ODDS 2023 Review – Prague

Overview

Two underlying themes emerged at the ODDS conference in Prague, Czech Republic: concerns about data privacy and the use of personally identifiable information (PII), and the continuing difference in the drivers for the traditional security document community and digital systems developers. In the words of Ian Lancaster, conference Chairman, the former is driven by the need for security, while the latter are driven by their desire to develop new and easier ways for financial transactions and identity verification. Or, as Garry Sidaway of NTT Security, has put it, “Convenience and security are uneasy bedfellows”.

Attendance

The conference was attended by 167 people, from 27 countries and 94 organisations. Of these organisations, 42 are involved with physical security documents – as issuers, printers or component suppliers; 16 are in the digital arena and 12 work on optical features. Although the majority of participants represented established companies, the public sector and innovative organisations were well-represented, as shown on the pie chart.

The interest in this sphere from all participants was well-demonstrated at the conference dinner and exhibition on the Tuesday evening, when the dozen exhibitors were kept busy showing and talking about their work – be it a trade association seeking more members or a start-up company demonstrating its new technology. And this despite the excellent food and drinks available!

Programme

The conference got under way on Monday afternoon with a well-attended seminar presented by Dr Alan Hodgson, in which he addressed whether smartphones are “effective and/or convenient” in this era of digital transactions. He covered the technology of smartphones before considering socio-economic factors, pointing out the transition of power and responsibility from governments and banks to the tech giants. He concluded that perhaps the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues will come to play a bigger role in the development of smartphone use in the ODDS sphere.

This first session set the tone for the conference, as it became apparent that ODDS participants view physical and digital systems working in parallel in the foreseeable future.

It remains true that ODDS is more representative of physical secured documents than the digital or virtual ID and transaction field. Perhaps this is inevitable given the conference’s genesis in the Optical Document Security conference, although the balance has improved since the first conference.

So it was that there were two sessions on document security and two sessions on new optical security techniques, sandwiching sessions on protecting Identity in the digital age – perhaps now one of the most important topics in the conference.

Among the issues covered in these ID sessions were centralised or decentralised digital ID ecosystems; biometrics; the challenge of quantum computing and artificial intelligence; MRTDs (machine readable travel documents); the latest security features on the German ID card, in presentations given, respectively, by Veridos, the Security Identity Alliance, Bundesdruckerei, Veridos (again), the University of Twente and Bundesdruckerei (again). Also in these sessions Sergei Toedtli of Thymaris gave examples of how digital security features have been counterfeited and Claudia Schwendimann, of the Austrian State Printing House, gave a case study on the new Ghanaian health insurance app.

Interestingly, in the document security sessions there were two presentations about banknote design, from UnderCurrency and Banco de España, illustrating the point that there is still interest in improving banknote security. These sessions included presentations on new magnetic ink (MagVision); micro- and nano-security elements (Surys); detecting non-artificial microstructures (Koenig & Bauer); authentication using super-resolution images (Advanced Track & Trace), and verifying certificates for personal protective equipment (InIT).

The optical security sessions comprised presentations from well-established providers as well as new entrants to the field – again, showing continuing interest and inventiveness. The former included OVD Kinegram’s presentation on structural colours; SICPA presenting its new LCD printing for vehicle licence plates and IQS Group (which sponsored the conference in its home city) showing its work on spiral configurations for DOVID design. Newcomers showing their technology were Chromatir, a Penn State University spin-off, which has invented a novel optically-variable device technique; 4Plate explaining how it’s integrating optical security in to the body of plastic cards; Distinkt, a collaborative venture between four Catalan institutions, revealing its NIR-induced colour-changing inks; and Soochow University presenting its new approach to microlens array security devices.

The Panel Discussion

Halfway through the second day, Ian Lancaster chaired a panel of Joachim Caillosse, Security Identity Alliance; Volker Lohweg, InIT; Tony Poole, DSA and Jörg Fischer, Bundesdruckerei, addressing the question of whether there is a future for physical security documents. After a brief statement from the panel members (each affirming from their different perspectives that there is a future), Lancaster opened it for general discussion. But before doing so he asked anyone under 30 in the hall to put their hand up. When no-one did (except the members of the Reconnaissance team!) he suggested that “perhaps we are the wrong generation to consider this question.” Nonetheless, a lively discussion followed, where the concerns about privacy and PII security were to the fore.

Attendance stayed healthy right to the last presentation and participants commented on the value and interest of the event. Nonetheless, the Conference Committee recognises the need to create a programme with a better representation from the digital community.