Sailors will be issued biometric identity cards
-- Groupe Steria SCA, a Paris-based IT services firm, last week announced that it has won approval from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to be a supplier of biometric ID cards for 1.2 million sailors arriving at world ports.
The Seafarers" Identity Documents Convention, an ILO treaty that went into effect Feb. 9, calls for countries to replace their maritime certificates with biometric cards that convert the cardholder"s fingerprint into a two-dimensional bar code. To confirm a cardholder"s identity, the individual places his finger on a scanner, which then verifies whether his fingerprint matches the one represented by the bar code.
Two other biometric technology vendors are on the ILO"s approved list of card suppliers: Sagem Morpho Inc. in Tacoma, Wash., and Hyundai Information Technology in Seoul.
The program, which is intended to boost security at ports and allow sailors to take shore leave without visas, requires global interoperability, meaning that the fingerprint bar codes issued in one country must be readable by equipment used in other countries.
More Aussies going online for e-government
SYDNEY -- The use of online government services by Australian citizens has nearly doubled over the past two years, with taxpayers increasingly preferring to do business over the Web rather than use the telephone or stand in line at local agency offices, according to a study released by the Australian Government Information Management Office last week.
The survey of 5,846 Australians found that use of e-government services jumped from 21 percent in 2002 to 39 percent in 2004. For example, close to 100 percent of vehicle license renewals in the state of Victoria are now done electronically, said John McNally, CIO of VicRoads, the state"s transportation agency.
Asked why they prefer the Web, 42 percent of the e-government users said they like the convenience of being able to do business at a time that suits them. Another 37 percent said the online services take less time than conventional means
Amdocs enters China with two transactions
SHANGHAI -- Hewlett-Packard Co. and billing software vendor Amdocs Ltd. have joined forces to supply a billing system to cellular network operator Beijing Mobile Communications Corp. in China, Amdocs announced last week. Financial terms of the contract weren"t disclosed.
Also last week, Amdocs announced a US$30 million deal to acquire Longshine Information Technology Co., a Beijing-based vendor of billing and customer care software.
Chesterfield, Mo.-based Amdocs said that it will use the acquisition of Longshine to establish a presence in China and begin selling its own billing applications to Chinese customers.
Briefly noted
-- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced this month that it will delay by a year the deadline for 27 countries that participate in its visa-waiver program to issue passports with biometric identification. The deadline, which European countries said they couldn"t meet [QuickLink 53624], was moved to Oct. 26, 2006.
-- Microsoft Corp. last week named a new head of international operations, underscoring its interest in global sales and emerging markets. The software maker promoted Jean-Philippe Courtois to president of Paris-based Microsoft International and named him a senior vice president of the parent company.
-- The Emirate of Abu Dhabi last week announced that it has selected Cerner Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., as its health care IT provider. Initially, Cerner is expected to implement electronic medical records at four hospitals. Financial terms weren"t disclosed.
Global fact
2025: Year that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wants to place humanoid robots on a lunar base.
Source: IDG News Service