Westport, Conn. -- ASK Smart Paper ID, a solution for contactless travel documents, has been selected on January 12 by the US Government Printing Office (GPO) for the first phase of the American electronic passport project. Passport test samples and readers are currently being delivered. These products will be formally evaluated within two months.

ASK’s solution for the US ePassport is based on an ICAO compliant contactless chip with 72 KBytes EEPROM memory enabling the storage of the facial picture and other biometrics elements. The electronic feature is embedded in the cover with a maximum thickness of 700MicroM and compatible with the existing passport manufacturing process.

Based on a silver ink printed antenna and a contactless chip mounted by flip-chip, this technology has been proven in the field for several years with over 50 million contactless smart cards, tickets and RFID labels. It provides the thinnest packaging for eID documents, new security features, tamper evidence. Other key features of the technology are convenience, robustness, durability and low cost.