“…a watershed period in how we manage what must be secure documents and secure information” – conference co-chairman
A new conference will examine fundamental issues of trust as society transitions from paper-based to digital security and ID documents.
The first Digital Document Security Conference in Berlin (May 13 – 15, 2019) comes as the illicit production of counterfeit and fake ID documents continues to be big business.
Around the world, the use of fraudulent passports, driver’s licences and pass cards aids criminal activity and illegal cross-border movement.
Meanwhile, the cost of paying for anti-counterfeiting measures and teams tasked with bringing the criminals to justice can run into the millions of dollars. The security of banknotes is also a huge concern for governments and law enforcement agencies.
The conference will consider the growth in contactless payments and smartphones used to pay for products and services, while several countries or states are adopting digital driving licences or ID cards, whereby a person’s identity is confirmed by their phone, not by a piece of paper or plastic.
The questions raised by all this will be examined by experts: how secure are these systems, and how much can we trust them when we can no longer use our human senses to assess them? Are they as well protected as the physical documents we’re so familiar with, or are they more vulnerable to criminal fraud? And what are the implications of the answers?
The only global event dedicated to addressing these pivotal questions, the conference will consider the interaction of the physical and digital domains in financial transactions and identity confirmation, as well as providing a stage for both communities - physical and digital - to showcase how their documents or systems are secured, and to exchange ideas for ensuring that future digital documents of value are as secure as present physical documents.
Four sessions (The Physical/Digital Interface; Print in a Digital World; Smartphone Applications and Digital ID) will reflect the move towards digital, demonstrating how the different domains interact as well as how digital systems - particularly smartphones - can be used on their own.
Ian Lancaster, associate at Reconnaissance International and co-chairman of the new conference, said: “We are living through a watershed period in how we manage what must be secure documents and secure information.
“So, this first conference of its type comes as a timely opportunity to engage in the debate and examine the most pressing issues as the transition from the physical to the digital gathers pace.”
Presenters such as De La Rue, Bundesdruckerei, Giesecke and Devrient, Jura, Surys, Veridos and other security printers and their suppliers will showcase how they are accommodating the move to the digital age. Younger companies and R&D organisations, including Thinfilm Electronics, U-Nica, ScanTrust, In-Core Systemes, YPB and Vesdo, will present their cutting-edge techniques to keep sensitive data secure.
Respected research organisations the Fraunhofer Institute, Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and the universities of Geneva and South will present papers alongside case studies from public agencies that have started issuing smartphone IDs.
The Digital Document Security Conference will be preceded by a half-day course, which will cover the physical and digital document security domains ahead of addressing if physical and digital approaches can work together to create an even more secure environment. More at https://www.reconnaissance.net/digital-document-security/
