Quito to launch facial recognition for public surveillance under smart city project

Ecuadorian capital Quito will launch public biometric facial recognition as part of the country’s first digital city program after an agreement was signed by the mayor and the government’s ICT ministry (Mintel), BNamericas reports.

The digital city initiative will include digitization of national identity cards and passports for a public safety project using facial recognition technology, as well as digital platforms to monitor parking spaces, track bus routes and estimated arrival times, and emergency systems in highway tunnels.

A subsidiary of China Electronics Corporation (CEC) helped the country set up a laboratory at the headquarters of its ECU911 security service in Quito to develop surveillance systems, as part of efforts using facial recognition and other technology which are credited with decreasing the crime rate by 24 percent.

Mintel has also published open source software applications intended to improve the efficiency of government processes under its 2018-2021 e-government plan.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  Ecuador  |  facial recognition  |  national ID  |  smart cities  |  South America