UK Biometric Identity Card Unveiled

The design of the UK's new identity card - to be issued from November, initially to foreign nationals - was revealed by the home secretary yesterday.

More than 50,000 cards are expected to be handed out to foreign nationals from outside Europe between November and March as they extend their visas and register marriages or civil partnerships.

From next year ID cards will be given first to those in security-sensitive roles and by 2010 the aim will be to encourage young people to enrol. They will not be compulsory for the general population.

The size of a credit card, each ID card bears a digital image of the holder, their name, the place and date of the card's issue, a signature and a unique identity number. For foreign nationals there is also a "type of permit" section showing the person's visa category as well as a "valid until" date showing how long the holder has permission to stay in the UK.

On the reverse, the card carries an electronic chip recording biometric details including fingerprints. The holder's gender, date and place of birth and nationality are recorded above a section entitled Remarks that lists entitlements.

Care Home Group Choose UKB International Time & Attendance

Helen McArdle Care operates five residential care homes for the elderly and a further five homes are scheduled to open in 2009. Helen McArdle Care provides twenty four hour, year round care and needed to be assured that this care was in place at all times and that the correct balance of qualified staff were on duty at all locations.

Senior management at Helen McArdle Care required a simple to operate time and attendance system which would allow them to see at a glance who had worked at which care home, where and for exactly how long.

Following discussions with Helen McArdle Care management team UKB International recommended the FP3000 system, networked to a dedicated PC located at each care home administration office. The FP3000 is a fast, reliable scanner suitable for high volume applications.

The networked PC provides accurate up to the minute reports of staff clocking on and off, with irrefutable evidence of attendance which eliminates potential disputes. These reports provide the basis for payroll calculations. Pay-per-minute payroll calculations provide an incentive for good timekeeping and prevent over payment for time not worked, thus demonstrating a return on investment.

Helen McArdle Care Finance Director Nigel Dawson says: “The system is simple for our staff to use since they do not need to write working times in a record book or to remember swipe cards, pins or fobs. With many managers and staff at five locations it is essential we can manage time and attendance both to ensure we provide a high level of suitably qualified care, and to ensure accuracy of the payroll. The management reports generated by the FP3000 provide snapshot data with the ability to quickly drill down for detail. In the residential care home business an awareness of staffing levels at all our locations is vital and the UKB International solution has provided us with this capability”.

Multispectral Technology Extended to Whole Hand

Quick and complete capture of multiple whole hand characteristics now possible with a single sensor

UKB International Ltd business partner Lumidigm Inc will roll out new technology to take full hand prints at the Biometrics Consortium Technology Expo in Tampa, Florida, on Sept. 23-25.

Because the technology is a direct imaging process, all areas of the hand are imaged, easily and quickly, with no special preparation or configuration of the hand. This characteristic permits the operator to easily and quickly capture all of the available biometric data.

A further advantage of Lumidigm's whole hand technology is that it is capable of capturing the thumbprint, four fingerprints and a palmprint all with a single placement of the user's hand on a single sensor. These prints may then be compared to data contained in a variety of standard biometric databases for a wide range of military and forensic applications. The same multispectral technology can also be implemented as a physical access device that can perform multibiometric matching to provide an extremely high level of accuracy and performance, enabling true single-factor 1:N security applications.

The broader print can provide much greater accuracy for a range of military and commercial applications, said Lumidigm Chief Technology Officer Rob Rowe. It also can be used for highly accurate screening to provide physical access to secure installations.

Lumidigm developed the new device in response to a U.S. Army request for a multi-modal biometrics system. A portable form factor is planned for deployment in the field by government and commercial partners and could be available in early 2010.

“Our robust multispectral imaging technology is a natural fit for whole-hand biometrics,” Rowe said. “The ability of our technology to perform under conditions where other technologies fail is precisely what makes a multispectral whole hand sensor of significant interest to the Army.”

UKB International Sales Director Steve Barnard said “This is an exciting advance in biometric technology and once again sets an industry benchmark. We will work closely with Lumidigm over the coming months to identify commercial opportunities for the system”.

Widespread biometric front door locking is closer than we think

By Alan Hyder

A gated community in Surbiton, Surrey, is the first in the UK to specify biometrics throughout.

The mixed residential and commercial development in Alpha Road, Surbiton is the first gated community in the UK to replace keys, swipe cards and fobs with biometric fingerprint entry access and security.

The system was installed by the Chiswick office of UKB International Ltd.

The development has nine luxury apartments and four separate air conditioned offices on two floors.

Developer Housemartins Ltd has specified biometric locks as the finishing touch to the prestigious gated complex.

Ian Martin, a partner in Housemartins said the luxurious block offers a high specification “which is perfectly complemented by the elegance and security of biometric locks.

“Owners can access their homes or offices by simply swiping their finger over a reader. Guests can be temporarily registered then quickly de-registered. Traditionally, a development of this size would require over thirty keys. At Alpha Road there are none”.

The biometric locks scan a fingerprint and convert patterns into data which is encrypted and stored for future comparison. No actual fingerprint is stored and no data is shared with third parties.

Director of UKB International, Joy Phillips said: “Our biometric locks are offered as an option by a number of UK volume home builders, but Alpha Road is the first new build mixed use gated community to plan a biometric solution from the drawing board.

“Property owners at Alpha Road will be using the only key that cannot be lost, stolen, forged or hacked – their own fingerprint”.

* UKB International Ltd is a leading supplier of fingerprint entry security systems, membership systems and time & attendance systems with offices in Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, NW & SW London, Thames Valley, Swansea, Bournemouth and Dubai.

UKB International makes two new appointments

KARL PRING joins the company as sales consultant. Karl, from Chester-le- Street, County Durham, brings over 10 years’ experience as a sales manager in the communications sector to his new position.

Karl will initially focus on the education and public sectors. Karl is a keen golfer and rugby fan, having captained the Welsh District Team at international level.

At UKB, ANDY FULLER has been appointed to the post of telesales supervisor to lead a team of seven operators. Andy, from North Shields, brings over 10 years’ sales and marketing experience. In his spare time, Andy plays guitar with local rock band Random Play as well as being a keen footballer and mountain bike competitor.

Newcastle-based Golley Slater, Newcastle, has boosted its PR team with the appointment of GEORGINA DUNKLEY as its new junior account director.

Georgina, 27, who lives in Newcastle, has been working in the PR industry for six years after graduating with a BA degree in film and media studies from the University of Sunderland.

The new audit managers at Hartlepool accountants Horwath Clark Whitehill are hoping to prove right the old adage of two heads being better than one. CARY SURTEES and SARA BUCKWORTH are job sharing the position following the promotion of the firm’s previous audit manager, Paul Harrison, to partner. Mrs Surtees joined Horwath Clark Whitehill as an audit manager in 1994, having qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992 after training with a firm in Middlesbrough.

Sara Buckworth trained with Horwath Clark Whitehill after graduating from Nottingham University in 1999. She completed her training in 2002 and became an audit senior, specialising in the not-for-profit and charity sector. She has gleaned a wide range of experience in the charity and commercial sector and became an audit supervisor in 2004. Business Tourism in the region is set to get a boost after NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) appointed a new media and PR manager to promote business tourism in the ‘twin cities’ and wider region.

Former Journal sub-editor, DAVID BOOTLE, will be promoting NewcastleGateshead’s world-class conference and venue facilities to businesses and event organisers throughout the country and overseas.

The role will involve highlighting the diversity and unique qualities the region possesses for hosting major conferences and meetings and the potential this provides business delegates to meet key business influencers, academics or scientists who are experts in their field.

UKB International recruits four new telesales operators

Newly appointed telesales supervisor Andy Fuller, telesales operators Kevin Hagin, Yvonne Mason, Andrew Brown and Kathleen Lambrou. Yvonne Mason had been looking for a challenging job that would fit around her need to care for five year old son Dylan.

Yvonne says:

“I used to work in fashion retail but unsociable hours meant I was missing out on time with Dylan. Now I can work the hours that suit me and have the best of both worlds. This is a new challenge for me but UKB International has provided training and I am working with a fantastic team who have supported me all the way”.

UK police plan to spend up to £40m on mobile fingerprinting devices.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced £25m of further spending in this area in policing plans released in July. However, the tender published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27th August 08 estimates the contract value at between £30m and £40m.

The four-year Midas (Mobile Identification at Scene) framework contract will involve up to 10 participants and may be extended for a further two years, allowing it to end at the same time as the Ident1 contract for the national, automated fingerprint system. The contract will apply to police forces throughout the UK.

"The agencies have a requirement for the provision of capabilities for the mobile biometric identification of persons, in real- or near real-time, at scene through biometric and associated information held by or accessed by the agencies," states the notice, adding that bidders should include, but may not be limited to, fingerprint-identification capability.

The agency said it plans to enter into a master framework agreement or agreements, then deliver packages of work through mini-competitions. However, the agency reserves the right to go outside the agreement to procure some elements of the scheme.

A condition of the contract is that information-management services to provide biometric search, storage and response capabilities must reside entirely within the UK.

UKB International appoint telesales supervisor to lead team

UKB International Ltd has appointed Andy Fuller to the post of telesales supervisor to lead a team of seven telesales operators. Andy, from North Shields, Tyne & Wear brings over ten years sales and marketing experience to his new position. In his spare time Andy plays guitar with local rock band Random Play as well as being a keen footballer and mountain bike competitor.