HSP Asia 2023 – Back with a Bang!

The 2023 High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia conference took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4-6 December, following a four-year break as a result of the pandemic.

 

This marked the conference’s first appearance in Sri Lanka, featuring a well-organised programme and a diverse audience of specialists.

The event’s success was attributed to the support of sponsors, notably the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, with the governor, Dr P Nandalal Weerasinghle, opening the conference with a welcome address.

The conference hosted 230 delegates from 102 organisations across 37 countries. It spanned two days, with preceding workshops on identity and currency.

The identity workshop addressed the growing demand for self-service and online document authentication. A key takeaway emphasised the importance of paying attention to details, particularly the five essentials: photo, name, date of birth, date of expiry and number of documents. One delegate rightly said: ‘it’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for’.

The conference programme was divided into parallel tracks for currency and travel/identity documents, allowing delegates to choose their areas of interest.

Over 40 presentations were delivered across six sessions, covering various aspects of development, design, new-generation technologies, recycling and sustainability, digital and payment identity, and innovation.

Dedicated sessions on identity

The sessions devoted to identity covered:

• An overview of developments in national IDs and passports, including a presentation on Australian R-Series passports by Note Printing Australia.

• Presentations from HID, IN Groupe, Covestro, Veridos, and Regula Forensics, covering design and security.

• New-generation identity technologies from Distinkt, IDEMIA, PWPW, APO Production Unit, and Reconnaissance, with an overview of smartphone authentication.

• Digital and payment identities, with presentations from Veridos, Registrar General of India, and NaxRo.

• Technology and innovation, featuring presentations from Jura JSP, IQ Structures, Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions, and the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA). A notable highlight was IHMA’s Security Image Register (SIR), an extension and relaunch of the Hologram Image Register (HIR) – see IDN November 2023.

Regional awards

Another highlight of the conference was the presentation of the regional HSP Asia awards, with categories for Banknote of the Year and ID Document of the Year.

And the ID document award winners were:

Best New ePassport: Australian Passport Office (APO) for Australia’s new R-Series passport.

Best New ID card: Philippines for its national ID card.

By general consensus, HSP Asia 2023 was a successful forum with positive feedback from delegates, who appreciated the informative presentations, venue, and networking opportunities. Special thanks were extended to the sponsors of the welcome cocktail reception (Landqart and IQ Structures), gala dinner (De La Rue), and farewell cocktail (Oberthur).

The 2024 HSP Asia will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 2-4 December.

hsp-asia.com