he first trial for the future implementation of Smart Borders in Europe has been launched in Portugal.
Portugal was the first country in Europe to launch a trial of the European Commission Smart Borders, a pilot program studying the Entry/Exit control procedures of Third Country Nationals into the Schengen Area through Automated and Manual Border Control Check Points at airports, land, and sea borders.
Vision-Box delivered the solution to the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service SEF, in collaboration with ANA/Vinci Airports.
The pilot program that will run until the beginning of June.
The 12 EU Members States participating in the program are Portugal, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Hungary, Greece, Italy and Romania.
Each of these countries will perform tests with Third Country Nationals (TCN) passing through immigration checkpoints at various airport, land, and sea borders, experimenting with different facial, fingerprint, and iris biometric verification methods.
Purpose of program
The main purpose of the program is to identify the best technical solutions for each specific type of border using multi-modal biometric identification and verification processes and comparing the metrics and usability of each solution through specific reporting methods.
The results of the pilot programs will set the foundation for a common, standardized platform used to manage European borders, namely for an Entry/Exit System (EES) and a Registered Traveler Program (RTP).
By combining these initiatives, European Member States will be able to monitor traveler flow using a EU-unified system, proactively identifying irregular situations such as travelers overstaying their visits.
The first test case in Portugal consists of testing exit/departure ABC eGates by TCN visa-exempt passengers. The Lisbon ABC eGates are processing citizens from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Macedonia, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Venezuela and Brazil.
Other Lisbon tests
Lisbon is also testing two additional cases at entry points, the first consisting of an iris enrollment process to measure the capability of this modality in Europe and the second consisting of pre-registering arriving travelers using a Vision-Box®Automated Immigration Control Kiosk.
The aim of this test case is the future use of automation to combine into a single family-friendly process the following set of controls: authentication of the passenger’s travel documents, verification of the validity of their Visa and pre-enrolled fingerprints against the central EU VIS system in Brussels and capture of a high-quality ISO-compliant photo for potential use at ABC eGates once exiting the Schengen Area.
The European Commission will analyze the findings of the eu-LISA Smart-Border Pilot Program with the expectation that biometrics and Automated Border Control will be part of a solution for a common European Border Control Strategy, shielding it from terrorism and fraud.
N.B. Image credit: European
Internet links
European Commission Smart Borders
