Washington, DC and Amsterdam, May 4, 2010–The World Bank and Gemalto today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to join efforts in supporting social and economic advancement in developing countries, by leveraging innovative information and communication technology (ICT). This collaboration forms a part of the World Bank’s new eTransform Initiative, which was formally launched on April 23rd at a World Bank Spring Meetings event attended by developing country ministers of finance and communications.

This joint effort will provide knowledge sharing with the aim of leveraging Gemalto’s international experience in areas such as secure electronic identity and mobile financial services, to help governments gain greater and wider access to best-in-class technology, expertise and practices.

The eTransform Initiative seeks to leverage the power of ICT in developing countries to transform the lives of their citizens by connecting governments with the best experts from around the world. The initiative seeks to fast-track the use of ICT in government projects and in the way services are delivered to citizens and business.

“The impact of ICT on development is profound. It can foster transformational improvements that enable sustainable long-term solutions to some of the most pressing development challenges” said Mohsen Khalil, Director of the World Bank’s Global Information and Communication Technologies Department. “The eTransform Initiative marks a change in the way that the World Bank helps developing countries. Rather than offering only our own expertise to countries, this initiative connects countries with the best experts from around the world drawn from governments, the private sector and academia. We welcome Gemalto’s expertise and look forward to their contribution in this partnership to help countries foster economic development.”

“Gemalto is sincerely proud to be a member of the World Bank’s eTransform Initiative, it’s a noble social role,” commented Olivier Piou, Gemalto’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our unrivalled experience and digital security expertise can make a real difference for governments looking to leverage the information and communication technologies’ power to benefit their citizens’ lives.”

http://www.gemalto.com/press/archives/2010/2010-05-04_WorldBank.pdf

The World Bank

The World Bank is a multilateral development institution and one of the world’s largest sources of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Comprised of 185 member governments, its primary focus is to help the world’s poorest people and the poorest countries. The World Bank uses its financial resources, its staff, and extensive experience to help developing countries reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve their quality of life. The World Bank is partnering with the ICT industry to leverage technology as an enabler in the context of the ICT Skills Development Initiative and the eTransform Initiative.

Contact

Ian Larsen
Phone: +1 202 458 1833
Email: ilarsen@worldbank.org

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2009 annual revenues of €1.65 billion, and over 10 thousand employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 41 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work–anytime, anywhere–has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit http://www.gemalto.com.

Gemalto Media Contacts

Ray WIZBOWSKI
North America
+1 512-257-3950
raymond.wizbowski@gemalto.com

Deb Montner
Montner & Associates
+1 203-226-9290
dmontner@montner.com

Jane Strachey
Europe, Middle East & Africa
T.: +33 4 42 36 46 61
jane.strachey@gemalto.com

Ramzi Abdine
Latin America
+55 11 5105 7659
ramzi.abdine@gemalto.com

Yvonne Lim
Asia Pacific
T.: +65 6317 3730
Yvonne.lim@gemalto.com