Sagem Sécurité begins issuing Moroccan drivers licenses
03 December, 2007
category: Government, Transit
Sagem Sécurité has won a seven-year contract to produce 12 million secure drivers licenses and vehicle registration cards for Morocco. At the core of the system is the contactless smartcard provided by Sagem Orga GmbH. During a police check, an officer will pass the card over a smartcard reader to access the data stored in memory. Since the official data (last name, first name, ID card number) do not take up much space, other uses have already been discussed such as medical information or transportation access. Besides providing the technology, Sagem Sécurité will also implement the local customization of the documents and provide training for the personnel who will be using the system.
A contactless smart card for Moroccan driving license
In Morocco, Sagem Sécurité (SAFRAN Group) has won a seven-year contract to produce 12 million secure driving licenses and vehicle registration cards. A world¿s first that could open up new markets in the emerging nations.
Sagem Sécurité has just secured a world’s first. Since August 2007, the Kingdom of Morocco’s Ministry of Equipment and Transport has been using the company’s expertise to produce secure – and therefore unfalsifiable – driving licenses and vehicle registration cards. As they become more widely distributed, they should help to bring down significantly the incidence of road safety transgressions and eliminate fraud. The project manager in charge of the concession, Jean-Christophe Delvigne, considers that two aspects played a key role in the decision of the Moroccan authorities: “We have over ten years of experience with secure document systems at State level and our proposal was a particularly competitive one.”
At the core of the system is the contactless smartcard provided by Sagem Orga GmbH. During a police check, an officer will pass the card over a smartcard reader to access the data stored in memory. Since the official data (last name, first name, ID card number) do not take up much space, other uses can already be envisaged, as Jean-Christophe Delvigne points out: “The storage of medical data, such as the bearer’s blood group or medicines to be avoided, would be very useful to the emergency services. This would avoid delays and the risk of mistakes being made.” This new license could also facilitate daily life (car hire, identification at toll booths, etc.), as the contactless smartcard readers become more widespread.
Sagem Sécurité
As well as supplying the technology, Sagem Sécurité is also in overall charge of the project, with a 49% shareholding in Assiaqa Card. Created in collaboration with the Moroccan manufacturer, M2M Group, and the Attijari Capital Risque bank, the Assiaqa Card company will produce and issue 12 million secure driving licenses and vehicle registration cards throughout the seven-year duration of the concession granted by the State of Morocco. “The State of Morocco has granted us the management, operation, financing and maintenance of the new driving license and vehicle registration card system but retains its sovereignty over the data,” explains Jean-Christophe Delvigne. “The experience we are getting from this offers us many valuable lessons that we can build upon.”
Besides providing the technology, Sagem Sécurité will also implement the local customization of the documents and provide training for the personnel who will be using the system. Located close to Casablanca airport, the future plant from which the driving licenses and vehicle registration cards will be produced will cover an area of 1200 m² and accommodate some twenty employees. Its construction will begin before the year’s end.
This large-scale operation should open up new perspectives, as Jean-Christophe Delvigne underlines, with the system set to grow and grow. Morocco could prove to be just one step on the road to eliminating ID fraud, a field in which the SAFRAN Group is already in pole position.