IDEMIA

Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG), with its prime location in the Centre of Europe, is the largest and most important international airport in the Czech Republic. Prague Airport handled 17.8 million passengers in 2019 and received the Airport Service Quality Award 2019 awarded by ACI1 for the second time in a row. At Prague Airport, there are different types of areas restricted to authorised personnel. These are governed by an access control system fitted with approximately 1,000 readers and over 1,500 secured points (doors, locks, etc.). Mifare Desfire cards are predominantly in use for the time being. Among these, Security Restricted Areas (SRAs) are the highest security areas, with 60 access points of high importance. Contactless biometric technology Due to the critical nature of those areas, Prague Airport needed a very high level of security, and decided to implement a biometric solution, as the card itself (including with the use of a PIN code), would not be deemed as secure enough. The biometric system had to be able to cope with over 20,000 individuals, with the capability to increase to up to 30,000 users in the future. Prague Airport decided to keep the existing access cards but to add a biometric verification level for the SRAs. This means that the biometric solution would have to be used in combination with the existing cards through a two-step process. In order to avoid any physical contact with the devices, for user convenience as well as for hygienic considerations, it was decided to deploy a contactless biometric technology. Access control system The readers were installed at existing control points and are fully integrated into the airport access control system Prague Airport tested two technologies capable of connecting to its access control system, among which IDEMIA’s MorphoWave Compact contactless fingerprint terminal. After a thorough testing period, the choice was to go for IDEMIA’s technology for a number of reasons including: great user experience with an easy and quick hand gesture, as well as a strict GDPR compliance with users’ biometric information stored only in their cards. Prague Airport deployed more than 60 MorphoWave Compact in its SRAs. The readers were installed at existing control points and are fully integrated into the airport access control system. More than 20,000 users now have their biometric data in their access cards and the system is fully operational. Embedded card reader IDEMIA’s seamless biometric technology helps address health and safety issues. Employees appreciate the user experience provided by the solution deployed: it is easy to tap the access card onto the embedded card reader situated at the top of the reader and then to just wave the hand in a quick simple movement to get 4 fingerprint verified in less than 1 second, without the need to touch any part of the device. Airports is a key vertical among the many different ones served by IDEMIA. The biometric devices are used by 35+ of them throughout the world for staff access control, as here in Prague. The company’s biometric solutions are also used for border control and passenger flow facilitation, in more than 30 different airports.

IDEMIA, the globally renowned provider of Augmented Identity and Identity Management solutions, has announced the appointment of Andrew Boyd to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for IDEMIA National Security Solutions. Andrew Boyd will be responsible for the over-all strategic growth and leadership of the team, delivering state-of-the-art technology solutions that support national defence, national security, and the classified missions’ space. Security and Intelligence expert Boyd joins IDEMIA with more than twenty-five years of military and industry experience Boyd joins IDEMIA with more than twenty-five years of military and industry experience in the creation of mission critical solutions within the United States Federal Government and commercial markets. Most recently, Boyd was Senior Vice President (SVP) of Defence and Intelligence for SAIC, where he led growth strategies for its IT modernisation and digital transformation business unit. Prior to SAIC, Andrew served in leadership roles in the United States Air Force, Unisys Federal, Engility, Northrop Grumman and a number of other innovative small businesses. He was responsible for creating a wide range of IT Service and Product offerings across Intelligence, Defence and Federal Civilian Agencies. Extensive experience in Federal and Defence space “Andrew brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to IDEMIA with a proven track-record of generating significant growth and profit throughout his career,” said Edward Casey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at IDEMIA Identity & Security North America. Edward adds, “His unique experience working in both the Federal and Defence space make him an ideal candidate to lead this critical area of our business. Andrew will be a valuable addition to the IDEMIA team, and I look forward to supporting Andrew as he takes on this new role.”

VisionPass, the ultimate face recognition device for physical access and time and attendance control, was introduced earlier this year and extends IDEMIA’s range of contactless devices for access control. Designed according to the company’s partners’ and end-users’ needs and requirements, VisionPass offers a unique experience: being identified on-the-move in less than 1 second thanks to powerful algorithms. For more user comfort, VisionPass works in all light conditions from complete darkness to bright sunlight, with all face types and with various vertical and horizontal angles to cope with users of different heights (1.20- 2.00 meters / 3ft 11” – 6ft 6”). And as VisionPass was designed for access control and security, it can counter spoofing attempts by image, video or 3D masks. Frictionless biometric systems Like IDEMIA’s other frictionless biometric systems such as MorphoWave Compact, VisionPass is fully integrated with the company’s MorphoManager device management platform and is already “plug & play” with most physical access control systems. With VisionPass (facial recognition) and MorphoWave Compact (fingerprints), IDEMIA confirms its expertise in contactless biometrics for secure, convenient and hygienic access control. “The world’s way of living has been drastically impacted during the last few weeks and months, creating completely new requirements for a contactless approach when it comes to accessing public or private spaces. The company’s contactless devices for access control answer these new requirements by offering both a hygienic and frictionless experience to users”, says Yves Portalier, Executive Vice President of the Biometric Devices & Automotive Business Unit at IDEMIA.