Rosh Pina-based On Track Innovations (OTI) announced this month that its wholly owned American subsidiary, OTI America Inc,. has been awarded a contract by the US Government Printing Office (USGPO) to provide "Electronic Passport" prototypes to the American government.

The agreement is for the pre-production phase, but Ohad Bashan, President and CEO of OTI America, stated confidently that "on the basis of the work that we will perform under the contract, [and] the technology that we have developed for use in the growing world-wide market for personal identification and other homeland security applications, we will be selected for use in the production stage of the US passports."

Established in 1990, OTI designs, develops and markets secure contactless microprocessor-based smart card technology to address the needs of a wide variety of markets. Applications developed by OTI include product solutions for petroleum payment systems, homeland security solutions, electronic passports and IDs, micro payments, mass transit ticketing, parking, loyalty programs and secure campuses.

Another Israeli firm, also selected by the USGPO to take part in the test phase of "Electronic Passport" development, SuperCom of Ra'anana, has already begun deploying a cutting-edge biometric visa issuance system in embassies of an unnamed European government. Tailored to meet the customer's specific requirements, the integrated system will capture the fingerprints of each visa applicant and store the images on a chip integrated in each visa, enabling automatic and positive identification of the person each time the visa is used. The system features an advanced and decentralized design that makes it fast and cost-effective to install while increasing its flexibility.

SuperCom provides smart-card and e-ID technological solutions to the commercial and government sectors. The company is a leader in the manufacturing of secure and durable smart cards and documents such as national identity cards, passports, visas, drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations