Celebrating Innovation in Identity and Travel Documents

The regional ID Document of the Year Awards were presented as part of the industry’s High Security Printing (HSP) EMEA conference on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, with the awards presented at a special ceremony in the stunning grounds of the W Hotel on 8 March 2023.

The awards gave the industry an opportunity to celebrate this year’s Best New Passport, Best New National ID Card and Best New ID or Travel Document – along with special recognition awards for Egypt and Turkey.

Best New Passport

The winner of the Best New Passport was the new Swiss Passport, launched at the end of October 2022, which was designed by Geneva-based creative agency Retinaa SA. The design is inspired by Swiss mountain peaks and rivers. The inner pages feature a rock crystal watermark.

Other suppliers include Thales as the general contractor, Orell Fussli as the printer and Louisenthal as the substrate supplier.

According to a spokesperson from Switzerland’s Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), the designs ‘invite you on a virtual journey through Switzerland’s 26 cantons, from the Alpine peaks down to the valleys.’ 

Unlike its predecessors, this passport includes ‘a page dedicated to The Fifth Switzerland’. This refers to the community of Swiss nationals living abroad.

Best New National ID Card – Joint

The quality of entries for the Best New National ID Card category was so high this year that it seemed unfair to have to decide between the top two entrants – so it was agreed to make this a joint award.

For the new Slovene Biometric Identity Card, the Slovene Ministry of the Interior, the Slovene Ministry of Public Administration and CETIS wanted to create the most sophisticated identity card that the current technology, security design and international standards would allow.

The new ID Card has strengthened security for easier identification and border crossing, outstanding design (inspired by Slovenian nature, history, culture and sport and compatible with other Slovene documents), state-of-the-art technology and a wide range of functionalities enabling secure and reliable electronic identification and electronic signatures.