LaserCard Supplies Angola’s National ID Program

LaserCard Corporation announced that the Angolan government has officially approved the design of its new national ID card, triggering production start-up by LaserCard for the initial supply of secure optical memory cards for the country’s national ID program. Issuance of cards to Angola’s adult citizens is scheduled to begin in Luanda, the nation’s capital, by this fall.

Delivery of the $8.8 million card backlog will begin this quarter and is scheduled to be completed this fiscal year. The cards will be issued as secure wallet-size ID credentials to citizens nationwide and will store personal data including personal and biometric identification. The cards are based on the same tamperproof, highly counterfeit-resistant optical memory technology used in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Green Card’ program.

“Building a successful national ID program of this complexity is a large-scale and long-term undertaking,� said Robert DeVincenzi, president and chief executive officer at LaserCard. “The Angolan government and our team of partners have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to ensuring that each phase of this process has been properly executed, which bodes well for the long-term success of the program. We look forward to seeing our highly secure ID cards in the hands of the people of Angola and protecting their security and rights as citizens.�

Card production follows the build-out of the nationwide fixed and mobile infrastructure required for card issuance. LaserCard recently completed delivery of the card personalization equipment that forms the core of this system. LaserCard is a subcontractor to the Angolan government’s prime contractor, DGM-Sistemas of L.D.A. DGM-Sistemas and other team partners have been engaged in the implementation of the national IT infrastructure and criminal registry database to support the personal data capture, card issuance and downstream application processes.