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Setec a smart card and security printing company, was
the first in the world to combine visual recognition and smart
card technology in a passport. The combination of a polycarbonate-based
data page and chip operating system created a new-era ultra-secure
passport that is almost impossible to forge.
Setec develops and produces various smart cards that have
a high level of security and visual ID products that make
it possible to recognize a person reliably both in face-to-face
dealings and on the Net. Setec leads the rest of the field
in its expertise in this sector.
"So far there is no other company in the world that
would have been able to combine visual recognition based on
a polycarbonate-based data page and smart card technology
in the same passport," says President and CEO Pekka Eloholma.
Ultra secure high-tech passport
The development of the passport has traditionally been a
race against counterfeiters and forgers. The rapid growth
of international tourism, the demand that travelling should
be free of aggravation, and security aspects are a continuing
challenge to passport technology. The enlargement of the European
Union has increased the demand for high-security passports.
The biometric passport looks like the old familiar passport,
but it includes in practice a computer and antenna. New technology
is placed inside the data page, which is made of the polycarbonate
plastic that is familiar in the present passports.
Biometric recognition is based on technology which can identify
a person by measuring some individual physical or biological
feature, such as the shape of a face, fingerprint or an iris.
The biometric information given by the measuring equipment,
such as a camera or fingerprint feeler, is converted into
mathematical data that is recorded in a microprocessor chip.
"This is a real high-tech passport. When the biometric
identifier in the microprocessor chip is incorporated into
the present passport, forging is almost impossible,"
Eloholma says.
World's biggest markets
The demand for high security official products is expected
to increase rapidly all over the world. The company is very
well prepared to respond to demand on the markets in Finland's
neighbouring regions i.e. in Scandinavia and the Baltic states
because it is highly experienced in operating there.
Setec has been cooperating with the Baltic states for a long
time. Setec supplies Lithuania with passports and Latvia and
Estonia with visas. Setec is adopting a very hopeful attitude
towards EU enlargement. As the EU's eastern border moves further
eastwards, demands relating to identification will increase.
"We've got a global lead in the technology and expertise.
That's why our market will be global," Eloholma foresees.
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Smart passports soon an everyday matter in Denmark
In February Setec won the first tender for the biometric
passport according to the new specifications of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which
operates under the United Nations. According to the
five-year agreement, Setec will produce almost three
million passports for Denmark, the first ones being
delivered there at the end of this year.
Many other European and Asian countries will be making
decisions about purchasing passports that comply with
the ICAO's specifications. For example, all the Scandinavian
countries are at the moment preparing alterations to
their passports.
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www.setec.com
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