent", which has now been selected for two major national ID deployments in only 6 months."

The core objectives of the UAE ID program are to enhance national identification procedures throughout the country by providing better, faster, and more accurate public services for its citizens, and to address identification issues through a higher level of authentication by using smart card-based biometrics. The UAE Ministry of Interior has invested in a modern system that utilizes open Java CardÔ technology, in order to deliver a flexible ID solution capable of easily accommodating future e-government applications.

Once the program rolls-out, citizens and residents of the UAE will be able to securely and conveniently store their personal identity credentials on the cards. Over time it is possible to extend the functionality of the card by adding applications such as driver's license, border control, and emergency medical data. The ID cards combined with biometric recognition can be checked through both portable terminals and automatic electronic validation.

About Gemplus

Gemplus (Euronext Paris SA: GEPL.PA; Sicovam: 005768; NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's number one provider of smart card solutions.

Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable, personalised solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include mobile data services, inter-operable banking, identity, WLAN, m-commerce and a wealth of other applications. Gemplus is the only completely dedicated, truly global player in the Smart Card industry, with the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

In 2001, Gemplus was the worldwide smart card leader in both revenue and total smart card shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan). Gemplus was also awarded Frost & Sullivan's 2002 Market Value Leadership Award for its exceptional performance.

Gemplus' revenue in 2002 was 787 million Euros. It employs 5700 people in 37 countries throughout the world.

www.gemplus.com

Contacts:

Carl Norell
Gemplus
Tel: +1 (215) 390 2899
Email: carl.norell@gemplus.com

Marielle Bricman
Gemplus
Tel: +33 (0)4 42 36 55 96
Email: marielle.bricman@gemplus.com

Vanessa Clarke
Edelman Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0)20 7344 1349
Email: vanessa.clarke@edelman.com

©2003 Gemplus All rights reserved. Gemplus, the Gemplus logo and GemSense are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property of their respective owners.