Gemalto contributes to the Italian ePassport program
In
July, Italy’s Instituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), the national
printing office, began issuing electronic passports based on Gemalto technology.
Gemalto is providing the Italian authorities with technology for some 800,000
ePassports expected to be issued by the end of 2007. With approximately three
million passports issued annually, this ePassport initiative is the largest
Italian public sector program.
Gemalto is supplying the IPZS with its Sealys eTravel Inlays, once again
demonstrating its ability to successfully deliver either complete solutions or
specific key components of an e-Passport solution, such as operating system,
modules, inlays, or pre-personalization services.
This program is a prelude to a range of major eHealth and eID schemes that the Italian authorities hope to introduce over the next few years, as the 45 million traditional ID cards currently in circulation are converted to eIDs.