Trial of an automated border control system for vehicles in Calais and Dunkerque (Credit: AIT)
The innovative Hauts-de-France region drew on the expertise of leading specialists to develop an innovative e-gate system for automated entry and exit checks on vehicles at the ferry ports of Calais and Dunkerque on the English Channel. The result was a pilot project (FastPass Hauts-de-France) offering modern, rapid, and automated border controls.
“At a time when the EU and Great Britain are shaping their future relationship, this FastPass experiment with e-gates for vehicles opens up interesting perspectives and a range of opportunities. The regional council of Hauts-de-France has worked closely with the creators of the 'original' EU FastPass project, as well as other stakeholders and authorities, to design a smart border which guarantees the secure and frictionless clearance of people and goods,” says Xavier Bertrand, President of the Hauts-de-France region, explaining the motivation for developing an experimental e-gate system for vehicle checks at borders.
AIT contributed its extensive expertise in technologies and processes for integrating digital border control technologies and harmonising European border security concepts which it has gained from numerous European research projects and led the consortium implementing the pilot project in France.
“As a European centre of excellence for automated border controls, the FastPass Hauts-de-France project gave us the opportunity to successfully use our technological expertise and extensive experience to combine security requirements with societal objectives. The technological expertise in biometric and highly secure digital systems we have generated at AIT has established us as an internationally recognised key player in this field,” says Helmut Leopold, Head of the Center for Digital Safety & Security at AIT, explaining the project strategy in cooperation with leading industrial partners.
The EU FastPass project developed a modular European reference architecture designed to address the different requirements of border checkpoints for air, sea and land traffic. Parallel to this, a strong focus was placed on ensuring the usability of the new technologies for the system end-users – border police and travellers. In the FastPass Hauts-de-France project, the e-gates and associated biometric identification processes originally devised for automated passenger checks at airports were adapted for vehicle clearance at borders.
The FastPass Hauts-de-France project impressively demonstrates Europe's high-tech capabilities. The specific design, development and production expertise contributed by prestigious industrial enterprises Veridos and Magnetic was key to the success of the French pilot project. Veridos provided the automated, biometric identification systems and specialist control processes for the entire installation. Magnetic, in turn, delivered the essential prerequisites for automating the process of identifying vehicle occupants. As specialists for vehicle access and admission controls, Magnetic, like Veridos, was involved in the FastPass project right from the beginning. With TerraPass®, the Magnetic portfolio includes the world’s only sensor-controlled vehicle gateway. The Magnetic system is based on terminals which quickly and precisely approach the vehicle window to identify occupants based on their identification documents and biometric characteristics. This makes it possible to significantly accelerate personal identity checks without the need for additional personnel.
Close cooperation between all European stakeholders
The EU project FastPass linked the wide-ranging expertise along the entire technological value chain of ABC (Automated Border Control) solutions with the requirements of the key stakeholders: systems and components manufacturers, research institutions, public authorities responsible for border and entry management, operators of critical international traffic hubs such as airports and ports, ferry operators and cruise companies. Another intrinsic element was to examine the acceptance factors for passengers, as well as data protection and inclusion regulations under European legislation. This made it possible to evaluate and test all the essential requirements for efficient border security, and to raise border control management in general to a new and harmonised stage of development.
This close cooperation between all the European stakeholders in developing modern digital border crossing and control technologies generated the expertise needed to carry out the FastPass Hauts-de-France project by enabling fast evaluation of biometric identification technologies for passenger and vehicle checks in simulated, real-world border scenarios, such as entry via ferry ports.
The Hauts-de-France region will now use the demonstrator for biometric personal identification and sensor-controlled vehicle checks in automated border crossing gateways developed in the project in order to roll out a smart border concept. This concept will be further specified for the purposes of joint border control and clearance by French and British border officials in ferry ports along the English Channel. This project establishes the Hauts-de-France region as a European pioneer in automated border management.
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Special note about data protection and privacy considerations at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Protecting data and safeguarding privacy are essential in a modern society, and create the fundamental basis of trust upon which a society’s cultural, social and economic development depends. Consequently, creating “security” is a core mission at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. In view of the many and constantly changing threats faced by our society, our task is to develop innovative approaches to combating these threats. For that reason, a particular focus of the research undertaken at AIT lies in methods, architectures and technologies which take privacy-by-design approaches in order to integrate the greatest possible level of data security into any technical solution. Data security and privacy are sensitive issues and must be protected, making them the primary consideration in all research activity undertaken at AIT.
Contact
Michael W. Mürling
Marketing and Communications
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Center for Digital Safety & Security
T +43 (0)50550-4126
michael.muerling(at)ait.ac.at I www.ait.ac.at
Michael H. Hlava
Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
T +43 (0)50550-4014
michael.hlava(at)ait.ac.at I www.ait.ac.at
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