| Brite iD, the UK manufacturer
of e-passport covers, data pages and contactless smart cards
products, has announced plans to expand its manufacturing
facilities for the production of e-passport covers and data
pages and is seeking outside partners or investors to share
in this development. The decision follows a significant milestone
in the company’s history. It has become the first manufacturer
to have its product tested and certified to meet the latest
durability specification for electronic passports. The test
methods and specifications have been drawn up by the ISO/IEC
Task Force 4 to whom ICAO has delegated the development of
a formal durability testing specification.
The tests were carried out by Pira International in accordance
with the latest views of the Task Force 4 committee following
their meetings in November 2005 and February 2006. The purpose
is to predict whether the contactless chip will function correctly
during a simulated 10 year lifetime. Pira performed tests
on complete passports containing a fully programmed contactless
chip and antenna embedded within the back page of the iLam™
cover of the booklets. |
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According to Paul
Bagnall, Managing Director of Brite iD, the certification
will greatly assist the company in winning contracts for the
supply of e-passports products.
“Up to now, passport printers and system
integrators have had to carry out their own durability testing
or rely on suppliers’ results from in-house tests. We
can now provide independent test results based on the latest
proposals from the Task Force, which firmly establishes our
credibility in the market place. Indeed, in several of the
tests, we significantly exceeded the proposed standard.
Our iLam™ products
are complete covers and data pages rather than inlays, which
makes them easier to incorporate into existing passport lines
and their tamper-proof construction makes them extremely secure
against attempts to replace the contactless chip.” |
