IQ Structures expands production of security features for ID documents

IQ Structures, a research and manufacturing organisation focused on nanotechnology engineering, a member of the IQS Group, announced that it has received orders for anti-counterfeiting protection for nearly 50 million personal documents for this year. These include polycarbonate passports, ID cards and driver's licenses. The applied product is IQ proID.

The company has thus confirmed its position among the market leaders in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.  Earlier, it announced its victory in the tender for Czech ID cards. It expects to start further major projects this year.

The IQ Structures product IQ proID is the most widely used for the protection of polycarbonate documents. Its main benefits are:

• Seamless integration in the card, through the microsegmentation of the security layer. Any attempt to remove it ends up disintegrating the security element into thousands of miniature parts.
• Protecting all the information on the card. The size of the protective element is unlimited; it can cover the entire surface of the card up to the edge.
• Integration with other technologies. IQ proID optical security features can be seamlessly integrated with other security technologies such as security printing, UV and OVI printing, tactile surface embossing, etc. This will create something that is a unified security feature from the perspective of the supervisor, plus from the perspective of the counterfeiter, the challenge of having to counterfeit different technologies will remain.
• Unique visual effects developed in IQ Structures laboratories. E.g. key-hole, see-through holograms in transparent windows, flip-flop (two holograms in one), white 3d bas-relief and full 3d, fluent changes in transparency, a combination of transparent and metallic effects and printed elements, etc.

In order to be able to deliver new contracts, IQ Structures had to expand its production capacity. This is not an elementary task, as they have to comply with strict security measures due to the nature of their business. In addition, they operate on the site of a nuclear reactor, and all safety regulations apply. It is also difficult technologically because of the extremely high quality requirements, operating on the order of tens of nanometers (100,000 in one millimeter).

Petr Franc, CEO of IQ Structures, said: “IQ Structures has been certified for all relevant standards, including ISO 14 298 (Intergraf) for security printing and ISO 27 001 for information security. Behind this is strict process control. Implementing changes is therefore slightly more complicated, as the highest level of security must not be compromised, even temporarily. I am proud to announce that we have succeeded in building a unique production centre and are ready for the next big projects technically, organisationally and in terms of personnel.”