HSP Latin America Builds Back Better

After two years of COVID inflicted disruptions, Reconnaissance International was able to restart the acclaimed series of High Security Printing Conferences with a fiesta feel in Mexico City (14-16 March) with seminars, presentations, key notes, an exhibition and prizes… lots of prizes!

The anticipation for face-to-face conferences had been growing since the beginning of the year when governments, with the support of transport authorities around the world, have started to lift restrictions on international travel. Just how much pent-up interest for physical conferences had grown became apparent when, by the beginning of March, all conference slots had been allocated – forcing Reconnaissance to close the door to new registrations, exhibitors and sponsors.

Those fortunate enough to travel to Mexico were treated to a conference programme split into two parallel tracks – one focusing on travel and identity documents and the other on currency, with a total of 46 presentations delivered over the two days.

Digital identity was the subject for one of the pre-conference seminars on 14 March, titled ‘Digitizing Identity: Benefits and Risks Highlighted by the Current Regulatory Landscape’, presented by Onfido, that brought together specialists from different fields to brainstorm problems and present their proposed solutions. An exhibition of 40 companies was also held alongside the conference sessions.

A second seminar, on the design and production of security documents through digital printing, generated significant interest both in terms of attendance and participation. Presentations from HP, Jura, Komori, Luminescence Sun Chemical and Orell Füssli gave hard information about production and security options, and this led into a robust discussion. The consensus appeared to be acceptance that digital printing is coming but ambiguity about in what form.

As usual, the event played host to the prestigious Regional Banknote and Regional ID Document of the Year awards, which were announced during the conference dinner.

The award for Latin America’s Best New National ID Card went to Thales for their work with the Honduras National Registration Office on the Honduras National ID Card.

The laser engraved polycarbonate card contains three levels of security features including a DOVID hologram, changeable or multiple laser images, optically variable and UV fluorescent inks, microtext and barcode – all providing a deterrence against the existing problem of fake IDs in Honduras.

Best New ID Card (© Honduras National Registration Office).

The quality and design of the ID cards alone would have justified the award, but when you consider that the project was executed in the middle of COVID lockdowns it was more than deserved.

The prize for Latin America’s Best Civil ID Card was awarded to a consortium formed by Veridos GmbH (Veridos America, Veridos Canada and Veridos Mexico), Giesecke+Devrient, IECISA México (now INETUM) and HuBox for their work on the INE photo-voting card. The INE (Instituto Nacional Electoral) is an autonomous, public organisation responsible for organising federal elections in Mexico.

Best Civil ID Card (© Instituto Nacional Electoral).

In the consortium there were different responsibilities: Veridos GmbH, G+D and IECISA México focused their efforts on the physical security elements of the document. HuBOX supplied the digital security element with their technology ‘Personal Code’ (the high density QR codes on the obverse of the card) and the verification app that functions in an offline mode and without database queries.

The INE photo-card includes top physical security elements, as well as an outstanding digital-security element – combining the best of the physical with the digital worlds of identity.

As a final excursion, on the day after the conference, 17 March, the Banco de México hosted a visit to its new state-of- the-art production facilities in Guadalajara.

Bearing in mind that conference registration was closed early for HSP Latin America, you may want to ensure your slot at the upcoming Optical & Digital Document Security (ODDS) conference, which will be held in Vienna, Austria, 11-13 April, and visit opticaldigitalsecurity.com now.

And the next edition of the high security printing events – HSP EMEA – will take place 13-15 June in Tallinn, Estonia. The programme will be published next month and, if its Latin America counterpart is anything to go by, it will also be a sell-out.

hsp-emea.com