The need for a reliable solution to counter fraud, illegal immigration, and cross-border terrorism has created a case for e-Passports in the Asia Pacific region. The US Visa Waiver Program that necessitates e-Passports for select countries further enhances this demand.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Assessment of Asia Pacific e-Passport Markets defines e-Passport as a machine-readable travel document containing smart card technology which comes in the form of a standard passport with the integrated circuit (IC) chip embedded in it. This technology is more secure and sophisticated than conventional passports.

e-Passports, require global cooperation and standard setting. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has issued protocols in this regard and tried to ensure a public key infrastructure (PKI) 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 take many years for countries to 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 personalisation systems, software for enrollment, capturing, and digitising data and border control systems such as autogate. Some major manufacturers of smart cards offer turnkey solutions for e-Passport systems.

"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.