Ways to identify fake security devices on banknotes, passports and other secured documents will be at the heart of the Optical Document Security conference. Aimed at central banks, ID issuers and authorities, banknote and ID printers / integrators and secure document component suppliers, it runs in San Francisco, California from January 29 to 31, 2020.
The event will focus on the latest in optical document security features. Among the topics will be caustic optics, asymmetric microstructures and plasmonic technologies. Organisers point to the transition from the physical to the digital world gathers pace, so it brings together aspects of each being used to secure personally sensitive and financial information.
A Short Course which precedes the conference has forensic examiners from international police body Interpol and the US Department of Homeland Security explaining how they set about examining documents and detection and the trends they are seeing in fraudulent optical features. Given the sensitive nature of this course only people with a legitimate interest in the topic will be accepted for it.
Sessions will examine human factors and design in optical document security, novel materials, production methods and the adoption of smartphones in anti-counterfeiting. The conference, organised by Reconnaissance International is for people in the public and private sectors involved with the design, production or examination of government issued security documents including financial, tax and ID documents. An exhibition of novel optical security features takes place during the conference dinner. This allows participants to examine and learn more about items covered in the conference papers.
Conference director Dr Mark Deakes, of Reconnaissance International, said: “We are living through a watershed period in how we manage what must be secure documents and secure information. So, the conference comes as a timely opportunity to engage in the debate and examine the most pressing issues, particularly as the co-existence between the physical and the digital worlds gathers pace.”
There will be papers from SICPA on caustic optics, OVD Kinegram on asymmetric microstructures and SURYS on its latest plasmonic features. Plasmonics also features in papers from OpSec and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a newcomer to ODS. Conference newcomers Pulsetech Security, Demax and Polytechnique Montréal will present on reflection holograms with QR codes for smartphone recognition, plasmonic colour control for smartphone verification, and electrochromic materials respectively. Central banks are also on the agenda – a paper from the European Central Bank will focus on analysing fake Euro holograms while the Bank of Canada will report on its work on perception studies. Visit www.opticaldocumentsecurity.com.
Pictured; the 2018 conference.
