TOKYO (Jiji Press) — NEC Corp. said Thursday that it will experiment with using fingerprint recognition technology to promote vaccination among infants in developing nations.

It will be the first time in the world that fingerprint recognition is used on children aged 1 to 5.

On the day, the technology titan signed a memorandum of cooperation with Gavi, a public-private partnership comprising governments around the world and the World Health Organization, and Simprints Technology Ltd., a British biometrics startup.

About 20 million infants, especially in developing countries, have not been administered standard vaccines such as for hepatitis B, and the lack of birth registration systems in some regions makes it difficult to identify whether a child has been vaccinated.

In the experiment, children will be identified by fingerprints, name, age and sex in order to distribute vaccines fairly based on vaccination records.

Using fingerprint recognition technology on infants was thought to be difficult due to their soft fingertips and developing finger shapes. This has been made possible by combining the technologies of the Japanese and British companies.

The experiment will be conducted in Bangladesh and Tanzania in the first half of 2020.

“I’m happy that we can contribute to the global activities of Gavi through our fingerprint recognition technology,” NEC Chairman Nobuhiro Endo said.