Hi Theo. Still hanging in here? Here's some news.
V ELECTRONIC IDENTIFICATION INC - Update On Visit To Grenoble, London And UpdateOn UAE - Identification Card Project Tue Jun 13 08:51:00 EDT 2000
New York, New York, Jun. 13, 2000 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- Electronic Identification, Inc., developer of Smart ID CardTM technology supported by a state-of-the-art intranet framework, is pleased to provide an update on the recent visit to Grenoble, France; London, England; and Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. by Terry Kirby, Chairman & CEO.
Mr. Kirby held discussions with senior technical and operations personnel at HP's facilities in Grenoble, France. The discussions finalized the arrangement for EI2 to deal directly with HP's Smart Card centers in Boeblingen, Germany; and Grenoble, France, which are responsible for smart card operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. HP reiterated its commitment to working with EI2 and its other partners under the terms of the teaming agreement for the fulfillment of Electronic Identification contracts in the Middle East.
Mr. Kirby also met with the EI2 Middle East and Africa adviser, Mr. Ali Abood, in London, England, where they reviewed the company's progress in several opportunities in the Middle East. These included impending consultancy contracts for identification cards as well as the status of EI2's previous submission in response to the "Request for Information" for the Bahrain Smart card System. They also discussed requirements for identification of nationals, expatriates and civil service personnel in other countries, including Oman, Quatar, and Kuwait. Mr. Abood will be traveling to the Middle East in June 2000 to pursue discussions on these opportunities which are currently in varying stages of development, and to further ongoing dealings with U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Kirby met with ITC and held further discussions on the UAE requirements for electronic identification card solutions. The Company presented demonstrations of its technology to interested parties; these presentations were well received. The presentations included a demonstration of e-Visa, which works on the same platform as the company's proprietary e*PICS program. These meetings were the latest in a series of meetings with various representatives in the Middle East designed to bring EI2's security /Identification/e-Visa systems to AGCC member states as a solution for many of their long-standing security and labor force issues. This process of meetings and demonstrations of the efficacy, viability and technological superiority of EI2's systems recently culminated in the news story that appeared in the UAE newspaper, "Khaleej Times" on May 24, 2000 (available for viewing on our web site, www.eisq.com). This article reported the announcement by the UAE Defense Minister, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, of the "Issue of Identity & Residence Cards Project." The announcement was made at a meeting attended by senior government officials, including Major General Saif Abdullah Al Sha'far, Assistant Under- Secretary of the Interior Ministry for Security Affairs, who detailed the numerous applications of the identification program. He also expanded on the use of the electronic smart card as a passport for UAE Nationals, which will enable UAE citizens to travel to all AGCC countries without a passport.
It was reported that the Crown Prince is looking forward to having the national identification program installed and fully operational within 18 months. EI2 has positioned itself to be able to fulfill all of the system parameters and specifications sought by the UAE project when the successful bidder for the consultancy award has been announced. The Company will work with the successful consultant for the project in order to provide the required systems well before the above-mentioned deadline. The consultancy award for implementation of the state-of-the-art UAE identification system, promulgated in a tender document in January of this year, was to have been announced by May 15, 2000. Due to last minute considerations, this date has been moved to sometime in June. In a news release dated October 27, 1999, EI2 announced that the AGCC countries were considering a unified AGCC entry visa. The Company is very encouraged that the UAE is taking the initiative for the "Electronic Visa" for the AGCC countries. It is expected that the UAE contract will serve as a pilot project and model for an ID/Passport control system for all six AGCC countries. EI2 will canvass the other five AGCC countries to implement the EI2 e-Visa program. When this system is implemented, expatriate residents of the six member states will be able to travel to any of these countries without a separate entry visa. Visitors will also be able to travel across the Gulf States after obtaining the unified visa, as is the case with the European Community.
EI2 develops and markets electronic identification issuing and authentication systems. It also provides an Intranet based framework for the issue of fraud and tamperproof ID cards via its flagship product line, the Electronic Personnel Identification and Control Systems (e*PICS). E*PICS and Smart ID Card which allows for the rapid development of customer specific applications that include the integration of legacy systems.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the company's products, competition, new products and technological changes, intellectual property rights and other risks. |