NEC and SITA join forces as European Union moves to automated gates at Boarders

*** For immediate use October 25, 2012


London, 25 October 2012 - NEC Europe Ltd. (NEC) and SITA, the air transport IT specialist, today announced an agreement to jointly provide an automated border control (ABC) gate solution. It incorporates sophisticated biometrics technology for use at immigration control points at airports in the European Union (EU). The agreement comes as EU member states implement recommendations to move to self-service border control using ABC gates.

The speed and accuracy of this SITA/NEC automated border control gate helps speed up passenger flows at border control checkpoints while improving security and resource management.  It incorporates face recognition, and optionally fingerprint verification, against e-passport data. Passengers can be processed through the SITA/NEC ABC gate in just 10 seconds or less.

It is less resource intensive as it only requires manual intervention by an immigration officer in rare cases when a match is unsuccessful. This frees up border security staff for other activities. In addition to the improved traveler experience, reduced waiting times can attract more passengers and increase revenue for the airport authority.

Dan Ebbinghaus, SITA vice president, Government Solutions, said: "SITA has significant experience in dealing with the challenges facing border control authorities around the globe and automated border control (ABC) gates are recognized as a potential solution to the combined goals of improving the passenger journey and increasing border security.

"Working with NEC, our ABC gates combine SITA's air transport industry experience and market knowledge with the fastest and most accurate face recognition software in the market. This combination will provide significant benefits to border control and airport authorities."

A core element in this ABC solution is NEC's unsurpassed "NeoFace" face recognition algorithm which provides speed, accuracy and performance regardless of the database size and image quality. NEC face recognition technologies were ranked No. 1 in the MBE Still-Face Track in 2010 carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security.*

Chris de Silva, vice president, IT Solutions, NEC, said: "NEC has a long history in innovation and with NeoFace we have extremely fast and accurate face recognition software, ideal for security applications.  We have incorporated our software in a variety of security-based applications, but by integrating it into this new ABC gate, we believe it will significantly improve the efficiency of processing people through control checkpoints.

"SITA has a wealth of experience as an IT integrator in the air transport industry and we are well-placed with our combined expertise to deliver a market-leading ABC solution across Europe."

Nearly every airline and airport in the world does business with SITA and it has deep experience and understanding of the unique requirements of integrating the border control across air transport systems. SITA already provides sophisticated border management solutions to 15 countries including Indonesia where it provides a comprehensive biometrics system to manage that country's 18 million passenger movements.

NEC offers a comprehensive set of integrated security solutions including multi-biometric identification, access gates, video surveillance and behavior pattern analysis, that are utilized by over 350 organisations in more than 30 countries worldwide. NEC's fingerprint and facial recognition solutions are recognized as the world's fastest and most accurate biometric technologies for identification.

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society.  For more information, visit NEC at
http://www.nec.com.

NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. (C)2012 NEC Corporation.


About SITA
SITA is the world's leading specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions. SITA delivers and manages business solutions for airline, airport, GDS, government and other customers over the world's most extensive network, which forms the communications backbone of the global air transport industry.

SITA's portfolio includes managed global communications, infrastructure and outsourcing services, as well as services for airline commercial management and passenger operations, flight operations, aircraft operations and air-to-ground communications, airport management and operations, baggage operations, transportation security and border management, cargo operations and more.

With a customer service team of over 2,000 staff around the world, SITA invests significantly in achieving best-in-class customer service, providing integrated local and global support for both its communications and IT application services.

SITA has two main subsidiaries: OnAir, which is the leading provider of in-flight connectivity, and CHAMP Cargosystems, the world's only IT company dedicated solely to air cargo. SITA also operates two joint ventures providing services to the air transport community: Aviareto for aircraft asset management and CertiPath for secure electronic identity management.

SITA is one of the world's most international companies. Its global reach is based on local presence, with services for over 500 air transport industry members and 2,700 customers in over 200 countries and territories. Set up in 1949 with 11 member airlines, SITA today employs people of more than 140 nationalities, speaking over 70 different languages. SITA had consolidated revenues of US$1.517 billion (€1.09 billion) in 2011.

For further information go to www.sita.aero

NEC Press Contacts

(Europe)
Shinya Hashizume
NEC Europe Ltd.
+44-20-8752-2796
E-Mail:shinya.hashizume@emea.nec.com

SITA Press Contacts

SITA  
Brenda Flinter
Media Relations Manager
Mobile: +353 87 750 6229
Email: Brenda.Flinter@sita.aero

Leidar
Charlie Pryor
Director
Tel : +44 (0)20 7031 8270
Email: charlie.pryor@leidar.com
Skype: LEIDAR_Charlie