The Jewel To The East
When we hear about the Middle East, what are the first thoughts that come to your mind? Probably, 9/11, hatred towards the United States, and of course, terror acts. But really, the Middle East is much, much more than just all of this. It is a region where there is very rich culture (and not to mention, tons of oil to fill our appetites), and many booming opportunities for businesses and commerce of all types. The Middle East is also a great vacation spot for tourists (of course, depending where you go), and is even a great investment area. Heck, the banks of the Middle East are even to be deemed to be the “safest” in the world. And of course, there is the room for Biometrics as well.
So, it comes to no surprise that two Biometric Vendors have just announced a partnership to explore the lucrative opportunities in the Middle East. The details: “A strategic partnership between Human Recognition Systems (HRS), the UK’s independent leader in biometric solutions, and the Olive Group for the Middle East and North African regions has been agreed . . . The agreement will see HRS leverage the extensive presence of Olive Group, a leader in integrated risk mitigation solutions within the Middle East, a market with huge potential for biometrics. Olive Group will have the ability to extend its current offerings to its clients with biometric solutions already developed, proven and trusted by HRS clients from critical infrastructure, aviation and government sectors.” (SOURCE: http://www.biometricnewsportal.com/biometrics_news3.asp?articleid=267136&arttitle=Human Recognition Systems and Olive Group partner to increase the pace of biometric adoption for the Middle East and position them for market leadership).
My Take
As you can see from the up above, this partnership is to focus primarily upon the aviation and government industries (I guess the government will always be a huge customer of Biometrics, no matter what the country is), and the specific applications include everything from ID Theft to mobile and Smartphone management. But, in my view, it should be noted that not all regions within the Middle East will be particularly ripe for Biometric growth. This of course, is greatly dependent upon the deep cultural and religious divides, and those countries which are willing to embrace Western technology and ways of doing commerce. So, which countries should the Biometrics Industry forget about?
These include Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and some parts of Saudi Arabia. If any types of applications were to be implemented here, it would be on the scale of military and heavy government usage for the poor people in these countries, so they can be correctly identified. Which countries are the best to market to? These include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and other such countries. Not only are these countries flush with money, but they are much more open to Western technologies. So why not invest in those places where this is true, and have tons of money to spend??? In my view, I think the biggest applications for Biometrics in these geographic regions will be for wireless, and uses in aviation. After all, oil tycoons don’t want to waste time when it comes time to making deals about their oil (meaning, they want to be plugged in as much as possible).
And also, these countries just mentioned are also investing heavily into their aviation infrastructure; one airline that comes into mind is Emirates. They have started to advertise here in the United States, flashing off their brand new 777’s. And with this growth in aviation, will come the growth in travel, and yes, the e-Passport . . . ah, the “sky is the limit” here, it seems like. Really, in the end, countries here in the Middle East and in the West need to put aside their differences in order to see Biometrics really proliferate.
Who knows, will it be Biometrics in the end which unifies and bridges the gap between the East and the West??? Only time will tell.
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