Seychelles gets industry recognition for advances in border security technology |13 December 2021
PS Renaud
Seychelles’ Electronic Travel Authorisation and Advance Passenger Information system, and achievements in re-opening its tourism industry, have been recognised by the global border management industry, with a cover story in the latest edition of Border Security Report, the industry’s premier magazine.
Border Security Report is published bi-monthly, delivering agency and industry news and developments and in-depth features and analysis to over 20,000 border agencies, agencies at the borders, and industry professionals, policymakers and practitioners, worldwide.
The November/December 2021 issue features a photo of Seychelles International Airport on the cover and is titled ‘Covid-19 Secure Borders: Using
Technology to Safely Reopen Travel to the Seychelles Islands’.
Written by Seychelles’ principal secretary for Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine, Alan Renaud, the 2000-word feature story provides an in-depth account of Seychelles’ journey from the Summer of 2020, when a multi-agency national taskforce was established to re-open Seychelles’ borders at a time when doctors were manually replying to applications for entry by email in July, to the selection of Travizory Border Security SA as Seychelles’ technology partner of choice to implement an electronic travel authorisation system by September, resulting in today AI and machine learning being routinely used to validate and verify health documents, cross-check watchlists, facilitate arrival formalities, and collect actionable data
to enable real-time decision making by authorities.
Seychelles’ electronic travel system moved from strength to strength, with implementation of a fully integrated advance passenger information and passenger name record system in November 2020 and February 2021, making Seychelles the first country in Africa to meet all International Civil Aviation
Organisation and United Nation Security Council mandates, and even the issue of Certificates.
In November 2021, Seychelles extended its Advance Passenger Information system to the maritime domain coinciding with the return of cruise ships to Seychelles territorial waters, and in December, Seychelles become only the second country in the world to leverage bio-metrics on arrival with the launch
of its new biocorridor at Seychelles International Airport.
PS Renaud comments: “Necessity is the mother of invention, and never has this been truer for our fair Republic than during the pandemic, where the choice to stay closed was never an option. We knew we had to innovate our way out, and thanks to our forward-looking public health authority and our agencies and industry coming together as one family to keep our economy open while making sure our citizenry and visitors were kept safe, Seychelles has transformed its border system in a very short space of time, supported by a nimble and flexible
technology platform and responsive partner. It was a delight to present our story at the World Border Security Congress in Athens earlier this year, where we apparently made an impression, as the organisers asked whether they could feature Seychelles in their very next issue, a request that filled us with no small measure of pride. Small can be beautiful.”
Press release from the department Civil Aviation, Ports & Marine
