Example of a fingerprint authentication smart card for employee identification, scheduled for delivery by eTunnel Inc. to the United Nations(UN) organizations[Photo = eTunnel Inc.]

eTunnel Inc.(CEO Alex Kim), a specialized company in biometric authentication security, announced that on May 30^th, it has been selected as the supplier of fingerprint authentication smart cards for employee identification for United Nations(UN) organizations.

The company representative stated that they have successfully passed a total of seven PoC(Proof of Concept) tests, including fingerprint recognition speed testing, various types of gate access testing, reader recognition testing, printing testing, and convenience testing for fingerprint authentication smart cards for employee identification, in collaboration with ITU(International Telecommunication Union), one of the United Nations(UN) organizations. They also announced that they will begin the delivery process within the next 2-3 months.

In addition, ITU serves as the organization responsible for establishing standards for 35 UN-affiliated entities in the fields of telecommunications and security. Through the delivery of fingerprint authentication smart cards to ITU, eTunnel Inc. has gained the capability to sequentially provide fingerprint authentications smart cards for employee identification to the remaining UN organizations.

Currently, the 35 UN organizations are using battery-powered fingerprint authentication smart cards, but they have been experiencing frequent recognition errors due to battery issues, causing difficulties. On the other hand, the cards provided by eTunnel Inc. employ a battery-free power system and have significantly improved the error rate.

The fingerprint authentication smart card provided by eTunnel Inc. is a form of identification card that recognizes an individual’s fingerprint for user verification. The card is a physical and logical security card based on the Public Key Infrastructure(PKI). In addition to access control, it is also used for personal verification when using PCs. The card can be utilized in various fields, including PC login/logout, email encryption and decryption, electronic document signing, and electronic voting.

The 35 UN organizations, including ITU, consist of prominent institutions such as the International Labour Organization(ILO), United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF), World Trade Organization(WTO), World Health Organization(WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO), Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), and others. It is planned that a total of up to one million fingerprint authentication identification cards will be supplied to both permanent and dispatched employees across the these organizations.

ITU, the oldest international organization in the world, was established in 1932 through the merger of the International Telegraph Union and the International Radiotelegraph Union. In 1947, it became a specialized agency for the telecommunications sector under the United Nations. ITU is responsible for the development and dissemination of rules and standards related to telecommunications, radio communications, broadcasting, satellite frequencies, and conducts international coordination and cooperative activities. South Korea became a member country in January 1952. Since being elected as a Council Member for the first time in 1989, South Korea has been continuously elected for eight consecutive terms until 2018. In 2014, ITU held a plenipotentiary conference, known as the ‘’ICT Olympic,’’ in Busan.

Meanwhile, eTunnel Inc. announced in early May 2023 that they have completed the development of an AI-based core integrated algorithm optimized for biometric security. Conventional biometric security technologies had the drawback of being unable to apply algorithms to different biometric recognition systems, resulting in increased development time and costs for new products. In contrast, the newly developed AI-based core integrated algorithm by eTunnel Inc. has approximately doubled the data processing speed compared to existing biometric security algorithms. It possesses the advantage of being applicable to facial, fingerprint, palm vein, finger vein, and iris recognition algorithms without any modifications.

eTunnel Inc. plans to expand its market to domestic and international companies and public institutions by supplying fingerprint authentication smart cards to the UN organizations and mass-producing integrated modules based on the AI-based core integrated algorithm engine.

 

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