Bundesdruckerei to produce ePassport for Cyprus

Berlin-based company to supply 500,000 electronic passports and the complete ePassport system

Berlin, 08 December 2009 - Bundesdruckerei has been awarded another international contract to produce electronic passports. The high-security company in Berlin is to supply Cyprus with blank passport booklets together with the complete system for data capture, central personalisation and issuing of the passports.

Bundesdruckerei will deliver the blank passports with integrated security features to Cyprus where they will be centrally personalised and finally issued. The customer, the Cypriot Ministry of the Interior, has chosen ePassports with a flexible cover. The data and colour photo of the passport holder are printed onto the data page in an inkjet printing process. The printed data page is then laminated with a special security foil, thus sealing the personal data and protecting it against manipulation.

"Bundesdruckerei has extensive technical expertise in the production of electronic documents. Whether an ePassport with a laminated card, like the one we produce for Germany, a polycarbonate passport with an integrated chip in the passport page, like the one implemented for Luxembourg, or like in this case for Cyprus, an electronic passport with inkjet printing - we are one of the few companies to be able to implement a vast range of different solutions in response to our customers' needs," explains Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei.

Since Cyprus has ordered a complete system, Bundesdruckerei will not only deliver the blank passport booklets but also the system infrastructure for data capture, central personalisation and document issuing. This will include both stationary and mobile data capturing stations for recording the biometric data of applicants along with the hardware needed to personalise and seal the ePassports. The Berlin-based, high-security company will also supply the required software for electronic personalisation which complies with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The quality of the documents issued will be warranted on site using checking devices from Bundesdruckerei. The company is also to supply the entire public key infrastructure (PKI) and, over a six-month period, to support technical administration, operations management and staff training. 

Information about Bundesdruckerei
Bundesdruckerei GmbH Berlin is one of the world's leading companies engaged in developing and supplying systems solutions for secure identification. In addition to full-scale passport and ID-card systems, the company provides national and international customers with ID documents, high-security cards, document verification devices, security software along with trust center services. Bundesdruckerei GmbH also produces banknotes, postage and revenue stamps as well as electronic publications. With its subsidiaries BIS Bundesdruckerei International Services GmbH, D-TRUST GmbH and iNCO Sp. z o.o., Bundesdruckerei employs a staff of around 1,700 worldwide. The company generated revenue of EUR 314 million in the 2008 financial year. Bundesdruckerei is one of the founding members of the "Secure Identity Berlin-Brandenburg" innovation cluster and also endows the "Secure Identity" chair at Freie Universität Berlin. For further details, please visit our website at www.bundesdruckerei.de.

Contact:
Jessica Behrens
Corporate Communications
Bundesdruckerei GmbH
Oranienstraße 91
D-10969 Berlin
Tel: + 49 (0) 30-25 98-28 10
Fax: + 49 (0) 30-25 98-28 08
Email: jessica.behrens@bdr.de