FB pixel

Secunet deploys biometrics for EES border control at Zurich Airport, NEC supplies Hong Kong

Secunet deploys biometrics for EES border control at Zurich Airport, NEC supplies Hong Kong
 

German security and biometrics firm Secunet will equip Zurich Airport in Switzerland with its technologies to make the facility compliant with the European Entry/Exit System (EES).

The company made the announcement in a blog post, saying the project is based on a 2021 framework agreement between Secunet and the Zurich Cantonal Police.

According to Georg Hasse, head of International Sales within the Homeland Security Division at Secunet, the contract is worth over CHF43 million (roughly US$44.75 million) and will run for more than 12 years.

The EES scheme will require third-country nationals to register with a facial image and four fingerprints to cross land, sea, and air borders in the Schengen area.

The system is designed to increase security and help coordinate international efforts in verifying individuals’ identities when traveling.

At the same time, registration at the borders will also likely lead to increased effort from airport workers, which may lead to long waiting times at border control counters.

To help counter this effect, Secunet said it is currently implementing an EES-compliant border control application, as well as a central server component that connects the various border control components and will communicate directly with the EU’s central EES.

Moving forward, the company said the infrastructure will be further optimized with EES-compliant components like ABC systems (automated border control) and self-service kiosks for biometric pre-enrolment.

More specifically, the new border control system will consist of hardware and software solutions, as well as various services, according to a tender note provided by Hasse to Biometric Update.

The note mentions upgrades to kiosks including the addition of biometrics collection options for face recognition and fingerprint scanning of four fingers, among other things.

The full list will be available in the near future on simap.ch, a website that acts as a reference tool for issues relating to sustainable public procurement.

Switzerland is just the latest country to deploy technologies compliant with the upcoming EES this year.

Back in March, the Austrian government also partnered with Secunet, investing €15 million ($15.4 million) in the company to develop and deploy EES technologies.

More recently, Lithuania and Belgium also took steps toward the development of biometric technologies for the upcoming EU Entry/Exit System.

NEC signs facial recognition contract with Hong Kong International

Hong Kong International Airport has selected NEC to supply it with facial recognition modules to expedite passenger processing at self-service kiosks.

Under the agreement, NEC will design and develop, as well as maintain and support the biometric modules for HKIA.

The Framework Agreement has an estimated value of HK$85.66 million (US$10.9 million) and a term of five years. Technical conditions led to the contract being tendered without competition, according to a contract notice from the airport.

Facial recognition is used for authorizing Duty Free purchases, as well as passenger screening at Hong Kong International, which relaxed its data privacy policy last year.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Biometrics startup gets accelerator backing for Africa, Middle East expansion

Startup Vove ID has secured funding from The Baobab Network to support an expansion of its biometric KYC and AML…

 

NHIs see new funding, products and security approaches

Non-human identities (NHI) like AI agents now outnumber human users in many organizations. Companies are coming up with products to…

 

White House includes NSF research on deepfakes among threats to free speech

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has new priorities, and while some might call them great priorities – tremendous priorities,…

 

Infineon powers demo of edge biometrics for user onboarding

Edge AI and embedded systems developer embedUR unveiled a pair of solutions for computer vision and biometric onboarding made with…

 

Fintechs crucial to trust needed for financial inclusion: Rwanda Stock Exchange CEO

The growing emergence of fintechs in Africa represents major hope for the continent’s financial inclusion efforts. However, one serious problem…

 

Age assurance enforcement concerns raised as porn sites drag feet

A barking dog is alarming, but if it has no legs, it’s not scary for very long. This is particularly…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events