Building on the achievements of events held in Berlin, Rome, Paris, Istanbul and Milan, the ninth summit on government-driven citizen ID programs opened its doors for a second time in Abu Dhabi. The event took place with the endorsement of the European Commission and was supported by the Emirates Identity Authority and Abu Dhabi Police.

Once again the event substantiated the fact that it is the platform of choice for experts from government, border control and law enforcement, as well as technology vendors, to discuss and learn more about the key issues relating to the introduction of digital citizen identity credentials worldwide. One of the highlights of the event saw a panel of GCC government representatives addressing the significant issues and opportunities related to Citizen ID programs that are being deployed in the region.

The Citizen ID Forum welcomed an array of world-class panelists to review the status of the progressive digitalization of passports as well as National IDs, driver¹s licenses, health cards, resident permit cards and visas worldwide. The high caliber profile of participants included representatives of the UAE Ministry of Interior, the UAE Minister of Presidential Affairs, the Director General of Emirates Identity Authority, the Director Central Operations Abu Dhabi Police, the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Bahraini Central Informatics Organization, Pakistani National Database and Registration Authority, Sudanese Ministry of Interior, the Kenyan National Registration Bureau, Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior, the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Belgian Federal Public Service of Interior, the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation, the Chinese Government Academy of Sciences and the US Department of Homeland Security.

On the second day of the Citizen ID Forum in Abu Dhabi, Wise Media launched the NFC Academy (www.nfcacademy.com), a yearlong global networking platform for the stakeholders involved in the development and deployment of Near Field Communication based solutions. The formation of the NFC Academy Advisory Board was also announced during an official ceremony preceding the inaugural NFC Academy Conference that took place on February 16. The names of the NFC Advisory Board members were unveiled in the presence of H. E.
Darwish Al Zaraouni, Director General at Emirates Identity Authority.

- Michael Hegenbarth, senior director of Standardization and Consulting at Bundesdruckerei (Germany) said: "The inaugural NFC Academy Conference was so well attended and the discussions were so lively that they reminded me of a workshop rather than of a conference. The fact of organizing such an event in this region and the unprecedented aim to inform also the government sector of the potential that lies within NFC applications were excellent choices for the foundation of an initiative of lasting value".

- Tinboat Arslanouk, director of Business Development at du Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (United Arab Emirates), said: "This first NFC Academy Conference offered a highly interesting interactive format that I was delighted to contribute to with my active participation. I will gladly continue to be a part of this new community throughout 2009 and look forward to supporting the organizers to expand their reach in the Middle East, looking ahead to the next NFC Academy event in Abu Dhabi in early 2010".

Throughout the upcoming NFC Academy events happening in Paris on May 29 and in Milan on November 4-5, the NFC Academy will gather researchers, pioneer developers and advanced practitioners in the areas of mobile applications, short-range communication and contactless security to educate the market and foster the adoption of NFC technology. Each event will host a conference and live demonstrations that promote an open exchange of ideas on the deployment and growth of NFC technology in the field of contactless applications including access control, ticketing and mobile payments.