PR: IRIS enters into global collaboration with TruTag

IRIS Corporation Bhd (IRIS), a world leader in Trusted Identification (ID) will be partnering with leading US authentication and digital security company, TruTag Technologies, Inc. to look into the potential for smartcard and secure label applications globally.

TruTag has developed the world’s most advanced Optical Memory (iOM) device: a digital “cookie” that enables the digitization of the analogue world. TruTag’s iOM devices are dust-sized particles that can be embedded into the very fabric of a product without the need for packaging or labels. They are edible and covert, and can digitize a plethora of items for product intelligence, for effectively counteracting the $1trn global problem of counterfeit and diverted products.

IRIS Acting CEO Mr. Choong Choo Hock said the two parties would look at possible ways to work together to co-develop and offer a portfolio of smartcard and secure label products to customers in both the government and private sectors around the world.

“As the pioneer of ePassport and multi-application eID technology, IRIS has been in trusted ID for over 20 years, with clients in over 30 countries, including the US, Canada, Italy, Norway and India. TruTag, on the other hand, is a leading US authentication company, and the only company in the world with covert and ingestible (edible) optical memory microtags that can be applied to both consumables (pharmaceuticals, food and beverage) and secure documents. We are looking to provide multiple layers of security to secure labels and documents, including, but not limited to biometric smartcards and mission-critical labels such as airline baggage labels,” said Mr. Choong.

“We are delighted to team up with IRIS Corporation as a pioneer and world leader in trusted Identification. The collaborative venture will look to providing secure documents and labels for various applications across different countries and industries, and we look forward to working together with IRIS to provide leading-edge authentication and data intelligence solutions to our customers with high levels of security needs,” said Dr. Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO of TruTag Technologies.

Federal Land Development Authority (“FELDA”), which holds a 21.33 per cent stake in IRIS through Felda Investment Corp. Sdn. Bhd. (“FIC”), is positive on the partnership between the two companies. Felda chairman Tan Sri Sharir Samad said the proposal will be discussed by the boards of both FELDA and FIC to map out the potential markets and sectors to target.

“The expansion of IRIS’ product portfolio to include new, industry-defining technologies is an important element of the corporate restructuring currently in process in IRIS, as it puts IRIS a few generations ahead of its peers in the secure and trusted ID business,” said Tan Sri Sharir.

“The combined strengths and product portfolio of both companies will enable us to target practically every aspect of product authentication, including enhancing the safety and traceability of food an medicine, which is an issue of global importance.” said Dr. Hank Wuh, Founder and Chairman of TruTag Technologies.

This collaboration with TruTag comes just 10 days after IRIS announced a partnership with Norway’s Zwipe, a company that offers biometric contactless payment cards and fingerprint authentication technology.

About IRIS Corporation Berhad

Founded in 1994, IRIS Corporation Berhad is a MSC-status technology innovator and leading provider of solutions and advancements for trusted identification and payment. Since pioneering the world’s first electronic passport in 1998, IRIS has set itself apart as a dedicated end-to-end systems integrator for eID, ePassport, border control, multiple credential identity management ecosystems, and payment systems for financial and transportation industries where authenticity, improved security, speed, accuracy and effectiveness are of paramount importance. IRIS’ innovative solutions, applications and devices have been deployed in over 30 countries across the globe, reaching far into Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

About TruTag Technologies, Inc.

TruTag Technologies, Inc. is a leader in product authentication, brand security and data intelligence solutions. The TruTag platform addresses the $1trn global challenge of counterfeit, diverted and adulterated products that impact the pharmaceutical, life sciences, food, electronics, industrial, and consumer goods industries. TruTag iOM devices are edible, inert, covert and can seamlessly integrate information into the very fabric of a product, independent of packaging and labels. TruTag can extend the Internet of Things (IoT) to a plethora of new, non-web-connected objects and products, and are read using handheld imagers programmed to authenticate a product’s provenance information. TruTag Technologies, Inc. has been recognised by the Edison Awards, Fast Company, R&D 100, and was selected a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum as one of the most influential technology companies in the world.