The Horizon Europe project CarMen has reached a significant milestone with the successful completion of its Mid-Project Review (M18), held in Le Havre, France. The event brought together project partners, the Project Officer, and external reviewers to assess the progress achieved during the first half of the project and to define the next steps towards full implementation.
During the review, the consortium presented key advancements across technical, operational, and ethical domains. Particular attention was given to the development of biometric solutions for travellers in slowly moving vehicles, a core innovation of the project aiming to enable seamless border control without stopping.
Substantial progress has been achieved in face detection and tracking technologies, including the validation of camera architectures and the implementation of quality-based image selection. At the same time, the project has successfully developed and integrated the Digital Travel Credential (DTC) ecosystem, enabling secure and efficient identity verification through mobile devices. In addition, CarMen has advanced in areas such as behavioural analysis, real-time AI processing on edge devices, and presentation attack detection, contributing to a robust and scalable system for border management.
Ethics and data protection remain central to the project, with the establishment of a dedicated governance framework ensuring full compliance with GDPR and alignment with European regulations.
A key highlight of the review was the availability of live and recorded demonstrations, showcasing the system’s capabilities in realistic operational scenarios and confirming its transition from research to practical validation. The feedback from reviewers was highly positive. They commended the strong commitment of the consortium, the high level of technical progress, and the active involvement of end-users and Law Enforcement Agencies. The availability of demonstrators at this stage was particularly recognised as a major achievement.
As the project moves forward, the CarMen consortium will continue to focus on system optimisation, pilot testing, and real-world deployment, contributing to the future of secure, efficient, and seamless border management in Europe.