Thales and Egyptian digital solutions company CyShield have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine their products on two projects in Egypt: modernizing border management across more than 32 border points, and supporting the nationwide rollout of a new electronic passport.
The border management project covers infrastructure development, the deployment of biometric technologies, new electronic gates for passenger entry and exit, back-end systems for port management, and front-end applications linking the country’s air, land and sea ports through an integrated system. The companies said the work would also strengthen border intelligence, helping authorities assess risks and prevent security threats.
The companies tied the border project to Egypt’s efforts to expand tourism infrastructure and port capacity as it pursues a target of welcoming 30 million tourists by 2030. Egypt also set an August 1 pilot for a digital visa on arrival, which gives border officers and airline staff a QR code linked to the electronic visa record.
The second project covers e-passport issuance and the recording of passport data in Egypt, supporting the rollout of the new e-passport and the development of a secure issuance system. Electronic passports store the holder’s personal data and photo on a contactless chip. Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority has given initial sandbox approval to an EFG Holding platform that verifies foreign investors by reading that chip over NFC.
CyShield, which is wholly Egyptian-owned, says it has delivered more than 350 projects over more than a decade with a team of more than 1,000 specialists in digital solutions, data science and cybersecurity. It was among the firms that worked with Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority on a biometric verification system for remote telecom services.
“Given our close collaboration with government bodies on vital national initiatives, we are proud to play an increasingly significant role in safeguarding national sovereignty and accelerating the pace of digital transformation in Egypt,” said Dr. Mustafa Issa, CEO of CyShield.
Sharif Barakat, CEO of Thales in Egypt, called the agreement “another important step in our collaboration with Cyshield” and said the two companies would continue working together on digital transformation projects in the Middle East and Africa. Thales has operated in Egypt for more than five decades in areas including defense, space and cybersecurity.
Sources: FintechGate
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
