Thales wins part of UK ID contract
Thales SA won a four-year, $36.6 million contract to design, build and test a system to issue the UK national identification cards, along with a computerized national identity register aimed at preventing fraud, according to news report from Bloomberg.
The cards will use fingerprint and iris biometrics to confirm the cardholder’s identity. The government plans to start issuing the cards to airport workers in 2009. Others will start receiving them when they apply for a passport in 2010.
The cards will be manufactured by 3M Co., which currently manufacturers Britain’s passports. Thales is one of five suppliers to bid for parts of the project. The others are Electronic Data Systems Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and Computer Sciences Corp.
Read more here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/secureidnews-4.gif)
