“With the new contract, Oberthur Technologies has an opportunity to demonstrate how its technological prowess has advanced…”
The Malian government has selected Oberthur Technologies (OT) to provide its new electronic passports.
It’s an extensive, comprehensive public-private partnership. Together with partners Mali Solutions Numériques (MSN) and Afritek, OT has been granted complete responsibility for the e-passport program, from production down to payment from citizens.
Of course, OT has earned the trust of the government, having begun its services offering traditional passports 15 years ago. With the new contract, Oberthur Technologies has an opportunity to demonstrate how its technological prowess has advanced, and to that end the e-passports will feature improved security including fingerprint biometric data, presumably based on similar technology to that used in OT’s e-passport solution in Nepal.
Commenting on the deal in a statement, Mali’s Minister of Internal Security, Salif Traoré, explained, “We wanted to have access to the latest technologies for Mali’s new electronic passport and that was made possible thanks to our trusted partner, OT”. In embracing biometric e-passports, the country is joining the vanguard of a rising trend, with multiple other governments around the world engaged in similar projects.
(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)
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