At High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Authentix announced the commercial launch of PICO secure™, described as the world’s first nano-optic, plasmonic optical variable device (OVD) engineered specifically for identity documents. Building on Authentix’s established nano-optic platform, PICO secure delivers always-on structural colour and pronounced movement effects aimed at Level 1 public authentication.

Regula has released the 7320, a portable document reader that brings many functions of a fixed border-control workstation into a handheld unit.

Hueck Folien has successfully commissioned a new high-vacuum vapour deposition facility at its headquarters in Baumgartenberg, Austria. The €8.6 million investment, announced in September 2024, includes both a new metallisation system and associated infrastructure upgrades, and marks a major advance in the company’s production of high-performance coatings for the security sector.

Covestro, the German materials science company spun out from Bayer in 2015, is celebrating a decade of innovation and growth with a focus on sustainable solutions for secure documents. Over the past ten years, the company has established itself as a key supplier of high-performance polymer films used in passports, ID cards, and driving licences.

A major new initiative, APTITUDE, has launched under the European Commission’s Large-Scale Pilot (LSP) programme to accelerate the rollout of the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). Coordinated by the French government, APTITUDE brings together 118 partners from 11 EU Member States and Ukraine, with a total of €20 million in EU funding ..

In September 2020, ID & Secure Document News™ reported on the award of the contract for the European Union’s Shared Biometric Matching System (sBMS) to the consortium of IDEMIA and Sopra Steria. At that time, the project was positioned as a cornerstone of the EU’s interoperability framework, designed to provide centralised biometric services across multiple Justice and Home Affairs systems; including the Visa Information System (VIS), the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the then-upcoming Entry/Exit System (EES).

Veridos GmbH has officially signed a contract with Nepal’s Department of Passports (DoP) for the production of biometric passports, following an international competitive tendering process. The agreement, announced at the end of July, covers Package 2 of the project—comprising the supply of secure ePassport booklets, personalisation infrastructure, quality control systems, and packaging.

Veridos GmbH, a joint venture of the Security Tech Group Giesecke+Devrient and the Bundesdruckerei Group, has announced a change in the management board.

Orell Füssli (OF) has reported significant organic growth in its security printing and identity documents activities, reinforcing its position in secure document production. The company’s focus on expanding its core business without acquisitions has allowed it to achieve steady and sustainable progress, driven by strategic initiatives and increased demand for its products.

The global security print landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, and, in its wake, there are two extremes of skills shortage.