An interim report on the preliminary technical observations of eu-LISA's Smart Borders Pilot has been provided to the European Commission and co-legislators. The report reflects important mid-term findings which provide initial insight into the feasibility of concepts that use biometric data at both automated and manual border controls.
To assess how the different technologies are perceived, feedback was collected from both border guards and participating travellers. When asked about the use of biometric identifiers such as fingerprints and facial recognition, 80% of border guards were more confident than before about the added value of the new equipment while 82% found the proposed technology user friendly.
Travellers were also surveyed to see how satisfied they felt with the new concepts. The report found that travellers were 'very satisfied/satisfied' across all types of borders – air (92%), land (87%) and sea (88%).
eu-LISA will continue to test innovative technologies for future border checks as part of the operational phase of the Smart Borders Pilot which started in February 2015 and ends in September 2015. Test locations are spread across the EU in Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. A more detailed analysis on Smart Borders will then be presented in the final report when it is delivered on 30 November 2015.
