Accenture, Atos, Safran to improve EU visa info and biometric matching system

The European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA) has awarded a contract to Accenture, Safran Identity & Security and Atos to provide application and infrastructure services for the EU Visa information System (VIS) and for the Biometric Matching System (BMS) underpinning VIS.

The project will facilitate the rapid and secure processing of visa applications by third country nationals requiring visas to enter the Schengen area.

The Accenture-Safran-Atos consortium will help eu-LISA deliver new digital services to its global customers and improve the capabilities of the VIS Mail system, which is used to distribute information between member-state authorities.

The contract, which eu-LISA awarded following a call for tenders (LISA/2015/RP/02 VIS/BMS MWO), is for a four-year period, with the option to extend services for up to two years.

“Accenture is excited to have been selected to help eu-LISA manage the safe and legitimate movement of people into the European Union,” said James Canham, managing director of Accenture’s customs and borders business. “We will bring our significant experience managing large, complex IT-based identity-management projects for border-management and other government agencies around the world to help ensure the success of this mission-critical program for eu-LISA.”

Accenture is responsible for overall program management, including delivering enterprise and technology architecture and design support, providing application development and maintenance services, and managing IT on-site service support functions.

Safran will continue to develop the biometric solution and provide all biometric-related consulting services and expertise, while Atos will be in charge of provision and maintenance of infrastructure solutions.

“Atos is looking forward to enhancing the collaboration with eu-LISA by bringing our expertise in infrastructure managed services to support the border management efforts in the E.U.,” said Punit Sehgal, Atos group vice president and account lead for European institutions. “With our proven track record in maintaining large-scale IT platforms, we will seek to ensure the corrective, adaptive and evolutive maintenance of VIS and its BMS infrastructure to meet all user needs and system performance requirements.”

Previously reported, eu-LISA presented an analysis of the outcomes of the Smart Borders pilot at this year’s European Association of Biometrics Research Projects Conference (EAB-RPC).

Article Topics

Accenture  |  Atos  |  biometric matching  |  biometrics  |  eu-LISA  |  SAFRAN  |  Schengen visas