Norway opts for Motorola

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) and the National Police Computing and Material Service (PDMT) have awarded Motorola a contract to provide technology for the collection and verification of biometric data for Norwegian passports, visas and other travel documents.

The company says its solution will be one of the first in Europe to follow EU standards for passport and visa application systems that include fingerprints, 2D facial recognition and signature capture.

Motorola will supply an estimated 700 fixed enrolment stations throughout Norway and a further 100 portable versions for use in Norwegian embassies and other enrolment centres worldwide. The technology will be capable of supporting 1000 pixels per inch (PPI) images for fingerprints as well as the more common 500 PPI.

Motorola will also provide additional software for biometric capture to guide applicants through the enrolment process, including local language versions for the portable units. The company says the front-end software makes the enrolment stations easy to use and requires minimal levels of support from enrolment staff.

“Simplicity is the key to making these systems work for us,” says Elin Østebø Johansen, director general of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “It is very important to us that we offer people an easy way to apply for a passport or visa that includes the new biometric requirements. The enrolment process will be fast and intuitive, collecting biometric data at the same time as the demographic information that has always been required.”