ODDS 2023 – It’s Not Physical or Digital, It’s Physical AND Digital

Almost a year to the day since the inaugural Optical & Digital Document Security (ODDS) Conference in Vienna (Austria), 172 delegates from 94 global organisations along with representatives from government, research institutes and academia gathered (17-19 April) in Prague – Czech Republic’s stunning capital city – to share recent technical developments in the fields of optical and digital document security.

The conference has its roots in the highly respected Optical Document Security Conference series, held every two years since 1996, and Digital Document Security, a spin-off event first held in 2019. In combining the two events, ODDS recognises the important role that technologies continue to play in securing ID and documents as they transition to the digital domain.

Seminar

In the afternoon seminar on the first day of the event (17 April) entitled ‘Smartphones in the New ODDS World: Effective and Convenient’, Dr Alan Hodgson took the audience through the landscape life cycles, challenges, and opportunities of smartphone technology. He posed the question whether we are becoming over- reliant on them as a guardian of security in the digital era and whether we are sacrificing identity data safety in favour of convenience?

The second part of the seminar worked through various applications using smartphones from the perspectives of the requirements for both consumers and inspectors and whether, in fact, they are compatible. Another thought-provoking incompatibility highlighted by Alan was whether, despite the growing links between physical and digital authentication of people, products and payments, there will ever be a true ‘meeting of minds regarding security’ between the ODDS community and consumer electronics firms.

Day 1

The conference was opened (18 April) with a welcome address from Ian Lancaster, Conference Chair. He pointed out that since the previous ODDS conference we have seen more national identity documents become available on smartphones, the continuing spread of two factor authentication for online purchases, more machine reading of identity documents at border controls and pilot programmes for the EU digital wallet, while at the same time we are seeing enhanced protection of ID and secure documents which signals a growing recognition that they are necessary in our digital world.

Session 1 of the conference – ‘The Link Between the Physical and Digital Worlds’ – was a strong opening to proceedings, with papers from Tony Poole, Document Security Alliance (DSA); Marc Pic from Advanced Track and Trace; Hanno Goldbach from Landqart and Andy Gray from TECH5.

In something of a contrast to the sentiments expressed in the panel discussion at the closing of ODDS 2022, which debated how long it would be before digital and virtual technologies completely replaced the need for physical documents, the papers in this session discussed a future in which physical and digital work in concert, strengthening the limitations of each other’s technologies, to create more effective identity systems.

As an example of the physical/digital link, Duncan Reid from Smithers gave a demonstration of several apps developed by banknote providers and brand owners for public education, showing key security and identification features.

While the first session connected the links between the physical and the digital, sessions two and three explored new approaches to securing and designing ID and other documents with emerging technologies.

The paper ‘User Experience of Robust Micro- & Nano-security Elements’ from Nelson Gananathan (SURYS) started with a useful schematic of what the company has contributed to the optically variable device (OVD) cartography. It went on to explain how the design freedom and flexibility provided by micro- and nano- structures provides the versatility for an optical tool-box of features and effects for secure documents.

The session also included a presentation from Banco de España on Neurocash.

Developed by the Banco de España and Instituto LENI, the technology uses artificial intelligence algorithms to measure human behaviour to analyse users’ biometric responses, visual interest, and tactile perception, creating an emotional connection between the public and its currency.

The theme of new approaches to document security continued with presentations on developing non-artificial microstructures (Koenig & Bauer) and image resolution (Advanced Track & Trace).

Koenig & Bauer presented its new authentication solution based on non- artificial microstructures. According to the company, next-level authentication solutions must address high security, sustainability, the ability to work offline and the ability to act fast. In addition, given that the micro-characteristics of documents offer myriad high-security possibilities, in Koenig & Bauer’s view there is no need to integrate additional features such as chemical taggants and ‘phygital’ security.

There was an exciting presentation by the Institute Industrial IT on how AI was used to prevent supply shortages of masks during COVID-19, as well as develop a semi-automated system for validating the authenticity of certificates for personal protective equipment kits.

Bundesdruckerei presented the world’s first ePassport to meet the security requirements of post-quantum cryptography. This was the result of the company’s ‘PoQuID’ joint research project with Infineon Technologies, under the leadership of Fraunhofer AISEC, and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Bundesdruckerei explained that quantum computers present a potential threat to the security of electronic documents in that they could break widely-used cryptographic algorithms. The good news, however, is that quantum-secure cryptographic algorithms already exist. These algorithms are based on mathematically complex problems, and their standardisation is ongoing.

Post-quantum cryptography ePassport (© Bundesdruckerei).

The speakers in the last session on Day 1 – Thilo Utermark (Secure Identity Alliance), Franziska Muschik and Alexander Winnen (Veridos), Jorg Fischer (Bundesdruckerei) and Michael Schalk (Veridos) – provided insights into some of the future technologies that will protect identity in the digital age, including biometrics, AI, blockchain and quantum computing.

The final paper in the session, given by Claudia Schwendimann (Austrian State Printing House), gave a real-world application of secure identity management in her paper ‘Universal Health Coverage Made Accessible’.

Tabletop Exhibition

The format of keeping the tabletop displays open during the conference dinner worked so well at ODDS 2022 that it carried over to this event, where again it offered the perfect setting for exhibitors to demonstrate their technology.

For those who had given a presentation during Day 1, the evening also allowed for issues raised during the Q&A sessions to be re-explored in greater detail, and for those who were scheduled to give presentations on Day 2 to anticipate some of the technical questions that might arise.

The event also gave an opportunity for the participants to thank the main conference sponsors, IQ Structures, for their support of ODDS 2023.

Day 2

In response to participants’ feedback from the previous ODDS conference, there was a change of conference format to a single series of sessions, rather than parallel sessions.

The first session continued the theme of protecting identity in the digital age. The speaker from Thymaris shared examples of various processes by which barcodes can be copied and why there is a need to layer barcodes with covert and forensic authentication security features. Whilst the first layer of barcode facilitates fast screening by smartphones, the second layer with authentication features facilitates anti-counterfeiting applications.

In the second presentation of the day, Eric Santiago Garcia from University of Twente along with InverID shared their new product ReadID, which aims to design machine-readable travel documents (MRTDs) with AI technology.

The third paper signalled a distinct shift in the programme that continued to the conclusion of the conference toward optical technologies that protect ID and secure documents, including applications of polycarbonate inks, optically variable films, micro-lenses and DOVIDs.

Oliver Muth, Bundesdruckerei, shared an overview of the German Identity Card and the use of polycarbonate (PC) inks in personalisation of PC documents. Two new security features were introduced in the most recent update of the German ID card: one operating in the infrared (IR) and the other in the ultraviolet (UV). Oliver described how these features protect the portrait against manipulation through full digital processing from production to machine verification.

The IR squared (IR2) portrait feature contains IR-visible and IR-invisible ink combinations to cover a broad density spectrum, which results in an easily recognisable document feature.

IR2 (© Bundesdruckerei).

UV Personalised Portrait Protection (UVP+) is a digital processed UV-fluorescent ink portrait protection. During verification, two image-captures (RGB, UV) are analysed and the matching factor is calculated. If the original image has been manipulated, then the contours of the RGB-capture and UV-capture do not match.

UVP+ verification (© Bundesdruckerei).

A different approach to near-IR inks was presented by Alex Julia (Distinkt) in his paper ‘NIR-induced colour/fluorescent changing inks’. At the root of the technology is a technique for molecular assembling of different components to provide materials with distinctive stimuli-response characteristics.

Structural colours, surfaces structured to control the interference of light, featured strongly in the next two papers.

In his paper ‘Structural Colours – Powerful & Self-explaining Design Elements’, Eduard Miloglyadov from OVD Kinegram presented three new types of structural colours. Two are based on sub-wavelength cross gratings, exploring engineered profiles with either a transparent HRI layer or an embedded aluminium layer to realise non rainbow colours, while the third type utilises binary structures.

At ODDS 2022, Caleb Meredith described a method for making iridescent security films exhibiting tuneable colour-shifting appearances with wide angular colour separations (see HN May 2022). Caleb has since spun the research out of Pennsylvania State University and started Chromatir with Lauren Zarzar.

Like many before him, Caleb recognises the benefit of using the ODDS conference series as the ideal testing ground for sharing their innovation with like-minded technical colleagues in a supportive environment. We wish Caleb all the best for his venture!

Other papers in this part of the programme saw Yit-Shun Leung Ki (4Plate) encouraging us to consider security documents as complete optical systems; Vladimir Kolarik (IQ Structures) introducing the concept of a spiral, rather than the traditional orthogonal, coordinate system in the design of DOVIDs; and a pre-recorded paper on micro-lens arrays from Su Shen from Soochow University (China).

The final paper of the conference came from Christophe Garnier and Nicola Duca (SICPA) who presented a solution allowing remote authentication of licence plates enabled by direct application of liquid crystal coatings on a transfer foil suitable to produce them. The presentation included a very effective real-time demonstration of the technology.

Panel Discussion

As Conference Chair, Ian Lancaster, moderated the panel discussion on the topic of ‘Is there a future for physical security documents?’. The panellists – Volker Lohweg (Institute Industrial IT), Joachim Caillose (Security Identity Alliance), Tony Poole (Document Security Alliance) and Jorg Fischer, (Bundesdruckerei) – each gave a five- minute opening statement before the debate was opened to the floor.

One theme that evolved out of the discussion expanded on one of the topics covered in Alan Hodgson’s seminar at the start of the event, that the future is most likely characterised by physical and digital working together to improve the security and effectiveness of cooperative systems.

The use case of physical banknotes that can be switched on/off digitally was just one example given of a hybrid system combining physical security with digital convenience.

The thorny issue of data privacy came up time and again from the floor, and this remains a critical concern to overcome if digital ID verification is to gain the trust of the public.

After closing remarks, Ian Lancaster closed the conference with the announcement that the next ODDS Conference will be held in Lisbon in April 2024.

Future editions of ID & Secure Document News™ will cover a selection of the papers in greater detail. Moreover, the seminar on the first day of the event was based on Reconnaissance’s upcoming special report ‘Smartphones for Authentication’, scheduled for launch later this year. For more information or to book an advertising space, contact publications@recon-intl.com.

Attention now switches to Reconnaissance’s next secure document printing conference, High Security Printing (HSP), Nassau, The Bahamas (5-7 June) – don’t miss out on catching up with colleagues, customers and friends by registering now at hsp-latinamerica.com.