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Digital Identity: Enabling MEA eGoverment Entities to Enhance Experiences while Cutting Costs

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Digital Identity
By Uday Shankar Kizhepat, Vice President and General Manager- Middle East and Africa Region, WSO2

We live digitally. Much of our professional work is digital, as is much of our leisure time. Our commercial activity – shopping, service subscription, banking, and more – is digital. And our government is digital. No doubt governance itself requires the wisdom of individuals. But the transactional part – filing, requesting, registering, licensing, and so on – is digital. Governments in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) know they have an opportunity, with today’s technologies, to streamline transactional government functions while cutting costs.

One way to do this is to introduce digital identities. By allowing each citizen to be recognized by their “bytes essence,” public authorities open the door to transformative programs that use these trusted online personas to get things done reliably and rapidly. Many regional nations are acknowledging the potential of digital ID systems and have cultivated track records for themselves in areas such as boosted citizen engagement and enhanced accuracy of outcomes.

Digital IDs offer a practical means to ensure useability when new e-government services come online. Identity verification, service accessibility, and data protection are three major, long-standing challenges encountered by regional governments on their digital transformation journeys. The digital ID solves all of them. It offers an elegant solution to the verification issue, obviously, but its simplicity enhances accessibility, and its security features protect data. 

Digital Identity

The ’Guarantee’

The digital identity may look straightforward, but its elegance is built on a toolbox of advanced technologies such as biometrics, encryption, and blockchain. These building blocks come together to give a guarantee of authenticity when an individual presents their credentials to an online gatekeeper. And we should not use the word “guarantee” lightly. It lies at the core of the viability of any authentication system offered by a government. When waved through the door, verified users can access tax history and health records. They can pay bills or register with a government agency. If verification is erroneous, a host of problems can arise.

The digital ID is a holistic, citizen-centric approach that strikes a balance between security and performance and yet does not compromise either. It eliminates bureaucratic bottlenecks and elevates the citizen experience without the public-sector agency ever relinquishing control of any part of the process. But how? How do digital IDs allow government services to operate at peak efficiency and grant seamless access to every citizen while not faltering when it comes to risk management? How do responsive, always-on services guarantee privacy and security? Well, the answer comes full circle, back to digital transformation. 

Governments in the Arab Gulf region mention digital transformation frequently in published guidelines that map the way to economic diversification. These same guidelines apply to the government itself, which must set about transforming systems, processes, and functions to prepare for digital IDs and the world they promise – one in which a digital service provider can offer both seamless access and security. Complexities come from the scale and interconnectedness of operations, and the need for every shred of data, every machine-to-machine process, and every user session to be secure. Regulatory obligations must be juggled with budgetary constraints while technology leaders play intermediary to vying stakeholder factions within the organisation. It is easy to see how challenging it might be to maintain interoperability and data-sharing in such a fraught environment.

Of course, none of this will deter government organisations in the MEA region. They know what the hurdles are, but they also know what is to be gained – smoother services that cost less to provide while engendering greater citizen trust and in fact are leading the way in some of these digital initiatives. Remember, regional governments also know that the expectations of their citizens have, in a very real sense, undergone a digital transformation of their own.

Digital Identity

Success Stories

If we cast our eyes around the region, we can see digital ID-centric transformation in action already. Some government organisations in the Middle East have introduced biometric facial recognition as part of digital identity phase-ins and are using the system for secure digital document storage. Also in current use are systems that allow single, mobile-based logins. In these countries, the government’s identity access management (IAM) system undergoes a sweeping overhaul that allows the unification of credentials data to provide secure digital identity.

In the Asian subcontinent, we find a government that directed its telecoms ministry to build a national information exchange layer using an API. Strict identity management was rolled out as part of this ambitious project. With digital identity in place, the government can enable slicker collaboration between its departments and enhanced efficiency in outputs. It can do all this while optimising data access and consumption, which empowers analysts to deliver more actionable insights to stakeholders across agencies and ministries.

In Africa, one country showed its peers how an integrated identity and access management solution can be used for risk-based authentication, single sign-on, multi factor authentication, and user self-service. The solution was designed to minimise the risk of identity theft, but it was also (through single sign-on) able to reduce complexity when onboarding and offboarding users.

Conflict Resolved

If digital solutions are the future of government, then digital identity is the future of public-sector cybersecurity and risk management. Governments in the region have been trying for years now to transform service delivery and engender citizen trust and engagement, but security has always been in conflict with agility. Having leveraged digital identity, authorities rid themselves of the downsides and reap rewards such as those described here. These regional successes underscore not only the profound impact digital transformation can have on society, but the indispensable role digital identity will play in delivering those efficiencies in a way that promotes trust.

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PNY Strengthens its Global Commercial Presence with Strategic New Hires in Maghreb, India, and Saudi Arabia

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PNY

PNY Technologies is pleased to announce the addition of three new members to its sales team, reinforcing its commitment to international growth and enhanced customer support across key strategic regions: Maghreb, India, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Joining the team are Gader Muhsen, Sumedh Mohite, and Saqer Alanazi – experienced professionals who bring valuable local expertise and will play a central role in supporting PNY’s continued expansion in these markets.

In their new roles, they will represent the entire PNY ecosystem, covering both consumer and professional solutions. This includes a comprehensive range of components such as NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, SSDs, and memory modules for the consumer market. On the professional side, they will promote PNY’s full range of NVIDIA RTX professional GPUs, as well as advanced AI solutions encompassing servers, datacenter infrastructure, Edge AI technologies, software, and services – delivering end-to-end support from design through to deployment.

Gader Muhsen, who will be responsible for the Maghreb region, brings a strong background in business development across the region and joins as Key Account Manager.

Sumedh Mohite joins as Key Account Manager for West India, bringing extensive experience in new business development and sales across diverse industries.

Saqer Alanazi, appointed Key Account Manager for Saudi Arabia, has several years of account management experience with both Saudi and international firms.

“These strategic appointments reflect our commitment to deepening our local presence and delivering even more personalized support to our clients,” said Jérôme Bélan, CEO at PNY. “We are very happy to have Gader, Sumedh, and Saqer on board as we continue to grow in these high-potential regions.”

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Tally Solutions Transforms Banking for SMEs with the Launch of TallyPrime 6.0

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TallyPrime

In a significant move to empower SMEs with smarter financial management, Tally Solutions has announced the launch of TallyPrime 6.0. This latest unveiling introduces advanced banking integration, transforming how businesses handle bank reconciliation and automated accounting. By bridging the gap between banking and accounting, TallyPrime 6.0 ensures seamless automation that enhances accuracy at every step, helping SMEs streamline operations and focus on growth.

With this new launch, Tally Solutions enables businesses to reconcile bank transactions effortlessly through intelligent automation and minimizing errors. This latest update employs smart matching algorithms to identify unreconciled transactions, ensuring faster bookkeeping and real-time financial clarity. In addition to these features, SMEs can now streamline the creation of payment and receipt vouchers by importing bank statements directly into TallyPrime.  These enhancements significantly improve financial efficiency, allowing businesses to make informed strategic decisions with confidence.

Commenting on the launch, Vikas Panchal, General Manager – MENA, Tally Solutions, said, “At Tally, we have always worked towards creating technology that can ease business operations for SMEs. The launch of TallyPrime 6.0 represents a major leap forward in simplifying financial operations for the small and medium business community. By integrating banking functions directly into our platform, we are eliminating redundant workflows and enhancing financial management. Our commitment remains focused on providing innovative solutions that align with the UAE government’s vision for a thriving and digitally empowered SME sector.”

Furthermore, the new release introduces action-driven financial reports, providing deep insights into transaction histories, cash flow, and reconciliation status. With bilingual invoice printing, businesses operating in markets like Kuwait and Qatar can now generate invoices in both English and Arabic on a single document, reducing printing costs and ensuring compliance with local regulations.

A comprehensive business management software, TallyPrime also offers seamless professional communication via WhatsApp, intuitive report dashboards, and enhanced document-sharing capabilities, ensuring that customers, accountants, and everyone within the business network stay connected at every stage. Complementing these features, Tally Solutions’ local data centers in the UAE enable TallyPrime Cloud Access, allowing organizations to securely access their key financial data from any location at any time for greater flexibility and efficiency.

With TallyPrime 6.0, Tally Solutions continues to redefine business management for SMEs, offering a seamless bridge between banking and accounting. By simplifying financial operations and enhancing automation, TallyPrime 6.0 empowers businesses to operate with greater accuracy and control. As a trusted partner for SMEs, Tally remains committed to innovation, ensuring businesses across the GCC can navigate financial complexities with ease and confidence.

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Vertiv Announces Global Launch of Overhead Prefabricated Infrastructure Portfolio to Accelerate Data Center Deployment

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Vertiv

Vertiv recently announced the launch of Vertiv SmartRun, a modular prefabricated overhead infrastructure system designed to integrate high-density power distribution busbar, liquid cooling piping network, hot-aisle containment, and network infrastructure into a single, scalable solution, supporting an accelerated data center fit-out. This all-in-one solution reduces complexity and accelerates deployment times of cloud and AI training applications for greenfield and retrofit colocation and hyperscale data centers.

Deploying Vertiv SmartRun delivers significant advantages in scalability and efficiency, providing end-to-end speed and adaptable configurations to meet various design requirements. With prefabricated assembly, plug-and-play design, and a simplified one-lift installation process, Vertiv SmartRun can deploy up to 85% faster on-site than traditional stick-build methods, enabling datacenter installations greater than 1MW per day with just a single crew. The pre-designed system reduces labor needs for engineering review and installation of busway, piping, network cabling, and hot-aisle containment systems, offering a streamlined approach to integrating overhead infrastructure

The system also addresses the whitespace challenges of incorporating new heat removal technologies into AI datacenters, by integrating a secondary fluid network into the Vertiv SmartRun design. Prefabricated stainless steel piping systems mitigate complexity of design, fabrication, and startup, providing a single source for end-to-end data center liquid cooling support.

“As digital infrastructure demands evolve, organizations require solutions that accelerate growth without adding complexity,” said Viktor Petik, senior vice president, infrastructure solutions at Vertiv. “Vertiv SmartRun is a strategic investment in high-density, prefabricated infrastructure that brings operational agility and enables seamless expansion to support the future of high-density computing.”

Vertiv SmartRun is backed by Vertiv Liquid Cooling Services and Vertiv Services, a global network of trained experts available to provide comprehensive support for the installation, maintenance, and optimization of liquid cooled infrastructure, supporting efficient thermal management and long-term reliability in high-density environments.

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