Today, Frontex is hosting the third edition of the International Conference on Biometrics for Borders in Warsaw, Poland. This year, participants focused on a topic which will influence EU’s border management for the next couple of years – biometric interoperability at the EU’s external borders. This includes important EU information systems such as the Schengen Information System, Visa Information System, Entry-Exit System, Eurodac and ETIAS, EU’s Travel Information and Authorisation System that are key to the security of EU’s Schengen Area.
The conference brought together EU and international experts, institutions, academia, research and industry representatives. The event started with a welcome message from Frontex Executive Director, Fabrice Leggeri, followed by keynote speeches by Olivier Onidi (from DG HOME) and Andrej Bračko (on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency).
“The role of Frontex is to deliver practical support to Member States’ Border Guard authorities. With today’s conference, we are providing a platform to help Member States’ experts understand and discuss interoperability from an operational and user experience perspective,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri in his opening remarks.
“There is no doubt that the daily procedures of border control authorities in the EU will change significantly within the next five years. We want to support and accompany Member States in that process,” he added.
During the discussions, panellists focused on finding ways to combine and interpret information from multiple sources to achieve higher accuracy and reliability and to support decision-making. The ETIAS Central Unit operated 24/7 by Frontex as of early 2023 will play a key role in that endeavor. They also reflected on the importance of fundamental rights safeguards in the context of the potential future use of artificial intelligence.
Last year’s conference focused on biometric challenges for border control authorities resulting from the expected entry into operation of the Entry-Exit System.
The thematic focus of the ICBB 2022 will be Artificial Intelligence. Our programme will again focus on operational and technological topics that add significant value to our community of border guards and law enforcement professionals.
