Fragomen and SICPA have formed a global strategic joint venture to develop and deploy digital identity infrastructure for governments, enterprises and individuals.

TOPPAN Group and South Korea’s RaonSecure are to conduct a joint proof of concept for the cross-border use of digital verifiable credentials. The trial will involve students from Soka University in Japan and Chung-Ang University in South Korea. It will test the exchange and verification of academic credentials between the two countries. The credentials are expected to include documents such as enrolment certificates and academic transcripts.

Civil registration is the cornerstone of legal identity and the first step in ensuring every person is recognised in law. It creates the official record of a child’s existence, supports access to health, education and social protection as well as providing governments with the population data needed for planning and accountability.

South Africa’s transport authorities are retendering for a next-generation physical driving licence card, with the stated intention of migrating the credential to a polycarbonate (PC) substrate, at the same time as introducing a digital equivalent under the MyMzansi programme.

When people cross borders and claim asylum without reliable identity documents, authorities still have to make fast, important decisions, such as who is this person, what route have they taken, do they pose any risks, and are they an adult or a child?

In July 2025, the European Commission (EC) set a date for the start of the EU’s long-planned Entry/Exit System (EES), confirming that the system would enter into operation on 12 October 20251. That decision gave border authorities, carriers and airport operators a target date for moving from an essentially manual process (passport stamping) to an automated, biometric-backed record of short-stay travel.

Cape Verde has begun producing national identity documents domestically, marking a significant transfer of high-security document manufacturing capability to the island state.

Global travel volumes continue to increase, placing growing pressure on border authorities managing international border crossings at airports and seaports. When a large cruise ship arrives with thousands of passengers ready to disembark, or when multiple international flights land within a short timeframe, border crossing points can quickly experience congestion that impacts both traveller experience and operational efficiency.

Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) has begun issuing its redesigned Credencial para Votar for applications processed from 1 June 2026 onward, introducing a revised card aimed at higher resistance to counterfeiting, alteration and duplication, while adding accessibility functions for users with visual impairments.

The Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s High Security Printing™ (HSP) Latin America conference. This year’s event was held in Guatemala, with the awards presented at a special ceremony during the conference dinner on 2 June.

Barcodes have long sat awkwardly in the secure document world. They are fast and cheap, but easily copyable. A barcode is printed data, making it easy to clone, reprint or alter. But the industry is rethinking what a barcode is and what it can do. Instead of just holding a reference number that points to a record in a database, the barcode increasingly carries the actual identity data plus a digital signature from the issuer, drastically increasing its security and usefulness.

Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is expanding the use of artificial intelligence and biometrics across immigration document processing and border clearance, as part of a wider move to digitise identity services. According to The Straits Times, ICA will introduce an AI tool to classify and extract data from passports and supporting documents, with the aim of reducing manual checks and speeding up applications for immigration documents such as passports, re-entry permits, APEC Business Travel Cards and short-term visit passes.

The Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s High Security Printing (HSP) Latin America conference. This year’s event was held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, with the awards presented at a special ceremony during the conference dinner on 2 June.

Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) has begun issuing a redesigned Credencial para Votar for applications processed from 1 June 2026 onward, introducing a revised card aimed at higher resistance to counterfeiting, alteration and duplication, while adding accessibility functions for users with visual impairments. The INE describes the update as a security and inclusion upgrade that also reinforces the credential’s role as a primary identity document.

South Africa’s transport authorities are re-tendering for a next-generation physical driving licence card, with the stated intention of migrating the credential to a polycarbonate (PC) substrate, at the same time as introducing a digital equivalent under the MyMzansi programme.

The ID4Africa AGM 2026 (12-15 May) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, set out to move the conversation from deploying digital public infrastructure to the work of running national ID as a full-life system.

Over the weekend of 18-19 April 2026, Beijing staged its second ‘Human and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon’. According to Reuters, more than 300 humanoid robots took part alongside, but segregated from, 12,000 humans.

His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) has formally started market engagement for a new passport manufacturing and personalisation contract.

Security printing has always borrowed optical phenomena from physics and chemistry, and few of these phenomena are as useful as luminescence.

Counterfeiters are no longer limited to simple print and overlay methods to make counterfeit security features. High-resolution imaging, better foils, and wider access to precision tooling mean that many familiar ‘tilt effects’ can be imitated well enough to pass quick, first-line checks – especially on identity cards and passport datapages where the attack is aimed at the portrait and personal data.