The government of Dubai plans to introduce a system of automated entry and exit gates at Dubai International Airport to regulate the process of arrivals and departures. The new system, which is expected to go live at the airport from the middle of July, leverages best of breed technologies to ensure greater accuracy and further development of internal human resources.
The Dubai Residency and Naturalisation Department (DNRD), which will launch the pilot project by the middle of next month, has also launched a major campaign to generate awareness of the system amongst residents and visitors alike and to encourage greater use of the automated entry procedure.
“Dubai International Airport is ranked as the Middle East’s busiest airport and one of the fastest growing airports in the world. Despite the impact of global events, it registered a 10 percent growth in passengers throughout the year 2001 to total 13.5 million. This trend has continued through the first quarter of 2002, which registered passenger movement at 3.8 million showing a growth of 8.5 percent over the same period last year. Future projections anticipate a continuing growth to touch 30 million passengers by 2010,” said Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.
The electronic gates utilize the concepts of smart card identification and finger print identification to automate the registration process. The information system that manages the whole process including the electronic gate control, fingerprints and card issue has been completely devised and developed in-house by the IT department at the DNRD.
The electronic gates, which are the first of their kind in the Middle East and a relatively new global concept, are expected to speed up the entire process of registration in addition to providing the DNRD with an improved control of the inbound and outbound travelers. The fingerprint identification is a very significant aspect of the system, which ensures that each person can only enrol once in the system.
The new multi modular system has separate modules for enrolment, card printing, electronic gate and monitoring. First time users of the system can register at the enrolment office set up at the airport to be enrolled to the database. This enables the system to check the validity of the document submitted. The enrolment system also includes finger print enrolment and photo enrolment. Once registered, users of the system are supplied with a smart card that contains relevant identification information. In order to ensure maximum security and efficiency, the system is linked to a central monitoring unit that controls all operations.
The electronic gates will be introduced in tandem with the existing manual ones, giving travelers the option to choose either form of entry or exit. Users can activate the automatic gates with the use of a pre-programmed smart card followed by finger print identification. Detailed instructions on procedures will be offered to the travelers at every step via the gates. The DNRD eventually plans to introduce the system at all entry and exit points in the emirate. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
