US reports progress in security and convenience

A year after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced the ‘Rice-Chertoff Joint Vision: Secure borders, open doors in the information age’ initiative, the two departments say they have made significant progress.

Easy access to passport data for Dutch citizens

Dutch citizens are to get easy access to the data stored on their new ePassports following a decision by the government to install ePassport scanners in municipal offices throughout the Netherlands.

Cross Match fingerprint device approved in Germany

Cross Match announces certification for its single finger scanner to be used in Germany’s ePassport programme

Nigerian democracy goes biometric

The Nigerian general election scheduled for April is on track to use biometric technology for voter verification following the award of a contract to BIO-key International and Labcal Technologies.

Cambodia opts for ePassport labels

Cambodia opts for comprehensive epassport solution from IRIS - including ePassport labels

Final rules for TWIC announced

The US Department of Homeland Security has issued the final rule for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) programme.

UK government issues 2006 report on key projects

The UK government’s Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has published a report on the three key IPS IT projects delivered in 2006.

International Authentication Association debuts

New industry group launches in the US to improve understanding of how authentication technologies can combat counterfeiting and fraud

Peter-Alexander Wacker joins G&D advisory board

Dr Peter-Alexander Wacker has been appointed to the advisory board of G&D by the international technology group’s shareholders.

Motorola scoops Lithuania deal

Lithuania’s Ministry of Interior has selected Motorola to deliver a nationwide communications network based on Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) to serve its border guard, customs, emergency and state secret service.

Bruno Moreau takes over the reins at ASK

Bruno Moreau has become CEO of ASK following the retirement of previous boss and fellow co-founder Georges Kayanakis.

Americans support biometrics in Government IDs

Eighty-two percent of Americans support the use of biometric identification on passports

Manual ePassport personalization gets faster

SAFE ID Solutions introducesmanual passport personalisation system that churns out 180 passports per hour

Cognitec wins Estonian contract

Cognitec announces deal with IBM Estonia to provide facial recognition technology for government

Latvia set for Q3 ePassport rollout

The Latvian government has awarded G&D a contract to produce 1.1 million ePassports over the next five years.

OTI completes SuperCom acquisition

OTI has completed the acquisition of the main assets of SuperCom, including the purchase of the company’s International Project Solution (IPS).

SMARTRAC and Assa Abloy reach patent agreement

SMARTRAC and Assa Abloy have settled a dispute over the use of certain patents related to RFID devices using wire-embedding technology.

Driving in Sri Lanka gets smarter

Sri Lanka’s Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) is to introduce a new driving licence system using smart card and biometric technologies later this year.

Bahamas inks ePassport deal

Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start rolling out ePassports later this year

EU gives thumbs up to European driving licence

EU citizens are set to receive unified credit card-sized driving licences from 2013.