General Director's Message

Together…
Towards Achieving the Set Objectives

dr-ali-mohamed-al-khoury-enFirst of all, we pledge to continue working diligently and sincerely for achieving the vision of the prudent leadership of our beloved country, hoping to be up to the trust vested in us by our leadership, may Allah protect it.

It is our leadership that has vowed to seek the glory of our country and enable it to firmly establish itself on the international map.. it is our leadership that is dealing with man as the capital and most precious fortune of our state.

“Together… Towards Achieving the Set Objectives” is the slogan that we adopt as a notable, plain and straightforward title of the Emirates Identity Authority’s performance, based on our full awareness of its future role in enhancing the process of development in all fields as seen in our beloved state.

We have a firm belief in the feasibility of the Emirates Identity Authority’s strategic projects as well as its significant role in enhancing national and individual security and its contribution to supporting the efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive development to the welfare of the UAE and UAE nationals.

At the same time, however, we are aware of the responsibility that we should shoulder while making firm and confident steps towards achieving the set objectives in line with the wise directives of the Emirates Identity Authority’s board of directors and in the light of the Emirates Identity Authority’s new strategy 2010-2013.

To excel in providing a qualitative and prestigious service is the Emirates Identity Authority’s prime mover while customer satisfaction was and will be the Emirates Identity Authority’s most prominent goals and top its vital values.

Yet, we have growing ambitions that the Emirates Identity Authority will be an example to follow in corporate excellence, administrative development, improved performance and upgraded work, while being always guided by the UAE Vision 2021 to see the way ahead of us.

“Together… Towards Achieving the Set Objectives”
How beautiful the word “together” is!

General Director's Curriculum Vitae

His Excellency Dr Engineer Ali Mohamed Al Khouri is the Director General of the Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) since 2009. As Director General, Dr Al Khouri plays a vital role in leading the Emirates ID team towards achieving the Authority's strategic goals in the development and implementation of:

  1. Modern national identity management infrastructure for the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
  2. Infrastructure to provide timely information about population demographics to act as a strategic decision support system,
  3. Infrastructure to support e-Government initiatives and digital economy, and an
  4. Organizational system that adopts the highest international standards of organizational and performance excellence .

Dr. Al Khouri was responsible for forming and leading a team to develop Emirates ID’s strategic plan for 2010 - 2013, which included organizational restructuring and business process reengineering of key operations, thereby reducing the cost of the Authority’s production line by about 70% (approximately AED 300 million) within the first two years. It also helped enhance efficiency, outputs and the quality of customer service provided by the Authority. Overall, the strategic plan was a quantum leap in terms of improving governance and organisational excellence, and created a work environment that promotes innovation and excellence.

Al Khouri had earlier served as Director of the Development Division, and member of the e-Government Committee in Abu Dhabi Police GHQ from 1990 to 2003. Thereafter, he joined the Ministry of Interior as a member of the Executive Committee for the identity infrastructure development program management.

In 2005, Al Khouri moved to the Emirates Identity Authority as Assistant Director General for Central Operations and Chairman of the Technical Committee for the Population Register and ID Card (PRIDC). Later, he became Executive Director for Strategic Planning, and finally the Director General in 2009.

Dr. Al Khouri is a member of various professional bodies within and outside the UAE. He is board member of the UAE National Bureau of Statistics, member of the Executive Committee of the Ministry of the Interior supervising the e-Passport project in the UAE, as well as UAE representative and chairman of the technical team of the Steering Committee for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Identity Cards and Interoperability. He is also a member of the Leadership and Management Development Association, Strategic Management Association, European Association for Biometrics, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Association for Management of Technology in the US, and a member of the American centre of the Project Management Institute.

Dr Al Khouri is also a fellow of the Canadian Society of Project Managers and Business Administration, and fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS). He was a visiting faculty at the University of Manchester and the University of Warwick during 2004-2008.

Dr. Al Khouri holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Business Management from the University of Manchester, UK, and a Masters in Science in Information Management from the College of Management of Sciences, University of Lancaster, UK. He is also holds an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) from the University of Warwick, UK in Engineering Management with specialisation in strategic and large scale program management in the government sector.

Recognitions

  • Al Owais Award for Studies and Scientific Innovation in 2012
  • Medal of Academic Excellence (1998, 1999, 2000) from the Minister of Interior
  • Medal of Sincere Service from the Ministry of Interior in 2003
  • Rashid Award for Academic Excellence (1999, 2001, 2008)
  • UAE President’s Medal for the top university graduates in 1998
  • KPMG Peat Marwick Trophy for Best Researcher in the Faculty of Commerce in 1997
  • Barclays Bank Trophy for the best graduate programme in business information technology in 1997

International Awards

  • Most Influential Personality in Digital Identity World in the Last Decade, 2011, Italy.
  • Distinguished Leadership Award in the Middle East, 2010
  • Security Innovation Award (London) in recognition of published scientific papers from the British Institute of Technology & E-commerce, 2010
  • Award of Excellence and Fame (Italy) for prominent role in the field of identity management systems and scientific research at the International Conference for Universal ID cards held in cooperation with the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Interior, 2009
  • Information Security Award from the Asian Continent Association for Government Information, 2007
  • Distinguished Personality of the Year Award (Italy) in the application of advanced identification systems, in the International Conference on Universal ID cards held in cooperation with the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Interior, 2007
  • Young Leadership Award in the field of information technology in the Middle East - United Nations and the Arab League, 2006

Innovations

  • The Methodology of Planning and Strategic Management for Government Sector Projects: an innovative methodology for project management developed through scientific research in the Engineering Management programme at the University of Warwick, England, in 2007 (patented in the UK).

Research and Studies

  • He has published over (50) articles in the past 10 years in various international journals. He is an active researcher in the field of organizational development and transformation, e-government, digital economy and in many other specialized fields. He has a book under print titled: "Strategic Management in Government Sector: an Innovative Methodology". Below is a recent list of some of these publications.
  1. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2012) "Targeting Results: Lessons Learned from the UAE National ID Program", Global Journal of Computer Application and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 830-836.
  2. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "Optimizing identity and access management (IAM) frameworks". International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 461-477.
  3. Al-Khouri, A.M. and Bechlaghem, M. (2011) "Towards Federated e-Identity Management across GCC – A Solution’s framework".  Global Journal of Strategies & Governance, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 30-49.
  4. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "An innovative approach for e-Government transformation". International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 22-43.
  5. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "PKI in government identity management systems". International Journal of Network Security & Its Applications, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 69-96.
  6. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "Re-thinking Enrolment in Identity Schemes". International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 912-925.
  7. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "Improving Organizational Performance through understanding Human Motivation". Chinese Business Review, Vol.10, No.5, pp. 384-394.
  8. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "Targeting Results". Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Kuala Lumpur, January 22-24, 2011, pp.104-111.
  9. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2011) "When Strategic Focus is Needed in Organizations", Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Changing Perspective of Management: Revisiting the Existing and Explore the Novel Ideas, Nepalese Academy of Management, Nepal, 10-12 March 2011, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 336-340.
  10. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "Facing the Challenge of Enrolment in National ID Schemes", The Biometric Landscape in Europe', Proceedings of the Special Interest Group on Biometrics and Electronic Signatures, BIOSIG 2010, Darmstadt, Germany, September 09 -10, 2010, pp.13-28.
  11. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "The Question of Identity". Proceedings of the 21st-Century Gulf: The Challenge of Identity, University of Exeter, U.K., 30 June - 3 July 2010.
  12. Al-Khouri, A.M. & Al-Mazrouei, N.M. (2010) "A strategy framework for the risk assessment and mitigation for large e-government projects", International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, Vol. 10 No. 10 pp. 34-39.
  13. Westland, D.D. and Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "Supporting Use of Identity Management to support e-Government progress in the United Arab Emirates," Journal of E-Government Studies and Best Practices, Vol. 2010. pp.1-9.
  14. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "Improving Organisational Performance",  Proceedings of 18th Annual International Conference on Modern Workforce Challenges, Responsibilities, and Rights in the Global Community, The Association on Employment Practices and Principles (AEPP), 29 September to 01 October 2010, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. pp. 24-37.
  15. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "The Challenge of Identity in a Changing World: The Case of GCC Countries," Proceedings of the 21st-Century Gulf: The Challenge of Identity, University of Exeter, U.K., 30 June - 3 July 2010.
  16. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "Succeeding with Transformational Initiatives: Practical Approaches for Managing Change," Management Research and Practice Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.108-131.
  17. Al-Raisi, A.N. & Al-Khouri, A.M. (2010) "Public Value and ROI in the Government Sector," Advances In Management, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp.33-38.
  18. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2008) “Why Projects Fail? The devil is in the detail,” Project Magazine [Online]. Available from:www.projectmagazine.com.
  19. Al-Raisi, A.N. & Al-Khouri, A.M. (2008) “Iris recognition and the challenge of homeland and border control security in UAE,” Telematics and Informatics, Vol. 25, pp.117-132.
  20. Al-Khouri, A.M. & Bal, J. (2007) “Digital Identities and the Promise of the Technology Trio: PKI, Smart Cards, and Biometrics,” Journal of Computer Science, vol.3, no. 5, pp.361-367. This paper was quoted for its innovative approach in the: Summer ’07 Intelligence section in MIT Sloan Management Review.
  21. Al-Khouri, A.M. & Bal, J.(2007) "Electronic Government in the GCC Countries," International Journal Of Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.83-98.
  22. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2007) “Using Quality Models to Evaluate National ID systems: the Case of the UAE,” International Journal Of Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.117 -130.
  23. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2007) “UAE National ID Programme Case Study,” International Journal Of Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.62-69.
  24. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2007) “A Methodology for Managing Large-Scale IT Projects,” Proceedings of Warwick Engineering Conference, Warwick University, Warwick, United Kingdom, May 23, pp.1-6.
  25. Al-Khouri, A.M. (2007) “Quality Models for IT Systems,” Proceedings of World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Vienna, Austria, Vol. 21.