IMS Research is predicting that 1 billion smart cards will be shipped per year by 2014, according to Cellular-News. IMS revealed that between 2008 and 2014, the market for smart cards is expected to double, with smaller schemes employing microcontroller-based cards leading the way, such as driver licenses, health care, national ID and e-passports. Smart […]

The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region has been showing signs for continued future growth in the biometrics market, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan, a research firm. Specifically, they cite the growing government sponsored biometric programs, such as e-passport and other national identification programs, as counter-balancing the negative impacts failing economies […]

Australia plans to crack down on welfare and medical fraud cheats, according to a news report in the West Australian. To do so, the Australian Government along with the Human Services Agency will introduce a plan that will assign each of its citizens with a virtual ID card. The government plans to centralize information from […]

SCM, Hirsch and BlueHill merge to take on a growing market By Zack Martin, Editor, Avisian Publications When Felix Marx joined SCM Microsystems in late 2007 he had a mission: reposition the company in the identification market. In the two-years since Marx took over as director and CEO he has been able to change the […]

After a month of negotiations, Rwanda’s Immigration and Emigration Directorate has reached an agreement with the police on what information to include in the country’s forthcoming national smart cards, according to The New Times. Pascal Nyamurinda, coordinator of the National ID (NID) Project, announced that the two institutions have agreed to incorporate both the data […]

On Track Innovations Ltd. announced that it has signed a contract for the supply, transfer, maintenance and operation of an electronic identification related product based on OTI’s Magna platform. OTI has teamed up with a system integrator that will be responsible for project management and local operation in the country. The contract provides for an […]

By Philip Hudson, Chairman, International Hologram Manufacturers Association New technology continues to push the boundaries of holography as an effective ID anti-counterfeiting device. One of the most significant advances has been polycarbonate (PC) security laminates. In recent years we have seen polycarbonate-faced ID cards become increasingly widespread, aided by the use of smaller and lower […]

Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has made an official announcement for national ID number issuance to begin in August 2011 with the first phase of rolling out the numbers to continue into December of that year, according to a Times of India article. The announcement came during Nilekani’s […]

By Scott Howell, Director of world wide marketing, Hirsch Electronics A number of critical market trends are aligning in an unprecedented manner leading to a market disruption that could dramatically change the logical and physical security arenas. These game-changing trends include many factors. Growing need for security Market demand continues to grow for more effective […]

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has developed FEEL-ID, an interactive feature that’s designed to combine multiple security technologies in order to achieve maximum protection against counterfeiting. FEEL-ID is a feature that reacts to changes in temperature by utilizing the thermochromic properties of the materials employed. Identity documents such as national ID cards, driver’s licenses and passports […]