Sweden Among First Countries To Begin Implementing Procedures to Meet U.S. October 2005 Deadline for Biometric Passports

A team led by Sweden-based, Snabbfoto AB and its business area Speed Identity will deliver the facial enrollment solution for the new Swedish biometric passports to the Swedish National Police Board.

The biometric solution selected by Sweden is based on an enrollment platform developed by Speed Identity that integrates Identix FaceIt biometric facial recognition technology. Sweden has adopted this solution for its e-passports to help ensure that it is in initial compliance with international standards for machine-readable travel documents, as well as to help meet the U.S. mandate that all visa-waiver countries begin issuing biometrically-enabled passports by October 2005.

The addition of Identix facial recognition to the Speed-Identity solution will also help ensure that Sweden's biometric passport complies with international interoperability standards. Facial recognition was selected by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the biometric standard for compliance with the U.S. mandate.

At the time of application for a new Swedish passport, a photograph and a signature from the applicant are captured in a Speed-Identity photo station, which is placed adjacent to the officer handling the passport application. The photo station verifies that the quality of the captured photo is in line with international standards, and that the photograph is suitable for verification by facial recognition software. This portion of the Swedish biometric passport program is expected to be introduced beginning of October 2005 with the initial roll-out of approximately 200 enrollment kiosks across the country. Sweden estimates that it processes more than one million passport applicants each year. The initial contract for is for a term of five years.

"The solution from Snabbfoto, which integrates Identix' facial recognition technology, was the only solution that complies with all our requirements," said Thomas Wahlberg, Project Manager for "New Travel Documents" at the Swedish National Police Board. "The solution from Snabbfoto supports our vision of the new application process in an efficient manner."