EmpTech supplies biometric passports, ID cards for Belarus

The Republic of Belarus has commenced the issuance of new biometric passports and national identity cards.

According to a press statement, the issuance began on September 1 after the completion of the project by a consortium led by EmpTech, with contributions from X Infotech.

The project was delivered in collaboration with four government ministries, namely the Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Communications and Information, and Finance. The Belarus Operational and Analytical Centre (OAC) also collaborated on the project under the auspices of the country’s president.

About nine million Belarusians are expected to be issued the biometric passport and digital ID card, which the consortium says have been designed using state-of the-art biometric enrollment technology compliant with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The citizen identity electronic document system which has been put in place includes collection, processing and storing of biometric and other personal data; de-duplication check; data validation; eID document personalization; digital signature of stored data, and issuance of biometric documents, the press statement notes. EmpTech’s Multi-Layer Personalization (MLP) technology adds advanced security features during personalization.

The installed platform, the consortium adds, include desktop and mobile biometric enrolment terminals, eID and ePassport personalization machines, as well as document issuance devices.

Speaking on the launch of the project, EmpTech CEO Sean Zheng said it was a pleasure to have successfully delivered the Belarus project and thank the government for the confidence placed in the consortium.

“Not only would the Belarusian ePassport, the eID would also be using the same personalization technology – the MLP developed by EmpTech. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Republic of Belarus government for the trust, confidence and faith in us. X Infotech, an invaluable member of the team, has worked extremely hard for this project to ensure its success and timely delivery. I also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the team for their hard work,” said Zheng.

Sergey Yeliseyev, X Infotech business development director for Government eID said it was significant step forward for Belarus, and the project will allow citizens the opportunity to complete remote transactions using latest technology.

“We are extremely proud by being part of this important project and we express great gratitude to Belarusian authorities for that. We appreciate the level of trust to X Infotech from our partners: Emperor Technology and RUE ‘Cryptotech’ of Goznak as well all the government authorities

Involved into the project…,” said Yeliseyev.

The launch of biometric passports and ID cards by Belarus comes after the Eastern European nation had postponed the rollout of the credentials in 2019.

Article Topics

Belarus  |  biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  e-ID  |  Emperor Technology  |  ICAO  |  identity document  |  national ID  |  standards  |  X Infotech