Hong Kong targets biometric innovation for public services, police with Smart City MoU

Hong Kong has signed a deal to adopt biometrics and other Smart City technologies to support efficient and effective public service delivery, according to a government announcement.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and Immigration Department specifies “Biometric Identification and Authentication” among four technology areas of focus for the Smart City project. The biometrics innovation will in part be geared towards improving service standards and in part towards support for law enforcement, according to a press release from ASTRI.

The other areas addressed by the MoU are AI-assisted immigration applications, immigration control and collaborative robotics.

ASRTI CEO Denis Yip say the planned innovations include multi-camera matrix sensing fusion technology and facial recognition tools like frontalization technology, fast biometric search algorithms and an AI engine for de-blurring out-of-focus images to enable target identification.

“We have addressed some issues that may happen during vehicle immigration clearance process. For example, there is no moving window at the rear seat of some vehicles,” Yip says. “Our team has developed pioneering technologies that can make image verification possible through the glasses.”

The deal is expected to support research and development for local technologies. Making Hong Kong and international innovation and technology hub is a part of China’s current five-year plan.

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok says that his department has been proactive in adopting advanced technologies.

A decline in Smart City investments in China was identified by a short seller as a major barrier to growth for SenseTime last year.

Article Topics

ASTRI  |  biometric authentication  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  Hong Kong  |  smart cities