In a world where everything gets digitized, travel documents are also increasingly digital. Thanks to ICAO, ePassports are already heavily standardized and interoperability is guaranteed. At every border in the world, easy procedures are in place that allow immigration officer to access biometric data from every passport. Identity is at the center of economic activities. Consequently, governments are rushing to establish reliable digital identity infrastructures that can be used to issue ID documents and to provide services to the population using always more secure biometric technologies. “Technologies are neutral, but their uses that can be perverted,” said Marie Figarella, from Gemalto DI
Biometrics are already a reality when it comes to authentication of a single user: most of us use biometrics to unlock our smartphones. In this case, a candidate fingerprint or face is compared to the one in reference in the smartphone to authenticate the legitimate user. Payment of mass transit systems by face recognition is a totally different situation: a candidate face has to be recognized in a database of millions, if not tens of millions of faces. And as everything in mass transit, time is of the essence. Typically, getting passengers through a fare gate requires each transaction to be processed in 200 to 300 milliseconds. An alternative has been found by Beijing Railways, in anticipat
Biometrics are already a reality when it comes to authentication of a single user: most of us use biometrics to unlock our smartphones. In this case, a candidate fingerprint or face is compared to the one in reference in the smartphone to authenticate the legitimate user. Payment of mass transit systems by face recognition is a totally different situation: a candidate face has to be recognized in a database of millions, if not tens of millions of faces. And as everything in mass transit, time is of the essence. Typically, getting passengers through a fare gate requires each transaction to be processed in 200 to 300 milliseconds. An alternative has been found by Beijing Railways, in anticipat
While cryptocurrencies were mainly an initiative starting from citizen groups, or small organizations, things are changing. Facebook-supported Libra may well remain only a set of bright announcements and never see the light of the day. The initial group of backers announced in June 2019 included blue chip organizations such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Stripe … In October, many of these names had already disappeared but the backers list still included Vodafone, Spotify, Uber and Lyft, Iliad, PayU, and some venture capital organizations. Now, as nothing has really been launched, Vodafone just announced they are stepping down as they prefer to concentrate their efforts on M-Pesa, the mobile mo
While cryptocurrencies were mainly an initiative starting from citizen groups, or small organizations, things are changing. Facebook-supported Libra may well remain only a set of bright announcements and never see the light of the day. The initial group of backers announced in June 2019 included blue chip organizations such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Stripe … In October, many of these names had already disappeared but the backers list still included Vodafone, Spotify, Uber and Lyft, Iliad, PayU, and some venture capital organizations. Now, as nothing has really been launched, Vodafone just announced they are stepping down as they prefer to concentrate their efforts on M-Pesa, the mobile mo
For a few years already, we are experiencing an evolution towards less cards and more online solution for all kind of needs. This phenomenon is present in every smart card segment, but one may wonder if it already affects significantly the smart card volumes. In other terms, have we passed the smart card peak or are we going to pass it in 2020? The telecom market has been for long the cash cow of our industry. However, the combined effects of decreasing margins and lack of anticipable growth are driving leaders out of this market. Subscriber authentication is evolving from the detachable SIM to the embedded SIM, a change that will not only account for a lot less volumes but also totally chan
For a few years already, we are experiencing an evolution towards less cards and more online solution for all kind of needs. This phenomenon is present in every smart card segment, but one may wonder if it already affects significantly the smart card volumes. In other terms, have we passed the smart card peak or are we going to pass it in 2020? The telecom market has been for long the cash cow of our industry. However, the combined effects of decreasing margins and lack of anticipable growth are driving leaders out of this market. Subscriber authentication is evolving from the detachable SIM to the embedded SIM, a change that will not only account for a lot less volumes but also totally chan
