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.

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.

2024-2025 saw some major mergers and acquisitions activity within the ID and secure document industry, with IDEMIA Group negotiating with IN Groupe for the acquisition of IDEMIA Smart Identity (September 2024), TOPPAN Holdings (via TOPPAN Gravity) agreeing to acquire HID’s Citizen Identity Solutions division from Assa Abloy (October 2024), and Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) signing to acquire a 75% stake in Rubicon SEZC (Laxton group holding company) in June 2025.

For years, online ‘age gates’ have meant a checkbox, a self-declared birthdate, or a ‘by continuing you confirm you’re over 18’. That is all about to change. Across multiple countries, regulators are now treating age-restricted access as something that must be enforceable, as well as privacy-preserving.

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.

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

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.

German polymer manufacturer, Covestro, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s EMPTECH to co-develop high-security identity document solutions. The partnership targets passports, national ID cards and driving licences. According to the companies, the purpose of the partnership is to improve the fit between substrate behaviour, security-feature integration and personalisation process control.

On 15 April 2026, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) introduced a new foreign nationals identity document (type W) for applicants awaiting a decision on a temporary or permanent asylum residence permit. The credential enables holders to prove identity, nationality and lawful stay in the Netherlands, while supporting rapid first-line checks in operational environments.

Australia is stepping up its response to identity crime through the Credential Protection Register (CPR), a national capability designed to stop stolen or compromised identity document details being misused in everyday verification checks.

On 15 April 2026, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) introduced a new Foreign Nationals identity document (type W) for applicants awaiting a decision on a temporary or permanent asylum residence permit. The credential enables holders to prove identity, nationality and lawful stay in the Netherlands, while supporting rapid first-line checks in operational environments.

The technical committee for the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference, taking place 25-27 January 2027, in Berlin, Germany, is issuing a final reminder for technical paper submissions. The deadline for submissions is Friday 1 May 2026, and the response so far has been strong with many high-quality abstracts already received.

A Cayman Islands holding company has issued a statement saying it has developed two ‘practical’ quantum identity authentication schemes based on Grover’s quantum search algorithm. MicroCloud Hologram Inc (NASDAQ: HOLO) describes one scheme intended for environments with a trusted third party (TTP) and a second scheme designed to operate without a third party, for more decentralised applications.

On 7 March 2026, India Security Press (ISP), Nashik, marked its centenary with a series of commemorative events, including the inauguration of the Shatabdi Dwar (Centenary Gate) and Shatabdi Udyaan (Centenary Garden), as well as the release of a commemorative postage stamp. While the occasion marked 100 years of history, the stamp signalled more than a mere milestone; it underscored a technological pivot within one of Asia’s key security printing institutions.

This is probably not the most attention-grabbing title for an editorial, but for a while I worked at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London, where part of the lab’s job is supporting standards work through the British Standards Institution (BSI). That experience left me with two impressions about metrology.

It’s been 10 years since LASINK™ was introduced into the ID and secure document market. In this technical feature celebrating the impact of the technology, IN Groupe takes a look at what LASINK™ has achieved in improving secure colour portraiture.

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.

Global travel is not just growing; it is outpacing the infrastructure designed to support it.

Rwanda’s Information Society Authority (RISA) has launched a procurement for a ‘Single Digital ID Card Printing and Personalisation System and related consumables’ under the Rwanda Digital Acceleration Project.

A new paper from digital rights group epicenter.works takes an engineering-centred look at the European Commission’s draft eIDAS implementing acts for the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet.

A Cayman Islands holding company has issued a statement saying it has developed two ‘practical’ quantum identity authentication schemes based on Grover’s quantum search algorithm. MicroCloud Hologram Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLO) describes one scheme intended for environments with a trusted third party (TTP) and a second scheme designed to operate without a third party, for more decentralised applications.

Designing next-generation identity documents requires more than layering security features. It requires structured engineering decisions that balance optical security, structural integrity, personalization technologies, and forensic resilience.

Madagascar has begun collecting citizens’ biometric data as the first operational step toward issuing new digital identity cards under the Civil Registration and Identification Reform (RECI) programme, implemented with support from the World Bank. Enrolment centres have opened in parts of the capital, Antananarivo, including a site at the University of Antananarivo, where residents aged 18 and over can register.

A new policy brief led by Europol under the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security examines how biometric performance is independently evaluated in Europe and what technical building blocks would be needed to establish an EU-run capability comparable to the large-scale programmes operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US.

Lengthening security queues at US airports are driving renewed consumer demand for paid private-sector biometric identity services that can reduce time spent at identity-check points. Business Insider reports a sharp increase in interest in CLEAR, a paid biometric lane service, as disruption spread across major airport hubs.

A misconfigured cloud storage environment linked to Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) left scans of 700 passports and state ID cards belonging to high-profile delegates publicly accessible after the December 2025 event.

In February, the 22nd edition of the High Security Printing™ (HSP) EMEA conference took place in Rabat, Morocco, marking the event’s first appearance on the African continent. Attendance was recorded at 341 delegates representing 146 organisations across 49 countries, with an increased proportion of government agencies and central bank delegations.

For the past few years, the travel industry, along with the ID and secure document community have been promoting the idea that borders can be made frictionless. And to be fair, many parts of that vision are working.

Across the US and in many other countries, driving licences serve as a primary form of identification. They enable residents to verify who they are, access government services, and increasingly participate in emerging digital identity ecosystems.

Few companies can match the heritage of De La Rue when it comes to government-issued documents of value. The company supplies high-security banknotes, substrates and security features for over 69 national currencies and, since 2020, it has designed over half of the world’s new banknote designs. De La Rue was the prime contractor for the British passport from 2010 to 2020, designing and producing the biometric ‘Series B’ passport and manufacturing booklets at its Gateshead plant.

Some recent media reports argue that the rollout of the EU Entry/ Exit System (EES) should be delayed, to ‘avoid risky summer travel chaos’. In reality, EES rollout is already well underway but there is a legitimate concern about how quickly it is being deployed and whether biometric enrolment should be scaled back at busy European tourist border crossings this summer.

Colombia is scheduled to introduce a redesigned passport on 1 April 2026, as part of a broader national-security and ‘technological sovereignty’ initiative.

Rwanda’s Information Society Authority (RISA) has launched a procurement for a ‘Single Digital ID Card Printing and Personalisation System and related consumables’ under the Rwanda Digital Acceleration Project (RDAP). Bids are due 30 April 2026, using a two-envelope procedure (technical and financial submissions) under an international competitive process.

The technical committee for ODDS 2027 (25–27 January 2027, Berlin) is issuing a final reminder for technical paper submissions; deadline 27 March 2026. The response so far has been strong with many high-quality abstracts already submitted.

A new paper from digital rights group epicenter.works takes an engineering-centred look at the European Commission’s draft eIDAS implementing acts for the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet . Rather than debating the policy goals, it focuses on whether the technical rules will actually let wallets enforce privacy and security in real time—when a user is about to share data. The proposed amendments cover three areas: relying-party registration, electronic attestations of attributes (EAAs), and the technical specifications intended to make the ecosystem interoperable.

On 30 January, Argentina announced the issuance of a new passport and identity card, introducing updated security architecture and materials.

The annual Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards, a highlight of the High Security Printing™ EMEA conference, took place in Rabat, Morocco on 10 February 2026. The event brought together government ministries, national identity authorities and technology providers from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to recognise outstanding achievements in design, security and technology innovation in identity documents.

S. Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has issued its first electronic ID card carrying a Khoi-San traditional name that uses the click character ‘!’. The card was handed to Stellenbosch student !Khūboab Oedasoua Lawrence, after his family spent 18 years trying to obtain documents that reflected the correct spelling of his name.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun 2026 by pushing further into automated biometric identity verification – while its trusted traveller programme, Global Entry, has been temporarily suspended amid the latest US partial government shutdown.

Over the past few years, debates around civil identity have regularly predicted the demise of physical documents and their inevitable replacement by the massive investment of tech giants in digital, and then virtual ID. I think something else is going on.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior has outlined a significant expansion of cooperation with the European Union (EU) on border management and migration governance following high-level talks in Abuja on 4 February 2026.

During the annual CLARCIEV meeting, held in October 2025 in San Salvador, ID & Secure Document News™ sat down with Fernando Velasco Aguirre, President and National Registrar of the Registro Nacional de Personas Naturales (RNPN) of El Salvador, to learn more about his vision for identity in the country as well as the region as a whole. Among other achievements, Mr Velasco led and implemented the current design of the Salvadoran identity card (Documento Único de Identidad – DUI), both within El Salvador and abroad.

A misconfigured cloud storage environment linked to Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) left scans of 700 passports and state ID cards belonging to high-profile delegates publicly accessible after the December 2025 event. The platform, created for event registration and VIP accreditation, was not protected by authentication and was indexable using standard search techniques.

Nigeria Ministry of Interior has outlined a significant expansion of cooperation with the European Union (EU) on border management and migration governance following high-level talks in Abuja on 4 February 2026.

Thales has been selected by Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to deliver new state identification cards and driving licences, alongside a wider set of enrolment and issuance capabilities. The programme will upgrade both document security and operational workflow across DMV locations.

This time last year I predicted that 2025 would bring an acquisition wave reshaping the industry, and 2026 is now showing the effect of this.

Latin America’s long-standing ambition to enable cross-border use of national digital identities is entering a more concrete phase.

De La Rue has entered into a strategic joint venture with Canadian Bank Note (CBN) to bid for the next generation of British passports, with the aim of returning booklet manufacture to the UK after roughly a decade of production in Poland under Thales DIS (formerly Gemalto). Personalisation of British passports is already carried out in the UK.

The UK government announced a new national digital ID scheme in September 2025, framed as a way to modernise access to public services and tighten right-to-work controls. Since then, policy and delivery plans have shifted several times. Now, we take a further look at changes in governance, scope and possible expansion of the scheme.

As part of a research initiative led by Reconnaissance International, a recent industry survey set out to define the elusive ‘WOW factor’ in holographic security features.

From 1 February 2026, US domestic air passengers who arrive at airport security without a REAL ID-compliant licence or other accepted identification will be routed into ‘TSA ConfirmID’, an alternative identity-verification process carrying a $45 fee.

ODDS 2027 (25-27 January, Berlin) invites original research and technical solutions across optical features, materials, biometrics, cryptography, machine-readable data, and integrated systems that secure government-issued documents and identities. As the definitive forum for unveiling new breakthroughs, ODDS brings together industry, academia, and government to advance security in both physical and digital domains.

Alice Vermeulin is Director of Innovation and R&D at TOPPAN Security, where she leads the development of next-generation secure credential technologies. With an engineering background in the graphic industries and experience spanning Europe and North America, she specialises in security solutions for identity and payment systems, covering product development roadmaps, card and passport manufacturing processes, qualification testing and standards, and intellectual property strategy.

Brunei’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) have introduced Brunei Identity Digital (BruneiID), a national digital identity designed to provide single-login access to selected government digital services.

Belize has received approximately $250,000 in biometric equipment from the US under a new Biometric Data Sharing Partnership (BDSP) with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The package includes fingerprint-based enrolment systems and document readers at Belize’s international airport and major land border crossings, enabling officers to capture biometric identifiers and query DHS identity databases in real time.

The Government of The Gambia has signed a build -operate–transfer (BOT) contract with Margins ID Systems Applications Ltd (MIDSA), a subsidiary of Ghana’s Margins ID Group, to modernise the country’s identity infrastructure and produce new national identity cards.

Mexico is preparing to scale up a biometric version of its Unique Population Registry Code (CURP), adding biometric identifiers to a credential that already underpins most administrative processes in the country. The updated CURP keeps the familiar 18-character code but incorporates fingerprints, a facial photograph, an iris scan and an electronic signature to support stronger identity verification.

As part of a research initiative led by Reconnaissance International, a recent industry survey set out to define the elusive ‘WOW factor’ in holographic security features.