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The Imprimerie Nationale Group, a leader in secure biometric identity solutions, has launched the first e-gates deployed for border control at Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport, within the national PARAFE (Passage Rapide aux Frontières Extérieures – Fast Pass through the External Borders) framework experimentation. Developed by engineers from Thales Identity & Biometric Division, recently acquired by Imprimerie Nationale Group, this equipment, compliant with the PARAFE system, allows to significantly speed up border identity controls.
This experimentation is based on a unique architecture that includes a series of five gates with fingerprint-based biometric recognition in the border control area. The installed system is innovative as it already supports fingerprint recognition and it is ready for the addition of face recognition capability in the near future. It is open to passengers equipped with a French or German biometric passport and it will gradually be extended to other European Union passengers.
The test configuration installed in Lyon allows controlling 5 passengers at once by a single police officer while, in a traditional setting, an officer is needed to control one passenger.
This installation allows passengers to go through border controls in a simplified, fluid and fast manner. It consists in:
- Presenting one’s passport on the document reader at the gate entrance,
- Going through the gate after the entrance door opens,
- Presenting a finger on the fingerprint reader,
- Exiting the gate through the exit door after the fingerprint has been authenticated by the system.
Commenting on the occasion, Didier Trutt, the Imprimerie Nationale Group CEO, declared, “We are very happy to be here today for the launch of these e-gates that will allow to reinforce border security and to provide better services to Saint-Exupéry Airport passengers. We thank the Airport authorities for their confidence in the technologies and expertise of our new Biometric Identity Solutions branch (formerly Thales Identity & Biometric Division), for their choice of these user-friendly and secure systems for automated identity control.”
The teams belonging to Imprimerie Nationale Group’s Biometric Identity Solutions branch (formerly Thales Identity & Biometric) benefit from more than 30 years of experience in the field of integrated identity management throughout the world. They rank first in civil biometric market in France.
The integration of technologies and experience of Thales Identity & Biometric Division into Imprimerie Nationale Group, from May 9, 2017, allows the Group to reinforce its leadership as a trusted supplier of biometric and secure identity solutions with a global offer: innovative technologies, components, products, systems and digital services for governments and citizens in France and internationally.