Delays in national ID and health care programs have caused ABI Research to predict a drop in smart card shipments for these applications in 2013. ABI forecasted that 435 million smart cards will ship into the government and health care citizen ID market in 2013, a reduction of 6 million when compared to 2012. The […]

Baltimore/Washington Int’l Airport installs biometric readers with Lumidigm software Lumidigm will provide its V-Series multispectral fingerprint sensing software for use with Innometriks’ Rhino biometric readers to control access to the BWI’s tarmac. A large percentage of BWI’s 9,700 employees are already enrolled, with the system handling tens of thousands of transactions daily. The Rhino readers, some […]

 South Africa to use Datacard Group’s  MX series for card issuance The country of South Africa is in the process of transitioning from paper-based ID credentials to smart ID cards, and has chosen Datacard’s MX series to facilitate the personalization and issuance process. Datacard’s smart ID cards will replace South Africa’s current green, bar-coded paper ID books. South […]

Official reports from Israel’s Deputy Interior Minister reveal that the country’s national biometric database is expected to launch in mid-July. According to a Haaretz report, the database – which was originally scheduled to commence in November of 2011 – was delayed by an unforeseen, lengthy legislative proceeding that included an appeal to Israel’s High Court […]

Research and Markets has released the “Global Biometric Systems Market Forecast & Opportunities 2018” which predicts that global biometric revenues will reach as much as $20 billion by 2018. According to the report, lack of data protection and outdated security practices like passwords and PIN codes have been a driving force behind the growth of […]

Gemalto announced it will supply Government Printing Works (GPW) with the Sealys electronic smart card-based identification solution for a national identity program in South Africa. GPW will leverage Gemalto’s secure embedded software to protect the holder’s image and biometric data within the secure identity e-document. Moreover, GPW selected the Sealys document fitted with the contactless […]

National ID programs have had a big week, as the Nigerian National Identity Managment Commission (NIMC) rolled out a pilot program of 13 million national identity smart cards that have electronic payment capability. The NIMC partnered with MasterCard on the project, which is the largest electronic payment system in Nigeria, and most financially inclusive in […]

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Relations (Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriories) has inked a deal with Oberthur Technologies to supply its high-tech security and identity solutions for a new Mexican passport. Oberthur Technologies is supporting the Mexican government in the implementation of the secure passport for all citizens, through a complete solution for state-of-the-art personalization, combining […]

With Aadhaar-Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) registration mandatory to receive many benefits programs, citizens are lining up at the Aadhaar cards distribution centers in Vijayawada to sign up for the cards, reports The Hindu. In the Krishna district, women and elderly people lined up at centers issuing the Aadhar cards in the Krishna district. […]

India’s Home Ministry has proposed issuing smart biometric resident ID cards through its National Population Register (NPR), a move which some say is duplicating the fforst of the UIDAI program. As reported by The Economic Times, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is putting together a group of ministers to explore whether or not these programs duplicate […]