The Yemeni-Emirates joint committee held official talks here on Monday to discuss arrangements and procedures to implement the Smart Card Project in Yemen.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi, who chaired the talks session, noted that the smart card project to be implemented in cooperation with UAE is one of the important and vital projects.

The project would revolutionize the quality of work of the Civil Status and Civil Registration Authority in our country and establish an extensive database of civil registration, so at to contribute to succeeding the development plans, al-Arhabi indicated.

He called upon the committee to mover forward to succeed the project and discuss the appropriate mechanisms for its implementation and identify its priorities and examine the possibility to avail from the current databases to form a national database required by the smart card.

Al-Arhabi praised the UAE’s role in supporting development process in our country.

For his part, Head of the UAE side in the joint committee, Nasser Al Mazrui, presented an explanation on the UAE’s successful experience in the use of smart card, reviewing a number of technical aspects relating to the project and its benefits in different fields, topped by field of security and crime control as well as various economic ,health and other practical fields.

He noted to the importance of the smart card in the e-government system when it is created in the future, stressing the readiness of the UAE to cooperate fully to succeed the smart card project in our country.

In the talks, Undersecretary of Internal Ministry and Head of Yemeni side in the joint committee, Ryiad al-Qurashi, affirmed that the smart card project is a strategic project via which the ministry seeks to develop the system of the civil status and civil registration authority in our country.

Al-Qurashi expected to establish the smart card project in Yemen within two to three years.

Radio-chipped smart card technology is a more efficient way of making sure all skiers have paid before they hit the slopes, according to an assistant police chief.

The Denver Post reported that the new smart cards, which were introduced at many ski resorts across Colorado last year, were originally designed to cut queues, but have had the added benefit of helping to catch more fraudsters in the act.

Greg Morrison of the Breckenridge police commented that there is a “misconception” that it is easier for people to sneak onto the slopes without paying because the new cards are less visible than the old passes, which needed to be scanned visually.

His statement was echoed by Aspen Skiing Co spokesman Jeff Hanle, who commented that the new passes allow resorts to monitor potential fraudsters more closely.

Skiers are not the only people to benefit from shorter queues thanks to smart card technology. In the UK, season ticket holders and members of Bristol City Football Club use smart cards to gain access to matches, while passengers on Arriva buses in Bolton use sQuid cashless payments to travel.

The city’s $2.9-million electronic overhaul of the transit fare system will be launched in February with new debit-style smart cards for riders and high-end card readers and fare boxes on the entire bus fleet. Read more »

Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) announced today that it has established a new subsidiary in India — Cubic Transportation Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. — and is entering this dynamic regional market with a five-month trial of Cubic’s smart card-based fare collection technology aboard buses in Delhi. Cubic’s new office in the growing high-tech hub of Hyderabad, India, will pursue automated fare collection systems and services business throughout the country and provide software development support for transportation projects worldwide. Read more »

As part of the continuous process of introducing the national smart card, two institutions have already agreed to integrate their data under one system.

The Coordinator of the National ID (NID) Project, Pascal Nyamurinda, said in an interview with The New Times that the proposed card would incorporate data of an individual’s driver’s license as well as that of travel documents. Read more »

Efforts to protect information technology systems from hackers, terrorists and even accidental breaches are getting a lot of national attention in the security arena. But a Herndon company, Certipath LLC, is more focused on threats that might walk right through the front door. Read more »

The palm jumeirah monorail

People having Smart or Fare Card, which will be launched by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) soon, will be able to use the same while commuting on the Palm Monorail, officials of Nakheel, developers of the project, have said.
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DP855 smart card reader

VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VDSI), a leading software security company specialising in authentication products, launches DIGIPASS(R) 855, a smart card reader offering multiple authentication functions combined with “What you see is what you sign” functionality. DIGIPASS 855 is the upgraded version of DIGIPASS 850. DIGIPASS 855 can be used for PKI-based authentication, digital signature, and access to corporate networks. It offers strong authentication for internet banking, telephone banking and e-commerce environments.
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What makes forgery of the smart card impossible has been accomplished through electronic enciphering techniques, says Mustafa Ba?ak. The system contains a mechanism to detect and fix corruptions in its memory cells, and keys for coding and decoding are totally separated.

The nationwide introduction of “smart” identity cards is expected by 2010 with the aim of providing a more multipurpose card and increasing the safety of personal data.
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LEGIC Identsystems Ltd, leading provider of contactless smart card technology for personal identification, is announcing a partnership with the French company Cash Syst?mes Industrie, which is specialised in the design and manufacturing of point of sale terminals. The partnership will allow Cash Syst?mes Industrie to integrate LEGIC technology into its payment terminals. LEGIC multi-applications, thus, will be even more accessible to end users in France where secure and flexible personal identification solutions are increasingly required for example in hotel industry, catering, all types of retail and institutions.

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