Airports in the UAE are set to activate different readers which will be part of the system to establish and find identity of people , and also to identify forged passports and travel documents, a top official said.

The UAE’s Ministry of Interior is working on a new project to increase the quality of service at land entry points, incorporating the customs department and insurance companies, said Colonel Barakat Al Kendi, head of Systems Development and chairman of e-Transformation Strategy at the ministry.

In a presentation on Digitalisation of UAE Border’s Control on the concluding day of the Future of Borders International Conference recently conducted in Dubai, UAE, Al Kendi said the ministry was working on a pilot project to transform systems at all entry points.

“Dubai airports will receive about 80 million passengers this year and Abu Dhabi will see an increase of 20 per cent in passenger handling and borders should be prepared to handle this increased traffic,” he said.

The government is aiming at a new project for adopting the latest technology and continuation of earlier projects.

“We have a holistic view to have all partners to facilitate the flow of passengers across the borders,” he added.

The key goal was to transform traditional gate to e-gate, to facilitate use by all, including children and Special Needs people when entering or passing through the borders, he said.

The implementation of new technology, particularly the Iris recognition technology, has enabled the authorities to identify and apprehend more than 400,000 people, said Al Kendi.

Speaking about the Future of Airport Border Control, David Ploog, director, M2P Consulting, said things have changed since the days of manual handling some 30 years ago with change in infrastructure and border control systems.

The three trends in border control include pre-clearance that will be increasingly used with Advanced Passenger Information (API) system; Automated Border Control (ABC) systems; and walk-through systems using biometrics.

By 2030, passenger travel will double and border control authorities should use new technologies  and resources will double and the number of emigration officials should be doubled, he said.

There are significant opportunities emerging with e-passports and biometric information and they should be aligned with various authorities.

Pre-clearance will use API data, airline reservation system in coordination with emigration authorities. The manual processes are automated to validate, Al Kendi added. - TradeArabia News Service