The market for smart cards and secure ICs achieved double-digit year-over-year growth for shipments in 2011, demonstrating increases of 16% and 15%, respectively, according to ABI Research

Volumes continued ramping up, driven by further mobile penetration, the ongoing developments in the SIM card sector and the number of countries migrating to EMV. The top three applications – government ID, payment cards and SIM – accounted for 88% of the total seven billion smart cards shipped in 2011. Further adoption in contactless cards added increased value to the market, as will the greater demand for multi-application cards. 

Gemalto announced it has been appointed by Oman Information Technology Authority (ITA) as prime contractor to secure the country’s eGovernment services. The full solution encompasses strong authentication and digital signature using the eID card, as well as mobile authentication using a mobile handset.

This will enable citizens and residents of Oman to securely access eGovernment services, with the authentication method that best suits their lifestyles. 
Acting as a turnkey solution provider, Gemalto is delivering the Coesys eGov2.0 software together with the associated services including training, support and maintenance. 

Evolis introduced its new card printer, coined Primacy, suited for instantly personalizing cards in medium to large runs, single or dual-sided and for a range of applications.

Primacy is equipped either with a single or double-sided option, which can be enabled on-site and made available for encoding options for magnetic stripes, smart cards or contactless cards. The printer personalizes color cards, up to 210 cards per hour for one side and 140 cards per hour for dual-sided printing. 

New passport-reading and biometrics technology installed at Dubai International Airport is catching increasing numbers of people who attempt to enter the country with fake identity documents, reports the Gulf News.

Last year, the Expertise Centre Identity and Fraud Documents (ECIFD) agency caught 1,137 forged documents with its passport readers. Although passports and identity documents are getting more difficult to forge, criminals are now attempting to get into the country by committing “look-alike fraud,” or looking like the person in the document. 

In an effort to streamline tenant control of visitor access at its commercial real estate properties in Manhattan, Trinity Real Estate has installed HID Global’s EasyLobby Secure Visitor Management (SVM) software.

The software speeds up the clearance process for visitors to companies at Trinity’s properties, which include modeling and film agencies and photography service providers that have a constant flow of visitors. Employees fill out a one-page entry form detailing the visitors’ names, who they’re seeing, where they’re going and their arrival and departure dates and times. 

The Trüb Group has released the second generation of its CombOS Dual Interface OS for contactless and contact-based EMV compliant smart cards based on new specs from MasterCard and Visa.

The new version lowers transaction times, includes data storage functionalities and increases security. This OS is based on the new M/Chip Advance specification from MasterCard and from Visa’s VSDC v1.5.3 and VCPS 2.1.1. 

Datacard Group, a provider of secure ID and card personalization solutions, has rolled out a new blog designed to cover industry topics and offer insights on the latest news of the day. Called Datacard Edge, the company wants to enhance its communications with customers, partners, prospects and industry experts.

In addition, the blog is designed to showcase industry information and best practices. Focused primarily on the markets Datacard serves–including financial, government and secure ID–the blog will feature various content contributors who are knowledgeable in their respective fields.