Iris Smart Technologies Ltd, a consortium led by Image Technologies Ltd (Bull`s exclusive partner in Nigeria, cf Sawubona edition 25) has been awarded the total supply and implementation of a new high-tech passport for Nigeria, called the Smart Passport. Like the INEC project, Bull will provide infrastructure equipment and services to support the new passport scheme.
The project is valued at USD138 million, and includes the delivery of more than 5 million smart passports in the first phase. It has been contracted by the Department of Immigration within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Iris Smart Technologies Ltd. Nigeria will be the pilot of a larger Smart Passport scheme which will soon be deployed across other ECOWAS member countries (Economic Community of West African Countries), thereby enhancing cohesion and cooperation amongst the 15 countries. The smart passport was inaugurated by President Olusegun Obasanjo in December 2003 at the international wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Obasanjo has described the new booklet as "a significant milestone in the history of ECOWAS" and that it forms part of the realisation of the organisation`s 30 year dream.
The smart passport is based on a technology developed by a Malaysian company, Iris, and is already in use in Malaysia, as well as in other countries in America, Europe, and the Middle-East. The booklet contains an embedded contactless readable and writeable smart card where the passport-holder`s details, colour photograph, thumbs fingerprints and travelling details data are stored. Border controls will use special gates equipped with contactless smart card and fingerprint readers to process automatic authentication of passport-holders and electronic reading and stamping of passports. The Smart Passport, which is electronically-based has hi-tech security features that will deal with any fraudulent practices in the acquisition of passports. It should also eliminate forgery and multiple issuance of the travel documents.
Brief project and infrastructure architecture overview
Passport registration and issue take place at regional offices accross Nigeria. Each office is equipped with blank booklets, cameras, fingerprint readers, contactless smart card readers/writers specifically designed to hold the booklets, workstations and 2 Windows 2000 server/SQL database servers in a networked environment. The first server hosts the main regional database where all the details of the applicants and passport-holders are stored. The second server is a backup server providing business continuity.
Regional offices are connected through a VPN using V-SAT communication technology to a central national database and processing centre in Abuja. This national database is synchronised daily with the regional databases. Two processes are done at that moment:
* the national database is updated with details of the passport-holder whose passport has been issued since the previous synchronisation.
* the regional applications are sent to the national centre to be processed for validation. The applicant`s fingerprints are checked against the national database and against an opposition list using a powerful AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System). Once validated, the application is sent back to the correct regional office during the next synchronisation in order to issue the passport.
Entry borders are also equipped with 2 database servers (main and backup) connected to "autogates".
Every smart passport holder walking through customs places his passport and one thumb respectively on a contactless smart card reader and a fingerprint reader built in an autogate. The autogate checks the captured fingerprints against those stored in the booklet. It also checks whether the fingerprints are in the entry opposition list stored in the autogate database servers. It then validates the border entry by stamping the smart card electronically, opening the gate, and sending the relevant details to the autogate servers. These details, such as passport number, date and time of entry, are then stored in the autogate servers database and regularly synchronised with the national consolidated database. The opposition list coming from the national centre is also synchronised at that time.
Bull`s scope of supply
1) Database servers and workstations at the entry borders as well as the registration and passport issuance offices.
* 97 Bull Express 5800 120Ef servers under Windows 2000 Server, with hardware RAID facility and TFT flat screens.
* 428 NEC Powermate ML4 Desktops with TFT flat screens.
2) Keygen servers at the Central Site in Abuja.
* 2 Bull Express 5800 120Ef servers under Windows 2000 Server, with hardware RAID facility and TFT flat screens.
These servers are used to generate the smart cards security keys, before the booklets are dispatched to the regional offices.
3) Messaging servers at the Central Site.
* 2 Bull Express 5800 120Ef servers under Linux RedHat 8 Professionnal, with hardware RAID facility and TFT flat screens.
These servers provide the messaging facility for the automatic 2-way synchronization between the central Oracle database servers and all the other sites running on MS SQL Server (entry borders and regional offices).
4) National database servers at the Central Site.
* 2 Bull Escala PL420R under AIX 5.2 with a fiber optic SAN to host the Oracle database (EMC2 CX400 with 25x146GB HDDs).
5) Backup/Recovery tape library at the Central Site.
* 1 Overland NEO4000 library with 4 SDLT 160GB/320GB tape drives.
The tape library is managed by the Escala PL420R server and is connected to the SAN through fiber optic.
6) Overall Business Continuity Solution.
* 2 Bull ARF licenses (Application Roll-over facility) and 100 Evidian Safekit licenses.
Bull has been requested by Iris Smart Technologies to provide them with a global business continuity solution for the national database servers and the autogate/keygen/regional office servers. Thanks to its ease of use, its affordability, and its integration with AIX, Bull ARF has been chosen for the 2 Escala PL420R servers. Bull Evidian Safekit was the most suitable and affordable solution for the other servers, as it runs with Windows and Linux, and provides both mirroring (fail-over and file replication) and farming (fail-over and load balancing) modes. The 2 Messaging servers run in farming mode, the others (database servers), run in mirroring mode.
7) Backup/Recovery Solution at the Central Site.
* Bull Opensave and SQL-Backtrack from BMC Software.
Bull Opensave has shown its performance and flexibility in heterogeneous environments and with AIX and SANs. It also has an interface with SQL-Backtrack which enables live backups of Oracle databases without having to disconnect the users while backups are performed. It was crucial for Iris Smart Technologies to have access to the national database at any point in time.
8) Services
Bull has provided Iris Smart Technologies with consulting services to assist them in designing the global infrastructure solution. Shipment to Nigeria will also be arranged by Bull. Bull will then provide all the services needed for the Central National Database Servers, including the on-site implementation and training of the local staff.
Bull will also implement the backup/recovery solution, as well as the business continuity solutions. Training will then be provided to the local staff on these solutions.
Second-level support on all the delivered hardware and software products will be organised from our support centres in France.
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