Written by Muscat: Lt Gen Hassan bin Mohsen Al Shuraiqi, inspector general of police and customs, signed a contract to supply the new civil identity card for citizens and residents with Gemalto.
The contract was signed at the General Command of Police in Al Qurum on the 3rd of January.
According to the contract the company will provide the civil identity card and the accessories necessary for issuing them, and provide also the card reader software.
The contract comes as part of the plans of Royal Oman Police (ROP) to move to new generation of civil identity cards, which will be easier and safer for both citizens and residents living in the Sultanate. It will also guarantee the security and safety of data.
The new cards are also characterised by a number of technical features, for example they have a double memory size in comparison with the currently used ones. This allows the download of more service application on the integrated chip, in addition to the already existing applications like electronic encryption program to attest government and private online applications. It would also facilitate health file programs which ROP plans to put on the cards in coordination with the Health Ministry and Information Technology Authority (ITA).
Among the new security features of these cards are an electronic signature, in addition to fingerprint biometrics for higher data security.