HID Global wins Regional ID Document of the Year Award 2014 with its newly designed Irish e-passport

HID Global joined forces with DLRS and X INFOTECH to design the new Irish e-passports

HID Global®, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions, recently announced that the newly designed Irish electronic passport (e-passport) has won the Regional ID Document of the Year Award 2014 at the annual High Security Printing Conference in Milan. HID Global joined forces with DLRS Group (prime), and X INFOTECHto design and produce the new Irish e-passports. The award was presented to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Regional ID Document of the Year award aims to promote the best in security printing, system infrastructure and implementation of a government passport, identity or other security card scheme. In presenting the award the conference organisers, Reconnaissance International, recognised the pioneering use of many new high security printing technologies and techniques by the consortium led by DLRS, HID Global and X INFOTECH.

“We are delighted that the newly designed Irish e-passport has gained international recognition,” said Joe Nugent, Director of Passport Services, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. “Not only does our new passport use the latest security technologies to protect citizens’ identities but the use of images depicting Irish culture and landscapes has created a sense of pride among our citizens.”

The new Irish e-passport is both more attractive and secure than its predecessor and combines the latest security technology with selected imagery that represents the culture, history and people of Ireland. Prime for both security and Irish culture is the image of the Bru na Boinne stone printed using SPARK colour shifting ink technology. Another feature involves images situated on the edge of each pair of pages – when the pages are partially bent for the edges to be side by side, the two images form a complete image. The new passport also features poems from three of Ireland’s best-known poets – Nuala ni Dhomhnaill, William Butler Yeats, and James Orr.

"Not only does our new passport use the latest security technologies to protect citizens’ identities but the use of images depicting Irish culture and landscapes has created a sense of pride among our citizens"

“DLRS is proud to have led the team that created the document that won this prestigious award,” said David O’Connor, Sales Director, DLRS. “Our goal was to deliver a secure and flexible e-passport solution within the budget and timeline set by the Irish government. I am happy to report we exceeded our goal not only meeting time and budget parameters but creating one of the most secure and visually appealing e-passport designs to date.”

The cost of the new passports is nearly half that of their predecessors, which will result in annual savings of 4 million Euros. The award was accepted by Fiona Penollar of the Irish Passport Office as well as Joseph Callaghan and William Byrne of DLRS.

“We would like to congratulate Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and DLRS for winning this international award,” said Rob Haslam, Vice President Government ID Solutions, HID Global. “We are proud our polycarbonate data-page technology played a part in helping to achieve the award-winning design.”