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Story 14 June 2021
Public

News: Caribbean airport deploys EIC-funded solution from Vision-box

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Mariana Marques

In a world affected by the global coronavirus pandemic, the need for technology that doesn’t require physical touch became a must. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Vision-Box has developed a solution that allows touchless and contactless passenger processing at the borders to provide safety and security. In April, the airport of the major Caribbean vacation destination announced a new partnership with the Portuguese startup. We sat down with Elisabete Pires, Head of Innovation & Funding of Vision-Box, to discover the details of this achievement.  

 

The new contract extension builds on the existing partnership formed in 2015, when PJIAE and the Immigration Border Protection service first sought to enhance passenger experience and security, with the launch of Vision-Box’s biometric Automated Border Control solutions, including an Advance Passenger Information System. With this renewal, the Caribbean airport will deploy the most recent biometric service platform, enabling a seamless experience for all travellers, and a modern border control ecosystem at entry and exit of the island.  

 

On behalf of the Sint Maarten Airport, its Chief Operating Officer, Michel Hyman, mentioned that: “technology will play a vital facet of a seamless travel journey airports to ensure a smooth operation and positive passenger experience. This innovation will simplify the operations at the border and security checkpoints. Our extended partnership with Vision-Box is the ideal platform to support our market recovery and future sustainability, taking advantage of the successful collaboration we built our trust upon.”  

 

The extension of the partnership will support the economic recovery of Sint Maarten Island, where the airport is located and provide greater control over the flow of people on-premises. The new infrastructure offers a suite of digital tools that reduces or eliminates passenger contact with touchscreen surfaces, and physical interaction with airport and airline staff, thus providing a safe travel experience.  

 

Elisabete Pires, Head of Innovation & Funding of Vision-Box, believes that: “the future of Europe goes through adopting the touchless and contactless solutions for passenger processing at the borders. Such systems create an entire collaborative ecosystem between the stakeholders, allowing digitization of border control procedures critical for efficient passenger management without compromising the privacy regulation. Additionally, the use of biometrics and mobile ID applications perfectly suits the Digital Green Certificate framework, which will help EU countries to recover their travel industry.”  

 

Vision-Box has received a Phase 2 Grant from the European Innovation Council to develop a technological enabler for Mobile ID, increasing the reliability and trust levels of identity verification at European borders. 

 

For more information on the Vision-Box technology, visit the press release here

 

DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.

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