The airport experience is rarely efficient, perhaps least of all over the holidays, when travelers often spend an hour or more getting stuck in security and worrying about boarding their flights on time!
Adding to the stress is the possibility of forgetting an ID at home or losing a boarding pass.
En route to the airport.
Even without any unfortunate incidents complicating the trip, travelers are exhausted before the flight boards, scrambling to retrieve required documentation, waiting in the airline’s queue to check baggage, clearing ticketing and security lines, and rapidly removing and replacing clothing items as they navigated TSA.
The good thing about waiting in the queue is that it gives us plenty of time to think about the future of airports, complete with shorter airline queues and security lines, happy travelers, and paperless ticketing—and that future is within sight due to the advancements that are now being deployed with the active assistance of biometric technology.
Vision-Box has been empowering relevant advances in the use of biometrics solutions to streamline the passenger experience throughout their journey, improving the efficiency of public services to ensure safety, security, and performance.
Under the leadership of Pedro Pinto, Head of Global Business Development, Vision-Box holds the legacy of being a pioneer in the world for developing seamless and contactless biometric technologies.
In an interview with Insights Success, Pedro shared valuable facts highlighting the significance of Vision-Box and how it is positioned as a prominent name in the biometric solutions niche.
Pedro, please enlighten our readers about Vision-Box and its position as a pioneer in the world for developing seamless and contactless biometric technologies.
Vision-Box is a world leader in biometrics seamless travel, automated border management and electronic identity management solutions. The company’s seamless biometric contactless technology is present across five continents, with over 7,000 digital identity solutions in more than 100 airports and serving over one billion citizens.
Vision-Box has been responsible for the most relevant advances in the use of biometrics solutions to streamline the passenger experience throughout their journey, improving the efficiency of public services to ensure safety, security, and performance. Based in Portugal, the company has 12 offices around the world in countries that include the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Australia, the USA, and India.
 Some of the key projects implemented by Vision-Box include Athens International Airport, British Airways, Lufthansa, New York JFK, Sydney Airport, Department of Home Affairs – Government of Australia, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Hamad International Airport, Bengaluru International Airport, KLM, LAX and Schiphol.
 What was your inspiration behind venturing into the field of biometric services?
 I was motivated by what the future could be. As a fellow consumer and a frequent passenger, I understand the need in solving one of the long-standing problems for travelers worldwide. The airport experience in most parts is quite inconvenient, with long queues at check-in counters, manual processing of paperwork and documentation including at immigration, border control and boarding, and the need for physical intervention and checks. All these inefficiencies added up in terms of the time taken and overburdening the system.
I knew there had to be a better way of handling these and increasing efficiency. This is where Vision-Box comes in, and I share the same vision and values of the company. Our work has been to implement the right technological solutions enabling a seamless experience for the users. Contactless biometric technologies offer unparalleled levels of speed, efficiency, security, and user privacy and can significantly transform the airport and travel experience. This vision motivates me to do what I do.
What were the initial challenges after venturing into the biometric field, and what are the challenges now?
The biggest challenge was making the case for biometric technology, but once we presented our vision and demonstrated success with pilot projects, we immediately received widespread acclaim. The technology demonstrated both cost efficiency and seamless operability, which were both key to overcoming the initial reluctance.
 What USPs make Vision-Box stand out as a prominent name in the biometric solutions niche?
Vision-Box has been the pioneer in the world for developing seamless and contactless biometric technologies. In fact, we developed, designed, and engineered the 1st eGate based on facial recognition technology for commercial use!
We voluntarily secured Privacy by Design certification for Orchestra, our Digital Identity Management Platform, in 2018, which was further renewed in May this year after an audit by KPMG and an assessment by MSECB – the certification body specialized in the certification of management systems.
What are the immersive benefits of the services/solutions that Vision-Box provides to its clients?
Guided by professionals with decades of expertise in engineering, software development and project innovation, Vision-Box is spearheading a technological revolution in how travel centers interact with travelers and manage the traveler identification and clearance process.
Vision-Box is a leading partner of the most prestigious airports, airlines, governments and private entities with critical security and identification challenges, supporting them to optimize the identification and flow of travelers, establishing trusted biometric identity enrollment, verification and authentication processes, and enabling multi-directional data transactions to transform raw information into actionable business intelligence.
The company has garnered a high level of trust and brand loyalty from some of the most important and prestigious companies and governments worldwide. This is because Vision-Box is consistently ranked as one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial companies in Europe, the bestowment of multiple prizes awarding its industry-changing technological advancements, and because of its commitment to providing its clients with the perfect solution for their specific needs.
Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on how biometric technology is being deployed currently, and what advancements can we expect in the future?
The advantage that biometric contactless solutions bring is that they finally lead all the stakeholders, from the airline to the airport and border control agencies, to join and create a common process of passenger experience, which will address the challenges of long queues, traveler uncertainties, and provide key information which will help with border control.
The key selling point of smart border technology is the seamless integration that they provide, making borders truly ‘smart’. For the first time, everyone can be in sync, to collaborate and process information and passengers faster, in a seamless and efficient manner. The future is paperless, and it will come to a point where all airports and airlines will adopt this kind of technology.
What would be your advice to the aspirants who are willing to venture into the field of biometric services?
The focus would have to be on the end-user – from enabling seamless operability to the highest standards of user privacy. That’s as simple advice as there can be.
About the Leader
Pedro Pinto is a Senior Executive with over 17 years of experience supporting Governments, Airports, Non-Profit Organizations and Private Entities in improving Security and Efficiency in the areas of Border Control, Homeland Security and Biometrics.
With a vast international experience, Mr Pinto has lived several years in the African continent and the Middle East. He is currently Head of Global Business Development for Vision-Box, having spearheaded the company’s presence and commitment around the world as well as the development of the most relevant initiatives within these areas.
With Worldwide responsibility for Vision-Box expansion, Mr Pinto is actively engaged with the relevant authorities and stakeholders in the travel space in enhancing the security and digital travelling around the world, promoting a positive and seamless experience for all the travelers.
