Many of us instinctively believe that the battle between the physical and digital worlds is an asymmetrical contest.
Our habits and actions have shown an unstoppable momentum in one direction for years now. Our daily driving is aided by navigation apps rather than physical maps. Our phones are full of digital images that are unlikely to ever be printed and put in an album. Our retail experiences are punctuated by digital transactions rather than handing over cash to a merchant. Biometrics and digital fulfilment illuminate the road to today and tomorrow.
One US academic, Jay Zagorsky, this week made the alternative case to The National for cash over card or paperless transactions, and while he is not entirely a lone voice, the reality is that people are less and less likely to choose or use physical over digital to pay for bills or services. How much cash do you hold in your wallet right now, if you even have a physical wallet any more? Times, tastes and habits have changed, which also explains the presence of dozens of apps on your phone.
Even so, there are still occasions when you may bump up against pockets of stasis in the physical-digital world. Take the following story, for instance.
At the start of the long holiday last weekend, I drove from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and was about to check in to a hotel for a couple of nights. I realised that I didn’t have my physical Emirates ID card with me when I got there, but not to worry (or so I thought), because my fully charged smartphone had UAE Pass installed on it, as well as the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship application.
UAE Pass is a national joint government initiative that seeks to deliver a trusted digital identity and stores secure official PDFs of a resident’s or citizen’s identification card, as well as enabling time-coded QR Code verification. The ICP app, accessible through a UAE Pass log in, also houses secure and official copies of your residence visa and identity card. They are both unquestionable proof of a person’s identity and residence status and backed by official infrastructure.
Neither app proved acceptable to the hotel, however, whose staff insisted that by law they could only check guests in if they are able to present their physical documents, either a passport or Emirates ID. When I advised the hotel that I had stayed at other locations within their group in the UAE, who surely could check my digital documents against what they held on file, they insisted, once again, that only physical documents would do.
Our habits and actions have shown an unstoppable momentum in one direction for years now
We reached an impasse after several minutes of discussion in which I failed to plead the case for acceptance of digital proof. When the hotel confirmed it was both unwilling to check me in and unable to refund the money for my currently no-night stay, I got back in my car and drove down to Abu Dhabi to retrieve my errant ID card. A little under three hours later, having completed another 250km of driving in the hours before midnight, I returned to the hotel with my physical ID card in hand and wearily completed the check-in process.
For their part, the hotel says they are obliged by the law to collect physical ID cards of their guests. While they accepted that other places may accept digital identification, they insisted that they would be ignoring their legal responsibilities if they were to do so. A pre-stay email also advised me that physical ID was required to complete check-in.
Anecdotally, however, many of us may have shown digital copies of our ID to other entities around the country – and had them accepted – when requested. But it was in the strange grey hinterland of the real-world that I lost my bearings.
Compare this insistence on physical over digital proof to the mid-pandemic period only a couple of years ago, when many UAE residents were required to use the official Al Hosn app to gain entry to public places – such as malls, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels.
The app provided a three-colour status system – green, grey or red – to provide an easy-to-follow stop-or-go system that used a live QR code to present an individual’s vaccination and PCR test status updates. Al Hosn app was both a key part of pandemic response and provided a definitive confirmation of identity in one digital resource.
Another example shows a similar destination point for how we will eventually prove our identity in the future in a secure way.
Abu Dhabi’s now year-old Terminal A at Zayed International Airport is at the cutting edge of biometric smart travel and aims to eliminate the need for physical travel documents as well as substantially reduce the time it takes to move each passenger through the check-in and onboarding process.
For now, though, I am reminded to keep a foot in both the physical and digital worlds, most especially when embarking on a field trip. I may be living in a double wallet world for a while.
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TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETerra%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hussam%20Zammar%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mobility%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%20funding%20of%20%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
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Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
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'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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