Thales wins first part of ID cards contract

Scheme will begin for foreign nationals in 2009

Thales will deliver the technology behind the first part of the scheme

Thales SA has won an £18m contract to deliver part of the controversial £5.4bn national identity scheme.

Thales will work with the identity and passport service to design, build test and operate the technology that will deliver some of the national identity register and support the issuing of identity cards from the second half of 2009.

The delivery of identity cards was split into a series of mini contracts which all five suppliers in the final round – CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, and Thales SA – can bid for.

Parts of the scheme still unawarded include a replacement for the passport application system, a biometric database to replace the system UK Borders Agency rely on, and a system for UK Borders Agency to manage cases.

The scheme will begin in November this year, with the introduction of identity cards for non-EU foreign nationals.

The cards will be issued to airport workers from 2009, young people collecting passports from 2010 and others applying for passports from 2011.