Aug 1, 2007 19:22
Biometric passports by month's end
Posted by AnakBruneiIn February of this year, the Immigration and National Registration Department committed itself to raise the security level of Bruneian passports with the inking of a contract for the e-passport project. With the completion of the US$5 million project by the end of this month, Bruneians will begin using biometric passports.
The biometric passport project is a joint undertaking between a local company, IT Protective Security Services (ITPSS), and a German company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D).
The chief executive officer of ITPSS, Mr Shamsul Bahri, said the e-passport project is scheduled to be completed this August. He added that once completed the new biometric passports will be available to those whose passports have expired.
The biometric passport will be embedded with a 72-kilobyte chip which will contain permanent data on the owner's facial and fingerprint images for identification.
Director of Immigration and National Registration Zainal Abidin Dato Paduka Hj Ahmad said during the contract signing that the introduction of the e-passports will provide convenience to traveling Bruneians by cutting down on entry-processing time when they enter specific countries, adding that the project was in line with the need to use electronic passports to stay abreast of the global ICT movement.
Image source bbc.co.uk
In addition, the e-passport will also ensure that the owner's identity and security of travel documents are in place. The e-passport will fulfill international security standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
With a "public key directory" introduced by the organization, immigration personnel at control checkpoints can check the authenticity of the passports in real time. The project, the Immigration Department's e-government flagship scheme, is geared to step up security at immigration control points here in light of global security threats and terrorist attacks on other nations.
Currently, all EU member states, the US, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore as well as Brunei Darussalam are just some of the countries that have already begun endorsing the e-passport.
-- Adapted from The Brunei Times.
The biometric passport project is a joint undertaking between a local company, IT Protective Security Services (ITPSS), and a German company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D).
The chief executive officer of ITPSS, Mr Shamsul Bahri, said the e-passport project is scheduled to be completed this August. He added that once completed the new biometric passports will be available to those whose passports have expired.
The biometric passport will be embedded with a 72-kilobyte chip which will contain permanent data on the owner's facial and fingerprint images for identification.
Director of Immigration and National Registration Zainal Abidin Dato Paduka Hj Ahmad said during the contract signing that the introduction of the e-passports will provide convenience to traveling Bruneians by cutting down on entry-processing time when they enter specific countries, adding that the project was in line with the need to use electronic passports to stay abreast of the global ICT movement.
Image source bbc.co.uk
In addition, the e-passport will also ensure that the owner's identity and security of travel documents are in place. The e-passport will fulfill international security standards set by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
With a "public key directory" introduced by the organization, immigration personnel at control checkpoints can check the authenticity of the passports in real time. The project, the Immigration Department's e-government flagship scheme, is geared to step up security at immigration control points here in light of global security threats and terrorist attacks on other nations.
Currently, all EU member states, the US, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore as well as Brunei Darussalam are just some of the countries that have already begun endorsing the e-passport.
-- Adapted from The Brunei Times.
- Talkback
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suzzinc says...
Hi Reeda,
Singapore has also implemented the Biometric passport earlier last year and I have also been using mine with great ease. Although just on sunday when I was crossing the causeway into MY. I have to deal with some elderly who either doesn't realise their passports are not Biometric ready thus choaking up the wrong lanes or clueless on how to use it. Luckily there were officers on standby helping them or it will start to cause a bloody queue in the immigration.
Good luck with you country's Biometric passport, in time it will be a breeze through customs.
Aug 13, 2007 15:39
Hi Reeda,
Singapore has also implemented the Biometric passport earlier last year and I have also been using mine with great ease. Although just on sunday when I was crossing the causeway into MY. I have to deal with some elderly who either doesn't realise their passports are not Biometric ready thus choaking up the wrong lanes or clueless on how to use it. Luckily there were officers on standby helping them or it will start to cause a bloody queue in the immigration.
Good luck with you country's Biometric passport, in time it will be a breeze through customs.
Aug 13, 2007 15:39
Geekonomics says...
Hi there Reeda, it's great to see you guys having your e-passports up! One of my work is in this area and one of my partners is setting up an e-passport testing lab here in this part of the world by Q4. G&D is a reputable company, but personally I prefer Malaysia's IRIS and Japan's NEC e-passport solutions. Cheers and will definitely be back here for more!
Aug 20, 2007 22:53
Hi there Reeda, it's great to see you guys having your e-passports up! One of my work is in this area and one of my partners is setting up an e-passport testing lab here in this part of the world by Q4. G&D is a reputable company, but personally I prefer Malaysia's IRIS and Japan's NEC e-passport solutions. Cheers and will definitely be back here for more!
Aug 20, 2007 22:53
AnakBrunei says...
Hi suzzinc, unfortunately teething problems are characteristic in any endeavour involving change. I am expecting the same sort of problems to arise when our system goes live next month.
Geekonomics, since u're in the industry, perhaps you could look into the crystal ball and tell us when we will do away with the booklet passport in its current form? I'm not sure if the booklet will still be required given that APEC business travelers are using a smartcard already, and soon travel between Brunei and East Malaysia will require just the smartcard IC.
Aug 21, 2007 07:07
Hi suzzinc, unfortunately teething problems are characteristic in any endeavour involving change. I am expecting the same sort of problems to arise when our system goes live next month.
Geekonomics, since u're in the industry, perhaps you could look into the crystal ball and tell us when we will do away with the booklet passport in its current form? I'm not sure if the booklet will still be required given that APEC business travelers are using a smartcard already, and soon travel between Brunei and East Malaysia will require just the smartcard IC.
Aug 21, 2007 07:07
bobey says...
Many of my friends have tried to enter Brunei's IT market and almost all of them went bankrupt becasue of too much bureaucracy and "coffee money" requirements.
My friends told me you have to book the "VIPS" to partner you to gain entry and secured contracts.
As I said, I don't like taking things for granted. I still don't believe this kind of things happening in those places.
Sep 11, 2007 22:37
Many of my friends have tried to enter Brunei's IT market and almost all of them went bankrupt becasue of too much bureaucracy and "coffee money" requirements.
My friends told me you have to book the "VIPS" to partner you to gain entry and secured contracts.
As I said, I don't like taking things for granted. I still don't believe this kind of things happening in those places.
Sep 11, 2007 22:37
Geekonomics says...
Good one there, you dumbfounded me :)
Personally I don't think we will be booklet-less for the next 10-20 years at least coz it requires the collaborative efforts of all the nations, which is almost mission impossible.
The e-passport standard has just come up and is still maturing. Countries need to agree to adopt it and all the nations need to have standardised e-passport readers @ their customs. Then maybe we'll even begin to talk about getting rid of the booklets.
But like most national IDs and even Credit cards, even with the technology and SMART chips, you still need the physical verification on the card like your card number, name, etc.
So I'd even say the booklet might never go away.
As it is, I haven't heard any market talk about getting rid of the booklet. It's still early days :)
Sep 12, 2007 04:00
Good one there, you dumbfounded me :)
Personally I don't think we will be booklet-less for the next 10-20 years at least coz it requires the collaborative efforts of all the nations, which is almost mission impossible.
The e-passport standard has just come up and is still maturing. Countries need to agree to adopt it and all the nations need to have standardised e-passport readers @ their customs. Then maybe we'll even begin to talk about getting rid of the booklets.
But like most national IDs and even Credit cards, even with the technology and SMART chips, you still need the physical verification on the card like your card number, name, etc.
So I'd even say the booklet might never go away.
As it is, I haven't heard any market talk about getting rid of the booklet. It's still early days :)
Sep 12, 2007 04:00
AnakBrunei says...
Tks Geekonomics, yr crystal ball works heheh... I agree there are a lot of issues to be ironed between the relevant agencies of member countries of APEC for instance in their Business Travel Card Scheme. See www.immi.gov.au...
Sep 12, 2007 15:54
Tks Geekonomics, yr crystal ball works heheh... I agree there are a lot of issues to be ironed between the relevant agencies of member countries of APEC for instance in their Business Travel Card Scheme. See www.immi.gov.au...
Sep 12, 2007 15:54
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