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We are amid the summer holiday season, often characterized by travel and adventure. With this in mind, examining the technological advancements unfolding within our identity documents is an opportune moment. Integrated chips, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) drive a digital revolution that is increasingly evident in our passports and ID cards. Global identity solution powerhouse Veridos shines a light on the current scenario of identity document digitization.

Although our passports and ID cards remain tangible artifacts, they are being steadily enhanced with digital capabilities or benefitting from digital processes during production and usage. Spanning the entire lifespan of these documents, the digital transformation streamlines everything from initial quality inspections at production units to deploying digital services available on smartphones. Veridos outlines four key ways digitization is moulding our identity credentials.

Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO at Veridos.

At the inception of document production, AI plays a crucial role in quality checks. The manufacturing processes are bolstered by AI, ensuring the production of precise and error-free identity documents. With certain documents bearing more than 50 security features, some minuscule and invisible to the human eye, AI’s power lies in its capacity to continuously refine its understanding of acceptable variations by harnessing empirical data from monitoring devices worldwide, leading to continuous learning and enhancement.

Many ID documents globally are now equipped with electronic chips, a significant stride in the end user’s digitisation journey. These chips, which store the ID holder’s identifying data, like fingerprints, form a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. They’re either embedded in the passport cover or the layers of the ID card, enabling the transmission of identity data to electronic devices like smartphones or eGates at airports, thus facilitating digitized verification processes.

Incorporating electronic chips has paved the way for using ID documents via smartphone apps. Government-provided apps designed for secure and protected data exchange allow users to transfer personal information from their electronic passports to their devices. Once safely stored in the app, this information can be used to register for travel credentials, apply for visas, or provide personal data to healthcare applications. It represents a significant step towards further digitization of the document space.

The future of the ID industry is expected to feature additional AI-supported advancements, like the machine reading of passport stamps. These innovations use AI-based image recognition and optical character recognition (OCR) technology to analyze travel patterns based on the symbols in a passport. They can identify the stamps, extract crucial information like entry and exit dates, and infer the passport holder’s travel pattern, thereby relieving officials of the manual task of evaluating passport stamps.

Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO at Veridos, comments, “Even if end-users are not always cognizant of it, digitization is progressively permeating the world of identity documents.” He adds, “This digital transformation of physical documents is poised to revolutionize our travel experiences and our use of legal identity. The possibilities emerging with AI are particularly exciting and promise not only more convenience but also enhanced security globally, given that the ethical implications of the technology are adequately addressed.”

Veridos’ expert insights underscore the evolution of our identity documents and the pivotal role of technology, especially AI, in this transformation. With digital integration set to shape our future travel and identity verification processes, we are certainly on the brink of a new era in identity documentation.

Please find more information on Veridos’ integrated identity solutions here.