ContactlessNews | Report: 90% of passports chip-enabled by 2016

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

IMS Research has launched a new report predicting that within five years 90% of passport holders will be using e-passports with integrated smart card IC chips.

According to the report, “Electronic Government and Health Care ID Cards – World – 2011,” nearly half of all current passports issued today use smart chip technology, thanks to a rapid migration started in 2007.

“This trend is set to continue,” stated report author Alex Green. “There are still a few countries around the world that are not yet issuing e-passports. However, most have started and with the typical five to ten year replacement rates for passports, it is only a matter of time before all passports in circulation are e-passports.”

The report goes on to examine the use of biometrics in e-passports, which is still largely limited to a digital image of the holders face stored on the IC.

Green says this will change: “By 2014, the situation is forecast to have been reversed. By this time the majority of passports being issued will also include additional biometric data such a one or more finger print, iris scans, etc.”

According to IMS, the report covers the e-passport market for 40 countries, as well as national ID cards, health care cards, electronic driver’s licenses and a number of other government issued cards.

New airport e-gate supports multimodal biometrics

Vision-Box, a biometrics solutions provider, has come out with an automatic border control e-gate that supports multimodal biometric authentication.

This new e-gate is a thin system that contains vb i-match, a single sourced design that is modular and flexible and can be adapted to business requirements and infrastructure constraints that would otherwise disrupt passenger flow. It has the ability to cope with industry standards such as ICAO. The e-gate supports iris, fingerprint and facial biometrics.

Report: NFC market worth $10 billion in 2016

MarketsandMarkets has released a new report predicting that the NFC applications market will surpass $10 billion by 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 38% from 2011 to 2016.

Dubai rolling out automated border crossing

Travelers into Dubai International Airport will have the option of using an automated border crossing checkpoint, according to GulfNews.com.

Initially deployed in Terminal three, but expected to be rolled out throughout the airport, the system will read the passports and check the facial image and iris against a watch list. The entire process takes about 15 seconds.

China's new e-passport improves safety for citizens traveling abroad

The Ministry of Public Security in China announced the country will start to issue a new type of passport bearing an electronic chip containing the holder’s personal information, according to the China Daily.

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