GENEVA, Switzerland, January 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Prestigious Event to use WISeKey's Social Networking Platform on the Internet

The Global Competitiveness Forum (25-27 January 2009), the prestigious annual gathering organized by the Saudi Arabian Government Investment Authority under the patronage of the H.M. King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Azziz Al Saud, will be using the High Trusted Social Network Platform, an exclusive social network developed by Geneva-based WISekey. Developed in partnership with PublicisLive, the producer of the event, the high-level, digital identity verification solution provides VIPs with a safe virtual environment in order to network before, during and after the event. HighTrusted is designed for exclusive networking environments as it allows members to interact more effectively with people sharing their profiles. In order to maintain the selection and exclusivity of the social network, strict criteria of selection and admittance are used by the GCF.

The GCF will gather 1,000 high-ranking corporate and political leaders for three days of discussion. Each GCF 2009 participant will be issued with wireless smartcard badges that are subsequently used to verify their identity when entering the conference, attending keynotes, and other sessions. Attendees can also use GCF ID credentials, issued at registration, to follow ongoing discussions of global competitiveness and economic issues on GCF's secure social network platform powered by HighTrusted.

The cooperation between WISekey and PublicisLive for the promotion of the HighTrusted social network allows participants to interact more effectively with people sharing their profiles. It will be a big plus for events like the Global Competitiveness Forum, says Anthony Gazagne, PublicisLive's Managing Director.

HighTrusted technology is revolutionary as it leverages WISeKey’s deep security know-how applied to this type of high level events, said Carlos Moreira, CEO WISekey. The GCF is an annual meeting of top business executives, international political leaders, selected intellectuals, and academics who share an interest in global competitiveness. Undoubtedly, Saudi Arabia will celebrate its new ranking in terms of 'ease to do business' -rated 1st in the Middle East and in the Arab world- and have set a goal for the Kingdom to position itself as one of the Top 10 most competitive countries by 2010, commented Amr Al-Dabbagh, Governor and Chairman of the Board of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.

Contact: Daniel Ybarra VP Corporate Communication Tel.: +41-22-594-30-00 E-Mail: dybarra@wisekey.com Internet: http://www.gcf.org.sa Internet: http://www.hightrusted.com/gcf2009/

Contact: Daniel Ybarra, VP Corporate Communication, Tel.: +41-22-594-30-00, E-Mail: dybarra@wisekey.com