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Foreign and Commonwealth Office plans biometrics bonanza

£15m earmarked for embassy security systems

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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office plans to buy biometric systems for security use in British embassies.

FCO Services, the department's internal system integrator, plans to spend around £15m over three years on a new framework agreement for biometric software, algorithms and hardware, according to a notice published on 31 March 2009 in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This will be used to support FCO Services' work installing systems worldwide, mainly in British embassies, for physical security, access control and infrastructure support.

The framework includes five lots: one each for mobile and biometric identification units, biometric software and supporting equipment, physical security devices and a final lot focusing on delivery and enrolment.

According to the pretender qualification questionnaire, FCO Services is interested in a wide range of biometrics technologies: facial, fingerprint, palm, iris, vein imaging and behavioural analysis.

This article was originally published at Kablenet.

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