LaserCard Corp. has received a purchase order to supply optical memory cards for the Italian Ministry of Justice employee ID program. The Ministry plans to issue the cards as secure ID badges containing personal data including employment, biometric identification and health information, to all Ministry employees.

Italy’s national printer and mint, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A (Poligrafico), issued the purchase order to LaserCard’s Authorized Value-Added Reseller, Laser Memory Card S.p.A., of Rome. Poligrafico is the prime contractor for the project and will add a contact chip to the card, enabling it to access to e-government services, and also will personalize the cards using data supplied by the Ministry of Justice. LaserCard expects to deliver more than $100,000 worth of optical card stock to Poligrafico in June for this program. The Ministry intends to enroll employees immediately and to begin card issuance in July.

The cards will comply with national optical memory/IC chip standards set for Italy’s Citizen ID Card and are designed to operate within the planned national ID infrastructure. LaserCard has previously supplied approximately $18 million worth of optical memory cards and secure encoders for both the Italian Citizen and Foreign Resident ID Card programs.