Thales launches aviation and biometrics research centers in Singapore

Multinational digital ID provider Thales has strengthened its partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) with the goal of deploying more cutting-edge biometrics, fintech and cloud aviation solutions in the country.

The renewed partnership will reportedly focus on two separate initiatives aimed at enhancing Singapore’s digital ID ecosystem.

“Singapore has been a key location for Thales’ digital transformation plans,” says EDB Executive Vice President Tan Kong Hwee. “This new decision to grow its tech innovation activities in emerging areas such as 5G, Biometrics and Cloud here is testament to Singapore’s strength as a tech ecosystem.”

The first of Thales’ new expansion projects is the establishment of an InFlyt Experience Cloud Centre of Excellence at the Thales Digital Factory in Singapore.

The move will see the company work on several inflight-focused entertainment digital services and technologies linked to the cloud, including site reliability expertise, security analysis, and other ‘push-to-cloud’ projects.

These technologies will be utilized to provide maintenance of aircraft systems but also to allow integration in onboard payment options or third-party solutions like gaming.

The second initiative announced by Thales in Singapore is the creation of a Digital Identity & Security Engineering Competence Centre (ECC) in the country.

The project will hire a team of 350 engineers working on advanced research, product development, and project delivery for customers worldwide.

As part of the collaboration with EDB, roughly 200 of these engineers will work on new digital innovation projects based on technologies related to 5G, fintech, and biometrics.

The latter category will include embedded artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced biometric card authentication and using AI algorithms and machine learning for ID fraud prevention.

“Over the last decade, we are grateful and privileged to have had the strong support of the EDB to grow our presence and reputation as a digital technology leader here,” comments Thales’ Country Director and Chief Executive for Singapore Kevin Chow. “We are excited about the next growth chapter, as we further develop our local competencies in new and fast-growing areas such as 5G, Cloud, Biometrics, and FinTech.”

Article Topics

5G  |  biometrics  |  cloud services  |  digital ID  |  fintech  |  research and development  |  Singapore  |  Thales  |  Thales Digital Identity and Security