Intercede Identity and Credential Management System selected for Kuwait National Identity card

(12/10/2009)

Intercede has announced its software products are being used to issue national identity cards for all citizens in Kuwait. The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), the Kuwaiti government authority responsible for the ID issuance for the population of Kuwait, chose the Intercede MyID® Identity and Credential Management System (IDCMS) to enable PACI’s effort to provide ID cards to more than 3 million citizens and visa holders.

Intercede is providing MyID IDCMS solution through Intercede partner in Kuwait Diyar United Company (DUC), the system integrator and a regional information and communication technology leader, under the umbrella of Mohamed Abdul Mohsen Al-Kharafi (MAK), the prime contractor and a world renowned organization.

The Kuwait National Identity card became operational on 21 June 2009 when Mr. Musaed Al-Asousi, Director General of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), handed the first Kuwaiti Smart ID card to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait. The system has recently entered full production and the first 35,000 cards have already been successfully issued and more than 1 million citizens will qualify to receive a card in the coming months.

During the week of 5 October 2009, Intercede’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Richard Parris, was honoured to host a visit by representatives from PACI and DUC to its UK headquarters to confirm the final acceptance of the project and to plan an expansion of the previously agreed system.

The Kuwaiti National ID card is a multi-application smart card with biometrics that is fully personalised and managed using Intercede’s MyID in accordance with ICAO and GlobalPlatform standards. It carries a Civil ID application for PACI, an ID application for the Ministry of Interior (MOI), applications for border control and digital certificates. The system is housed in a secure PACI facility in Kuwait City and cards are issued using custom built delivery machines.

Throughout this project Intercede was contracted to DIYAR United Company and worked in partnership with VeriSign and HID Global to deliver a comprehensive solution. Thanks to the collaboration of all parties, the whole system was designed, built and implemented against a very aggressive time schedule and within a very carefully controlled budget.

Mr. Musaed Al-Asousi, Director General of PACI, said, “Intercede has helped Kuwait build one of the most advanced and sophisticated national identity card systems in the Gulf region. The selection of the Intercede MyID management system enabled PACI to deliver a national identity card within time and budget to the citizens of Kuwait. I thank Intercede’s staff for their professionalism and recommend Intercede’s MyID for other national identity card projects. I look forward to working with Intercede and its partners to further expand the size and capability of the Kuwait system”.

Richard Parris, Chairman and Chief Executive of Intercede, said, “By implementing Intercede MyID at the core of its national identity card system, PACI has enabled a world-class infrastructure that is a model for other countries wanting to deploy identity cards as a means of facilitating enhanced public services to citizens. Along with our partners VeriSign, HID Global and a leading smart card manufacturer, Intercede is proud to have worked with the highly experienced PACI team through its integration partner, DIYAR, to enable this success.”

Eyad Arab, Project Director of DIYAR, said, “Intercede MyID was a key component in enabling DIYAR to design and deliver the Kuwait National Identity Program using the most up-to-date standards based products and services. Kuwait now has a reference system for other countries seeking to deploy large scale public sector identity programs.”

Phil D’Angio, Director of Business Development for VeriSign EMEA, said, “The existing close integration between Intercede’s MyID and VeriSign’s PKI platform along with our long term working relationship with Intercede significantly reduced PACI’s project risks and enabled VeriSign to deliver a more cost effective service to the citizens of Kuwait. VeriSign is committed to working with Intercede, our joint customers and solution providers to develop and deliver a complete credentialing solution to support the growing National Identity Market around the world."

Anthony Ball, senior vice president, Identity and Access Management (IAM), for HID Global, said, “This project has enabled PACI to take advantage of Intercede’s MyID to leverage the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of HID Global’s Fargo brand of desktop printers for national identity card projects. Together, we are working on a number of joint projects and look forward to enabling other large scale public sector deployments to benefit from the experience and joint technology deployed as part of the Kuwait project.”

Related topics:  Fingerprint biometrics   ID card 

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