Case Study: a national law enforcement agency strengthens border security with IBM biometric analytics

Using biometric data to secure a nation’s frontier

A national law enforcement agency tasked with securing a border for a nation of 60 million people faced an outdated IT infrastructure and an obsolete identity verification system. This challenge was intensified by the need to secure a major global sporting event. The agency partnered with IBM and its business partners to create a new biometric system to improve border security against threats like terrorism and illegal immigration.

The solution IBM implemented was a Service Oriented Architecture using IBM WebSphere, Tivoli, and DB2 software, hosted on IBM System x and Power Systems hardware. This advanced analytics platform processes over 20,000 transactions daily, enabling rapid identity checks and integration with international law enforcement agencies. The measurable results include facilitating counter-terrorism operations that led to more than 2,000 arrests.