Estonia opts for Gemalto

Estonia’s Ministry of Interior has selected Gemalto’s ePassport technology for its new ePassport. Under the terms of the deal, Gemalto will manufacture the travel documents including the microchip for biometric identification and deliver the complete personalisation system to the Ministry’s Citizenship and Migration Board. Gemalto will also provide the Estonian government with enrolment software and equipment for capturing and digitizing the data, picture and signature.

The agreement will run until 2012 with a possible extension to 2015. Given current passport issuance rates and plans, Gemalto says the agreement could involve up to one million ePassports.

“Gemalto is proud to have been selected by the Estonian authorities,” says Jacques Seneca, president Europe at Gemalto. “This agreement is the continuity of our past collaboration on visas. With the implementation of our end-to-end solution, the authorities and citizens will benefit from the highest level of security and convenience, together with compliance with the global standard.”

Gemalto is involved in ePassports in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden and the US.