ALKHOBAR, 14 June 2005 — The Kingdom will shortly take a huge step toward e-government, as a system to replace the onerous manual certification and authentication of documents by the Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry is about to be introduced. Designed, implemented and integrated by the House of Development, a Saudi company, Tasdeeq or the Electronic Certification and Authentication System, uses the latest trusted and secure technologies in conjunction with the Internet. The system allows members of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry to certify their documents online at anytime, from anywhere without going to the chamber’s offices. The system also enables chamber members to authorize other parties to print their certified documents at anytime from anywhere. And the issuance is just half the job. In a leap forward from a security standpoint, the system provides recipients of the certified documents with an easy way to verify that the documents are free from fraud.
“I am very excited about the impending inauguration of Tasdeeq, which will be used by the Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry Kingdomwide,” said Mohammed A. Geoffrey, CEO, House of Development (HOD). “We signed an agreement for this implementation with the chambers in November 2003. Tasdeeq will save time, money and effort in certifying documents. It is fast, easy and secure.”
HOD’s Electronic Certification and Authentication System uses advanced biometric technology working over the Internet. For a company to certify and issue its documents electronically, first the designated corporate representative must personally visit a branch of the chamber of commerce. There he fills out a form and has his original identification verified by a member of the chamber’s staff. Next, he signs his signature three times on a digitizer tablet using an electronic pen.
“That signature will be used for verification,” explained Geoffrey. “In the future when that businessman signs his signature again on a digitizer tablet anywhere, biometric verification will dynamically and statically check his signature to confirm that it is him. The system checks not only the way the signature looks but pressure, speed and all the patterns that are special to his signature. The accuracy of the system is very high. The system stores a record for every certified document, which can be verified online.”
As soon as the businessman leaves the chamber’s offices, his details are entered into the Tasdeeq database. Even before he reaches his own office, a user name and password will have been sent to his e-mail address giving him access to the electronic certification system. The businessman must hook up an $80 digitizer tablet and electronic pen to his computer to provide the necessary signature authentication required each time his company requests electronic document certification from the chamber.
“There is a dedicated portal with a unified database used by all the Saudi chambers for the electronic document certification and authentication. The single database gave us the economy of scale needed for the project to succeed,” said Geoffrey. “There are some templates in the system which match most of the document types that normally require certification. Just fill in the blanks and sign. The issuance of the document by the chamber takes a few minutes at most and then the document can be printed anywhere it is required. So there is no need to courier these original documents all over the world anymore.”
To verify that this document is one that has been issued by the Tasdeeq system, the accepting agency simply loads a free application into their computer and then scans the presented document with any scanner. The system provides a unique way of verifying documents by scanning a 2D barcode that is printed on the certified documents.
Each year, when companies renew their corporate registration with the chamber of commerce, they will also make a funds deposit at the chamber to cover their electronic certifications. All the transactions for the certifications will be deducted on a daily basis. The new electronic certification fee will be slightly higher than the current fee for in-person certification.
“We didn’t want to touch the revenue of the chambers. What was proposed was that the fee that is required for us to run the system is to be added to the current chamber’s fee. The fee for certification will be SR30 instead of SR20,” commented Geoffrey. “Even with the fee increase, the companies will save significantly on the online certifications. We believe that the facility and the ease of use alone will be attractive enough for them to enroll. When also calculating the time of the person who no longer has to physically go to the chamber, transportation, courier’s fees and other benefits, we believe that the savings will be impressive.”
Tasdeeq is already live and all the chamber’s staff have been trained in its use. Now, HOD is waiting for the government agencies, which generally accept documents certified by the chamber, to be informed of the new system. It must be ensured that those agencies have a scanner available for document verification and that the verification program has been installed. The chamber will still issue certifications in the current manner for those who so choose. Thus at least for a time, the government agencies will accept both manually issued documents and the electronic versions.
“Tasdeeq will be a new service that some people will probably resist initially, just like the mobile phone. Eventually though, I am certain that the majority of companies will want to use this electronic system to certify the documents because it is so hassle free,” remarked Geoffrey.
Hassle free and most importantly very secure. Currently the signature is 99.4 percent accurate. HOD is aiming for 99.99 percent. HOD has privately supported the research and development efforts associated with Tasdeeq to this point, and the company plans to continue to refine the technology. Patents protecting Tasdeeq have been registered in the GCC, Europe, the US and China. While currently Tasdeeq is only creating documents in Arabic, it has the capability to do any language and Geoffrey is optimistic that the HOD application will be adopted widely.
“Certificates, permits, no objection certificates — all of them can be issued in this manner,” Geoffrey said. “We are in negotiation now with other ministries that do have certification such as the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. People will be introduced to the system at the Saudi chambers and we hope that it will spread rapidly to other government organizations.”
“The fact is that our Electronic Certification and Authentication System could streamline so much of the red tape associated with doing business in the Kingdom,” continued Geoffrey. “For example, a Certificate of Origin is needed for every shipment going into and out of Saudi Arabia. Right now that document can take at least two weeks to issue. With our authentication system it could be done in minutes. Think of the huge amount of money this would save businesses and consumers and how it would enhance trade relations for Saudi Arabia.”
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