The delegates of the Watermark Conference-2017 within the framework of today’s sessions discussed the present and future of banknotes, the latest technologies for their protection, and document security in the blockchain field.
“Today, 85 % of worldwide consumer spending is done in cash despite many forecasting the demise of this resilient product”, said Nena Vukicevic, Managing Director – Europe & Africa, Currency Research (USA). Having demonstrated the main results of Currency Research studies, the speaker came to the conclusion that the future of cash is not a non-cash society, but the one with less cash.
How to create a perfect passport? According to Laetitia Maddalena, Document Expert of Federal Office of Police (Switzerland), an integrated approach is needed when creating an ID-document. It is important to consider the color of the passport, its font, substrate and paint, the choice of printing and aesthetics of the document. All elements of protection should be checked by one movement, it is necessary to repeat personal data on the passport, to give more than one image of the holder of the passport, about 3-4 images. Laetitia Maddalena analyzed the effectiveness of the elements of protection of various documents, including a new passport of a Latvian citizen.
Wayne Fletcher, Global Director of Government Vertical Marketing of Entrust Datacard (USA), made a presentation on “Combatting Counterfeit Identities: Securing the Nation with Trusted Identities and Secure Transactions”.
According to the delegate, strong security features bring together 3 elements: specialized engineering, restricted components, and expertise with the integration of overt, covert, and forensic features. Mr. Fletcher believes that physical identity cards remain decisive to ensure reliable identification in today’s world. It is important to combine physical and digital security technologies, which allows to ensure the security of transactions.
Michal Forejt, Director for Operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia IQ Structures s.r.o. (Czech Republic), in his speech given in Russian language, presented the latest results of development of optical protection elements for polycarbonate documents. He demonstrated special mastering technologies and their potential for creating the most complicated visible and hidden elements of protection.
One of directions of Goznak’s activity is developing Track&Trace systems for security printed products. Egor Kazartsev, Head of Polygraphic Security Department of the Scientific Research Institute – Branch of Goznak, using the example of excise stamps, demonstrated how this system identifies the authenticity of products. The software solution, as the speaker has shown, uses a security complex including paper with security thread or holographic foil with the four-digit verification code. The excise stamp is personalized with a 2D barcode containing a unique identification number. Verification is carried out with the help of an application installed in a mobile phone. The application reads the barcode and displays a corresponding verification code; the user can compare it to the verification code on the thread or foil.
In the era of global development of blockchain platforms, the security issue becomes the most important. Egor Kotkin, a Business Strategy Consultant of the Russian company Emercoin, gave an introduction to the Watermark Conference delegates into digital security anti-counterfeiting facilities on a base of blockchain, with the benefits of this type of security and with successful examples (exclusive clocks on a base of blockchain, anti-theft blockchain – enumeration of vehicles and components, etc.) of using this advanced technology.
Watermark Conference-2017 will continue tomorrow with the session “Holograms. Security features”.
