Austria awards Secunet €15M border biometric entry/exit system contract

The German security and biometrics firm Secunet has been awarded a €14.6 million (US$16.2 million) contract by Austria’s Federal Ministry of the Interior to work on the country’s entry/exit system (EES), as reported by Offene Vergaben, a civil society project to publish public procurement contracts.

Details remain scarce, but the contract is categorized as “monitoring and security systems and facilities” for a federal-level project. It includes self-registration kiosks, portable border control systems, camera systems and licenses for a border control application. The deal also includes maintenance contracts and provision to adapt the services to Austrian needs.

The EU’s requirements for biometric EES are expected to be implemented in May 2022, leading to a spate of deals for biometrics firms.

Secunet’s systems for EES have been implemented in Bulgarian airports, its gates are to installed at Tallinn Airport and Estonia’s border with Russia at Narva.

The company has recently announced a record financial year for 2021 based on sales to both the public and private sectors. Secunet’s earnings rose 18 percent from €285.6 million in 2020 to €337.6 million in 2021 ($370 million), although its biometrics offerings are not identified as a major part of its operations.

In December 2020, Secunet won another contract with the Austrian Ministry for the Interior to supply middleware licenses for facial verification and image quality assessment, worth more than €4 million.

Article Topics

Austria  |  biometrics  |  border control  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  Europe  |  government purchasing  |  secunet