October 2006: Today 50 countries around the world are looking to introduce ePassport schemes. Thirty-six of these countries have chosen NXP’s industry-leading SmartMX secure ePassport chip.
Of the 50 countries, 27 made the decision to switch to ePassports to meet the requirements of the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Under the VWP, citizens in ‘visa waiver countries’ do not need a visa to visit the US for up to 90 days – as long as they have a chip-based ePassport. The remaining countries are not included in the VWP, yet they are also choosing to implement ePassports. Why? Because ePassports help to speed up immigration and reduce forgery. They also mark countries out as technologically advanced and innovative nations – a cause for civic pride.
Singapore
A VWP country, Singapore has announced plans to issue some 2 million ePassports. Not bad for a country with a population of just 4 million people. NXP is working with a variety of partners to implement the scheme, including Gemalto and NEC Solutions Asia Pacific. The SmartMX chips for the passports will be manufactured by Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Corporation (SSMC), a Singapore-based producer of advanced semiconductor wafers.
USA
The originator of the VWP, the United States has also started rolling out smart-card-based passports. The chip in the passport will store the same information that is visually displayed on the photo page of the passport as well as a digital photo. To further enhance national security, the new passport will also incorporate additional anti-fraud and security features. In addition, it will include a number of measures to address privacy issues and ensure the safe-keeping of stored information.
France
In the spring of 2006, the French government announced its decision to start issuing ePassports. And just 5 weeks later the first ePassport was issued. That challenge was met by Imprimerie Nationale. “Due to the short timeframe of this project, we needed to work with reliable partners and mature technology,” said Loc Lenoir de La Cochetière, CEO of Imprimerie Nationale. “NXP and its SmartMX ICs fulfilled all our requirements and allowed us to meet the deadline without compromising on quality or security.”
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