The United States is requiring all visa waiver countries to include a biometric in their passports by 2005, making travel documentation a hot topic. To address this need, ImageWare Systems has developed two passport solutions based upon its electronic personal identification (EPI) product line.

ImageWare's EPI product line is the most widely distributed of all ImageWare products. With worldwide distribution and support, ImageWare's EPI product line is used to create and issue ID cards and secure credentials in the government, enterprise, education and healthcare markets, among others. In fact, more than 20,000 copies in five languages have been installed around the globe.

ImageWare's commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) passport solution is a cost-effective alternative to the expensive, complicated travel document issuance systems on the market today. This passport solution will enable users to encode finger, iris and face minutia into a passport or other credential via a contactless smart chip.

For countries with more specialized passport requirements, ImageWare offers a software developer's kit (SDK), EPI Builder, which includes a collection of ActiveX/COM software components for image capture, document design, biometric searching and acquisition. These components can be assembled into a custom passport solution that meets a country's specific requirements within a fraction of the time required to build an application from scratch.