French criminal biometrics database to get upgrade from Idemia and Sopra Steria

A joint bid by Sopra Steria and Idemia to redesign and install a fingerprint biometrics management system for law enforcement was been chosen by France’s Ministries of Justice and the Interior.

The French government’s “FAED” database of fingerprints was established in 1990, and police forensic investigators urgently need it to be upgraded, according to the announcement.

The new “FAED V3” is intended to provide reliability, flexibility and accuracy in criminal identification, and because identifications are used as evidence to secure convictions in court, consistent performance to ensure matches are definitive is a priority. The new system will also interoperate with the European Commission’s ECRIS TCN criminal record database so law enforcement can access data, when necessary, from other EU police systems.

“We’re immensely proud that the French Interior and Justice ministries trust us to carry out this strategic project, which comes on top of further transformative IT projects we do for these ministries drawing on our heralded biometric systems development experience in Europe,” comments Sopra Steria Homeland Security Director Etienne Loth. “Our and Idemia’s staff are all set to join forces, build and deliver a stand-alone, robust and high-performance system harnessing their varied and complementary skillsets.”

Sopra Steria and Idemia have worked together extensively in the past, particularly on biometric border control. The pair won a contract with France’s Ministry of the Interior to provide its border control biometrics system, and with eu-LISA to deliver the shared biometric matching system for the European Entry/Exit System. Both are also separately working with the same French ministry on the management system for the country’s national digital identity.

“Apart from ramping up our strategic alliance with the French government, this contract is testament to our capacity to offer state-of-the-art, unique and ground-breaking IT systems that often come top in terms of accuracy and equity of tests covering all systems worldwide held by independent organizations like NIST,” says Idemia VP of France Public Security and Identity.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  FAED database  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  France  |  government purchasing  |  IDEMIA  |  police  |  Sopra Steria