press releases

EasyGo – Czech border police put first e-gate into operation

[Essen/Prague, 24 January 2012] The Czech border police put an e-gate – a partially automated border control system – into operation at the end of 2011 at the Prague Ruzyn? Airport. secunet delivered the so-called EasyGo system to Prague as a subcontractor for the Czech company VÍTKOVICE IT Solutions.

During the first expansion stage, a single border control system is available at Prague airport. The Czech border police chose this new system because it significantly shortens waiting time for passengers entering the country, allows more passengers to cross the border and reduces the burden on border officers. 

Anyone with an electronic passport can use the biometric control procedure to enter the country. The system verifies the authenticity of the presented travel document based on optical and electronic security features. A camera in the gate records live images of the traveller and the system compares these to the photograph electronically stored in the passport. If this data matches and none of the additional checks reveal complications, the gate opens and the traveller is allowed to cross the border – all in a process that takes less than 15 seconds. 

secunet coordinated the commissioning of the turnkey e-gate solution and provided the process control for the gate as well as the secunet biomiddle software. secunet biomiddle is a middleware that combines individual biometric components such as passport readers or cameras with client applications and background systems. One could say that the software forms the core of the border control system. 

The Czech border police chose the German solution because of secunet's extensive know-how of e-gate systems. The company already installed a partially automated border control system for the German Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport in 2009. The EasyPASS called system has become an integral part of the German Federal Police's border control strategy.