Digital Dubai signs with gDi and FaceTec for biometrics to create ‘world’s happiest city’

Dubai hopes to become the “world’s smartest and happiest city” via personalization that will achieve enhanced experiences across “all city dimensions.” To achieve this, the Digital Dubai Authority (DDA), tasked with the emirate’s smart transformation, has signed a deal with FaceTec and Gulf Data International (gDi) to collaborate on artificial intelligence applications and biometric face verification.

This follows a five-year agreement between face biometrics specialist FaceTec and gDi, reported in July 2020, to deliver 3D face authentication software for digital identity projects in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The new deal will see the two firms bringing their partnership and “exceptionally strong” biometric verification to the DDA which “envisions a thoroughly modern city where all its resources are fully optimized while protecting the people and the information, creating the most enriched living and business environments possible,” according to the release, which does not provide further details on how biometric verification will be embedded in the city.

While the emirate intends to roll out advanced verification systems, the UAE is failing to provide identification documents to some children born there to migrant workers, reports Reuters. Parents who were unable to leave to have their children in their home countries due to the COVID pandemic are struggling to register their children in emirates such as Dubai, despite the law requiring it.

“Collaborating with FaceTec to bring their solution to this region will finally allow biometric authentication to flourish as it should, ensuring the market will be using the best technologies available to maintain its high-security standards while greatly enhancing the user experience,” said Omar Atta, CCO of gDi.

“FaceTec’s solution will enable some of the great use cases that have been designed to come to life throughout the region, as organizations will finally have the confidence needed in their authentication provider.”

Kevin Alan Tussy, CEO of FaceTec, said, “The DDA requires their solutions to consistently demonstrate exceptional performance and value, and we are honored to have been chosen over dozens of other vendors from around the world to be one of their technology partners for the important, forward-thinking plans for the city.”

FaceTec is signing deals worldwide. It has just formed an agreement with Humanode to biometrically secure its decentralized platform and announced growth of almost 300 percent in its 2021 Q2 financials.

Article Topics

3D facial authentication  |  AI  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  Dubai  |  FaceTec  |  identity verification  |  smart cities