Kurz, the company behind Kinegram security technology used on Australian banknotes, will be showcasing technology for the protection of government documents at the Tech in Gov Expo (stand #88), on 6-7 August at the National Convention Centre in Canberra.

The Technology in Government Expo, now in its 13th year, is co-located with The Identity Expo and the Cyber Security in Government Expo. The event brings the public and private sectors together to find collaborative and innovative ways to reduce fraud, and showcase new technology and ideas in identity management and authentication.

Stephen Pratt, Kurz Australia Managing Director, will be presenting on the importance of protecting our physical identity in the digital world, and discuss how Kurz’s security solutions help combat identity theft in his presentation on 6 August at 12.05pm.

“We only have one identity so how do we look after it? There is plenty of talk about digital identity, but digital is just another channel representing your identity credentials,” said Pratt. “We must not lose sight of protecting our physical identity. Linking physical credential to digital credentials such as a digital driver’s license, e-Gate (electronic immigration gate at an airport) and other biometric scanning solutions isn’t a nice to have, it’s a necessity!

“In a digital world your physical identity documents such as your birth certificate, driver’s license or passport now matter more than ever - these trusted documents are still used to verify who you are. For example, a birth certificate is printed on special paper with traits in it, but is still an unsecured document because it can be counterfeited if the paper it’s printed on is obtained. As a first step in securing our physical identity the original documentation must be adequately protected.

“Authentication of your identity is equally important. In my presentation at this year’s show, I’ll be exploring the problem of identity theft and outlining what can be done to protect and verify physical identity documents using Kurz KINEGRAM technologies, and how these physical identity tokens can be linked to your digital identity.”

A platinum sponsor, Kurz will showcase the Kinegram Digital Seal mobile app that supports off-line verification of passports, ID cards and driver's licenses. The innovative technology allows on-the-spot authentication of the document without prior knowledge of its physical security features and confirms that the chip data matches the physical token and the document holder.

Kurz will also showcase KINEGRAM OMA (Optical Machine Authentication), which is used to verify the KINEGRAM on a government document in conjunction with the normal document scanning process.

Kurz’s OMA technology conforms to the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) recent New Technologies Working Group (NTWG) guidelines for autonomous/semi- autonomous border controls.

Kurz’s Kinegram is a proprietary foil based Optical Variable Device (OVD) which is used to secure and protect government documents including drivers licences, passports and banknotes (including Australia’s) in more than 120 countries. The distinguishing characteristic of the KINEGRAM is movement – kine in Greek means to move – movement of light, colour or shine (reflectiveness) across a given design.

For more information on Kurz’s security and decorative products, visit www.kurz.com.au

The Technology in Government Expo