ODYSSEUS Pilots in July 2025: Demonstrating the Future of European Border Management

July 2025 was a decisive month for the ODYSSEUS project, as three pilot demonstrations took place at European borders, testing how new technologies can make border management both more efficient and more secure, while upholding travellers’ rights and privacy.

The pilots took place at the Port of Burgas (Bulgaria) prior to the 6th Plenary Meeting in Iași, and at the Ungheni rail crossing (Romania–Moldova) and Albita land crossing (Romania–Moldova) afterwards. During the Plenary Meeting, project partners met to align on pilot planning, evaluation methods, and coordination.

Water Pilot 2 – Burgas, Bulgaria (2–3 July 2025)

The first activity of the month was the second phase of the Water Pilot, held at the Port of Burgas and coordinated by the Bulgarian Border Police (CDBP).

• Technologies tested:
  • the Faceless GDPR-Compliant Traveller Counting solution developed by Telesto, providing real-time, anonymous monitoring of passengers at sea borders. This solution was integrated into the ODYSSEUS platform to give border officers situational awareness without collecting personal data.
  • ODYSSEUS Mobile Wallet App enables issuing digital travel credentials, authentication to the ODYSSEUS platform, and support for border crossing.
  • ODYSSEUS platform, central system for data management.
  • Decision Support System (DSS), helping border guards make informed decisions
  • Verifier App used for traveller identification and the actual border crossing process.

• Participants: 23 volunteers acting as travellers, supported by border officers and port operator staff.

• Process: structured briefing and debriefing sessions were conducted, with user experience and ethics surveys to ensure that efficiency gains did not come at the cost of privacy or trust.

The pilot showed how passenger flows at ports can be monitored unobtrusively, giving authorities the tools to respond quickly to risks while maintaining full GDPR compliance. It also confirmed the value of digital credentials, traveller verification, and the DSS in real-world operations.

6th Plenary Meeting – Iași, Romania (14 July 2025)

On 14 July, project partners convened in Iași for the 6th Plenary Meeting, hosted by SIMAVI and the Romanian Border Police (RBP).

• The agenda included technical updates across work packages, ethics discussions, and dedicated sessions on the pilots.
• A full afternoon was spent on pilot coordination, ensuring all partners were aligned on the scenarios, roles, and evaluation methods.
• This preparation was crucial for the following days, when the Train and Land Pilots would be executed under simulated real-world conditions.

Train Pilot 2 – Ungheni Border Crossing Point (15–16 July 2025)

The Train Pilot 2 (TP2) was led by UIC at the Ungheni crossing between Romania and Moldova. It built on the first phase conducted in December 2024. All the trials were tested to ensure that everything is working smoothly and all technologies can communicate.

• Day 1 (baseline): procedures were run without ODYSSEUS technologies on train ACC 1051. This established a reference point for comparison.
• Day 2 (demonstration): ODYSSEUS solutions were deployed, including:
  • Digital travel credentials securely stored on mobile devices.
  • Biometric verification supporting both one-to-one (1:1) and one-to-many (1:N) facial recognition checks.
  • AI-powered behavioural authentication to identify individuals based on unique behavioural patterns.
  • Seamless traveller enrolment and digital identity verification, enabling smoother passage for pre-registered passengers.
  • UAV scanning with RGB images for detecting unauthorised individuals attempting to cross borders unlawfully on the roof of trains.
  • ODYSSEUS platform for aggregating data from all components.
  • Decision Support System (DSS) for collecting data from the ODYSSEUS Platform, calculating risk, and providing border guards with recommendations to support faster, more informed decision-making.

11 regular passengers, 4 irregular passengers, 3 border officers, and 15 observers took part. Consent forms were collected, and surveys were filled in after each test.

The pilot demonstrated that rail border checks can be made more efficient, with reduced waiting times and stronger detection capabilities, while involving travellers and officers directly in evaluating usability and acceptance.

Land Pilot 2 – Albita Border Crossing Point (17–18 July 2025)

The Land Pilot 2 (LP2) was organised at Albita BCP by IGPF, following the first phase conducted in December 2024.

• Day 1 (baseline): Traditional checks for vehicles and pedestrians were observed and recorded, and all tests were carried out to ensure smooth operation and interoperability of the technologies.
• Day 2 (demonstration): ODYSSEUS solutions were tested in full operational conditions, including:
  • AI-powered behavioural authentication, helping officers detect anomalies unobtrusively.
  • Advanced vehicle inspection, with UAV-assisted scanning, executing license plate recognition, vehicle type identification, and people counting using thermal cameras autonomously, all linked directly to traveller and vehicle records in the ODYSSEUS platform.
  • Seamless traveller enrolment and digital identity verification, enabling smoother passage for pre-registered passengers.
  • Decision Support System (DSS), where border guards can view all information gathered by the ODYSSEUS platform about both vehicles and passengers
• Participants: travellers, border officers, and independent observers all took part in the scenarios, supported by structured briefings and debriefings.

The pilot showed that road border crossings – often the most congested – can be streamlined significantly, allowing faster checks for legitimate travellers while strengthening detection of irregularities.

Across water, rail and land borders, the July pilots provided concrete evidence of how ODYSSEUS technologies can:

• Accelerate border checks for passengers, vehicles, and trains.
• Improve situational awareness for border authorities through integrated dashboards.
• Enhance detection capabilities with AI-assisted tools and advanced scanning.
• Protect privacy and trust, by embedding GDPR compliance and ethical safeguards from the start.

These demonstrations proved that security and facilitation do not need to be in conflict: borders can be both secure and seamless.

The results and feedback from the pilots will now be used to refine ODYSSEUS technologies further and to prepare border authorities for their eventual adoption. Training activities and final validations will follow in the coming months.

Check the relevant photo material from the Burgas, Ungheni and Albita pilots to see the ODYSSEUS technologies in action.