e-Passports, require global cooperation and standard setting. The International Civil Aviation Organization has issued protocols in this regard and tried to ensure a public key infrastructure that can be shared by various countries.

“The PKI is significant in ensuring that the electronic data in the e-Passport can be trusted,” notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Michelle Foong.

However, it will be many years before countries install readers that are interoperable at most borders and agree on the distribution of digital certificates issued by the various member countries.

The infrastructure needed to use e-Passport effectively to police borders involves manufacturing and binding of the books, issuance and personalization systems, software for enrollment, capturing, and digitizing data and border control systems. Some major manufacturers of smart cards offer turnkey solutions for e-Passport systems.

As more countries move toward ICAO compliance, the use of smart cards in this application is only bound to grow. International mandates such as those by the United States and the European Union, which waive visas for travelers from specified countries that issue e-Passports, will also help increase the use of e-Passports.

Market participants will have to find a way to deal with the possible political concerns regarding the costs of migrating the current infrastructure - especially the portion paid by the traveler.

“In creating a secure document such as the e-Passport, it is not only the travel document itself that needs to be scrutinized, but rather, the entire system and processes at issuance, immigration points, and back-end systems need to be considered from a security and efficiency perspective,” says Foong.