German coalition developing ID document durability tests

A coalition of German organisations is developing methods to test the lifespan and durability of identity document technologies.

Identity and travel document verification technologies must be very difficult for counterfeiters to copy, while being robust enough to withstand years of daily use. Better laboratory tests are needed to tell whether a document, such as a passport, can survive 10 years of wear and tear.

“Our goal is to develop multifunctional technologies for identity documents that will work without failure during a long period of time. To test the reliability of these technologies under realistic conditions we need new standardised testing procedures,” project head Joachim Kloeser said.

Kloeser works at Bundesdruckerei, the German manufacturer of passports, banknotes and other official documents. Bundesdruckerei is working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration and semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies to develop the durability tests.

Bayer Material Science and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research are also supporting the project.