"The ability of LG's IrisAccess® to definitively authenticate visa holders and allow them to enter the country as often as necessary is one thing. Accomplishing this with time savings of over 2400 percent, while reducing the manpower needed to achieve this productivity increase, was way beyond our expectations."

Project Summary:
Singapore, one of the economic tigers of Asia, has a very well-educated and skilled workforce. The focus on developing a knowledge-based, service and technology driven economy has had one downside. This has left the island republic with a shortage of workers for labor-intensive jobs in a variety of sectors. Fortunately, the answer to this problem lies one mile across the Straits of Johor, where Malaysian laborers are plentiful and more than willing to work for generally higher wages in Singapore. Every day, 35000 day workers cross two causeways, pay a toll, clear immigration and head for jobs from which they return, to do it all over again the next day.

Business Need:
Being relatively low-skilled workers and earning relatively low salaries, a large number of workers arrive by that popular Asian conveyance-motorbike. It's not hard to imagine that the influx of so many workers arriving at peak periods creates a traffic problem and requires increased immigration labor presence to check identity papers, collect tolls and authorize entry to Singapore.

Solution Overview:
Singapore Immigration elected to utilize an iris recognition solution employing LG's IrisAccess platform on both causeways leading to the two road-based entry points to the country. Two different configurations of equipment, automated toll collection and hardware were used on two lanes at each immigration point. An opt-in enrollment program allowed day workers to avail themselves of a "fast-pass" immigration clearance option. Dual camera arrays installed under porticos providing shelter from typical tropical weather--bright sun and frequent downpours--allowed simultaneous authentication of two riders on one motorbike. Also included in the solution was a smart card activated toll machine that decremented the daily tariff against a stored value on the card.

Result and Benefits:
The system put in place returned significant benefits. Traffic congestion was dramatically reduced as the time to collect the toll and verify the identifications of two riders was reduced by 2400 percent. Using iris recognition also had the affect of requiring fewer immigration inspectors to be on duty during the morning and evening commuting periods.