The Queensland Government have partnered with Unisys to provide Queensland Transport with Australia’s first Biometric Drivers licence.

Currently the Queensland Government provides a laminated licence to the 3 million license holders in Queensland; it looks like this:

Judy Oswin, the Land, Transport and Safety Executive Director of Queensland Transport said that the new licenses would deliver a more secure form of driver license documentation.

“We have used the laminated licence design in Queensland for over 20 years.  The new digital licence will deliver a more secure form of driver licence documentation for Queenslanders as it is harder to forge or alter.  As a result it will help reduce the risk of identity theft to Queensland licence holders and give them greater confidence that their personal licence information is being kept secure.  It will also enable Queensland Transport to deliver services in a more convenient manner as licence holders will be able to use a card reader or the Queensland Transport website to view, update and transact on their licence and registration themselves,”

“Queensland is the Smart State and the move to digital products will set a new national benchmark in biometric and smartcard based driver licences across the country,” Ms Oswin said.

The new system will provide facial image processing technology allowing for extra security.

Unisys have said that they won’t be supplying the digital card itself but supplying the technology behind it.

The “solution” includes approximately 370 purpose-built image capture devices which will incorporate a camera and lights built into each unit, used to capture digital biometric facial images that are subsequently embedded into a computer chip in the smartcard.

Front counter devices, used at most Queensland Transport customer service centres, some Queensland Government Agent Program (QGAP) offices and police stations in rural and remote areas, will have access to these facilities.

Unisys will also be providing the training required for Queensland Transport staff in facial image capture operation.

As Queensland driver licences are valid for up to five years, it’ll take approximately five years for the digital licences to be rolled out to all licence holders.

Allen Koehn, Managing Partner of Unisys Asia Pacific said they were delighted to bring their technology to the Queensland Government.

“We are delighted to assist the Queensland Government to introduce Australia’s first biometric supported driver licence, which will put Queenslanders at the forefront of secure smartcard-based licence registration.”

Vodafone Australia have just announced the final stages of its much anticipated $500 million high speed 3G network upgrade for major regional centres.

The upgrade expands 3G services to Vodafone customers in areas including Albury-Wodonga, Ballarat, Ballina, Bunbury, Byron Bay, Cairns, Darwin, Hobart, Kiama, Lismore, Mackay, Newcastle, Toowoomba, Townsville, Wollongong, Bowral, Nowra and Wagga Wagga.

This is great news for those living in the city of Hobart who have previously been without any 3G service on Vodafone.

The upgrade comes 1 year late after Vodafone chief executive Russell Hewitt said the project was its “number one priority for 2008″ in late December of 2007.

Customers in all other existing Vodafone 2G coverage areas throughout Australia are planned to experience Vodafone 3G services by the 31st of August.

Once the upgrade is complete 3G coverage is expected to reach 94 per cent of the Australian population.

Andy Reeves, Chief Technology Officer at Vodafone Australia said:

“Vodafone’s national network upgrade will generate greater competition in the telecommunication market and provide greater choice for more Australian customers.

“It’s great news for Vodafone customers, and we will continue to invest in the network to provide high quality service when and where it’s needed most.

AUSTRALIAN ISP Internode has said in a press release today that it will be substantially extending its international broadband network by creating a “ring route” into Asia and establishing a peering presence with major companies in Europe. Read more