Frontex sees 5 new biometric techs to use on borders

EU officials have identified still-developing technologies and techniques that research indicates will be key to well-functioning borders.

Biometric research presented this month by the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, is calling attention to infrared and 3D techniques for face recognition, near-infrared and visible-light techniques for iris recognition and contactless techniques for friction ridge recognition.

These five, officials say, will shape the future of borders and travel.

Frontex right now is helping EU member states prepare for their new biometric entry and exit system (EES), expected to go live this year. It has been inviting border technology makers to submit their products for evaluation.

The research report, Technology Foresight on Biometrics for the Future of Travel, found technologies that could be used by the European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG) in the next 20 years.

Work on the report began in 2021 and it was presented during a conference this month on law enforcement technology and science organized by the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training agency in Lithuania.

The paper has a taxonomy of biometric technology, including biomolecular, morphological and behavioral and offers scenarios that could help determine which biometric technologies are the most promising for border management.

The taxonomy created 20 technological clusters for biometrics.

The five techniques expected to make the biggest contribution compared to others was narrowed from the clusters through Delphi forecasting methods.

Additional research is still necessary to identify the most useful and relevant biometric technologies and to find the path toward their implementation in border security, the paper concludes.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border management  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  Europe  |  Frontex  |  travel and tourism