KRANJ, 17.12.2007 – Slovenia is one of the first countries in the world to have introduced biometric passports and other travel documents, such as identity cards, driving licenses and firearm licenses are also to follow. Genis has developed the advanced e-Photographer system with the intention of improving the quality of biometric travel and other personal documents and faster work of employees at counters in administrative units. This system brings, beside improvements in capturing document photographs, innovations in the employees' work itself also. Genis has also developed a biometric workplace which enables fast capturing of all personal data at administration counters; such as signatures, fingerprints and personal data from existing documents.

"Within the e-Photographer system, Genis offers the optimization of travel documents application receipt work procedures to public administration and the use of up-to-date technologies for work at administration counters", emphasized Stane Štefančič, director of Genis. "We have calculated that application receipt procedure for one travel document would be reduced from the current 10 minutes to only 1 minute with the use of Genis's innovations."

e-Photographer is to be gradually connected with all travel documents information systems, first with biometric passport system, then with the new identity cards system, followed with connection to driving licence issuing system, licenses to carry arms and foreigner documents. e-Photographer will also enable establishing of advanced services; for instance an applicant will be able to submit his or her own photograph on-line, which will save going to a photographer.  Additionally applicants will be able to use the same photograph for various documents.

"A Biometric workplace, which uses state of the art personal data capturing technologies and on-line services is essential for shortening the procedure," explained Štefančič.

A Biometric workplace combines a personal computer, digital sign tablet and special reader for capturing fingerprints, bar codes and sign notation from existing documents. Data from a magnetic tape or chip card can be captured with the help of a card reader keyboard.

The Ministry of Public Administration plans to start using e-Photographer this December, by the end of January 2008 it is to be used for issuing biometric passports and by the end of March 2008 for issuing identity cards.