IDEMIA will provide Icelandic Police with its new Entry/Exit System

IDEMIA has been selected by the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police and Isavia, operator of Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport and other airports to provide a comprehensive border management system for all air and sea border crossing points, including new equipment.

Backed by this new system, Schengen Member State Iceland will comply with EU Entry/Exit System (EU-EES) regulations.

The system will be operational from 2021 and will manage an average of 10 million travellers per year with manned and automated controls underpinned by biometric technology.

Security and convenience at the heart of the Icelandic project

By 2022, new EU-EES regulations will require that biometric data, including face and fingerprints, of Third Country Nationals (TCNs) be captured and identified at the Schengen Area’s external borders. This will affect border check processes for all Schengen Member States.

With 20 per cent-a-year air traffic growth (prior to COVID-19), Iceland planned to implement a program to manage increased passenger flows primarily in Iceland’s main international airport Keflavik, where 95 per cent of the country’s largely non-EU arriving and exiting passengers pass, and also in the country’s 30 seaports defined as external sea border crossing points. The new border management systems and equipment will also contribute to inland control within the Schengen Area.

Iceland, innovation partner in border management

IDEMIA will leverage its best-in-class biometric and border control expertise to uphold and upgrade Iceland’s border security. Meanwhile, this cutting-edge technology will contribute to more secured external borders and optimise the passenger flow by the use of the newest technology in border management.

This new border management system, based on IDEMIA’s Augmented Borders™ solution, will be compliant with EU-EES regulations. IDEMIA will also equip Icelandic border crossing points with its TravelKiosk™ EU-EES, the latest generation of user-centric multi-biometric border self-service kiosks. Also including automated TraveLane™ eGates, the entire system will boost throughput and convenience of passengers as they go through border controls. Lastly, to complete this end-to-end solution, IDEMIA will ensure that operator-manned counters, mobile solutions and tracking systems are set up to fit the requirements of the Icelandic Police with a view to shortening response times and improving co-ordination.

“The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, the Metropolitan Police and Sudurnes District Police have from early 2019 been working on the implementation of EES in Iceland in close co-operation with Isavia. The procurement procedure started in September 2019 and today we have reached an important milestone by selecting IDEMIA as the supplier and future partner for the implementation of EES in Iceland. The police and Isavia place a high expectation to the collaboration with IDEMIA in the development of solutions that will improve border security and the traveller experience.” said Jón Pétur Jónsson, Chief Superintendent, at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.

“Isavia is truly excited about this co-operation with IDEMIA and the Icelandic Police. This is an important step in improving the performance and customer experience of the convenient and easy hub connection between Europe and North America,” says Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson, Chief Commercial and Airport Development Officer at Isavia. “The Entry/Exit System will affect all airports with traffic crossing external borders. Isavia is confident that implementing IDEMIA’s self-service solutions in co-operation with the border police, will result in a more secure and efficient border crossing point, giving Keflavik the potential to grow even further in its Hub operation.”

“IDEMIA is proud to accompany Iceland as one of the first countries of the Schengen Area to transform its border control system to comply with the European Entry/Exit System. We are determined to provide a comprehensive set of multi-biometric solutions that will give the assurance of a future-proof program, making Iceland our innovation partner in the implementation of the EU-EES. Our advanced border management solutions, based on a 40-year relationship with governments, will offer a better user experience by interactively adapting the border process per traveller category while ensuring maximum security.” said Philippe Barreau, Executive Vice President for Public Security and Identity activities at IDEMIA.

As the world leader in government identity and police biometric systems, IDEMIA brings to the table its cutting-edge technology and know-how so that personal identification is checked in the most secure way.

Recently, IDEMIA, in partnership with Sopra Steria, was selected to roll out the shared Biometric Matching System – the new European automated multi-biometric identification system for foreign nationals hosted by EU agency EU-LISA. Having partnered with EU institutions for many years and installed border control systems in more than 23 countries, IDEMIA’s comprehensive package meets the complex requirements of border control authorities, topped off by state-of-the-art technology.