IDEMIA partnering with Unisys to provide biometric services for Home Affairs Department in Australia

IDEMIA will provide a state-of-the-art biometric matching engine solution for the Australian Department of Home Affairs (Home Affairs), underlying in particular the processing of visas, border crossings and citizenship applications. Working with prime contractor Unisys Corporation, who will provide the overall system integration as well as the biometric management and processing platform Unisys Stealth(identity)^TM, the IDEMIA team will implement a flagship system to position Australia at the forefront of border and immigration systems globally.

Major growth in international traveller arrivals, and the heightened threat of terrorism have signalled the need for a world-class biometrics solution to ensure that individuals are who they say they are. EBIS’s highly enhanced performance will support the Department’s strategic direction by further facilitating the travel of legitimate individuals while assisting in identifying persons of concern who require further investigation.

At the heart of the system is IDEMIA’s MorphoBSS multi-biometric engine, making use of face and fingerprint matching algorithms and providing capability for the addition of other modalities if the need arises such as iris recognition. MorphoBSS is a flagship product of IDEMIA, combining very high scalability (over 1 billion identities possible), very high availability – designed for mission-critical systems, and integrating IDEMIA’S world-leading biometric algorithms. Joining forces with Unisys’s Stealth(identity)^TM, also a highly scalable Identity management engine, the solution will provide a flexible capability that can seamlessly integrate into the Home Affairs’ wider ecosystem.

As part of the deployment of EBIS, IDEMIA will engage its global biometrics research capability in addition to local personnel from both Unisys and IDEMIA to deliver an unprecedented level of accuracy, as required by the Department.

Powering a number of the world’s largest and most sensitive biometric systems, IDEMIA has a leading global experience, in particular in the field of multi-biometrics (which combines biometric modalities such as finger and face to further enhance accuracy).

Locally, IDEMIA also has a longstanding experience working with Government and is providing in particular a wide range of law enforcement agencies with mission-critical solutions around biometrics and video analytics. IDEMIA pioneered Automated Border Control in Australia through the implementation of Smartgates since 2004, and is a key technology partner in the Civil Identity, Banking, Mobile Operators and Digital Identity markets.

We are very proud to be providing this flagship biometric platform with our partner Unisys. Our teams both locally and globally are excited by this major system which will form one of the keystones of the security of the Australian border.
Tim Ferris, Vice President for IDEMIA’s Public Security and Citizen Identity activities in APAC

The growth in the volume of travellers, as well as the increased risk of potential terrorist or fraudulent activity, means that effective border security is more important than ever before. We are delighted that the Australian Government has continued its trust in Unisys to help in enhancing the safety of its citizens.
Mark Forman, global head of Public Sector business at Unisys