Bahrain: Heralding the cyber era of governance

With the news to have the smart card compulsory by next month, Bahrain is just one step away from a completely digitised economy. The law making smart card mandatory will make the Kingdom ahead of many countries in the region to switch over to the new digital economy. This smart card technology is much safer in use and there are minimal chances of frauds in financial transactions as well as in day-to-day affairs. The director of technical resources and head of Smart Card project at the Kingdom's Central Informatic Organisation (CIO), Elham Mohammed Saleh, says switching over to the smart card technology is a step forward to achieving excellence in this highly specialised segment of the cyber age. The card, with personal, medical, educational and banking data about the holder, is part of the Kingdom's keenness on keeping pace with the technology. It will replace medical records, ATM and credit cards and certificates. "Bahrain has become the second GCC country after Oman to issue the smart card and this will put Bahrain among the developed countries." "The smart card will be mandatory for all citizens and residents by law in a few weeks times. In this phase the CIO will issue about 200,000 cards in various stages. "The CIO so far has issued smart cards to the government organisations, public sector employees and people who wished to get this card voluntarily. The residents can get the card valid for five years for BD10 and Bahrainis for BD5. The card contains the most vital information about the citizens and this information can't be accessed by unauthorised people. "The smart cards will be compulsory under a new law and will replace driving licence and the CPR. More...

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