State security printers in Asia are transforming as a result of a fast-changing economic and technological environment, from currency and secure document producers to digital identification and authentication providers.

Koenig & Bauer Banknotes Solutions (KBBS) is forging ahead with its agenda to create physical-digital technology bridges with the announcement of two new partnerships linked to digital authentication.

Meta Materials, under its former name of Nanotech Security Corporation, has been a pioneer in banknote OVD technology for the past decade with innovations in micro-, nano- and now plasmonic structures.

A variety of new security features for banknotes have been launched this year, some of which may well find their way into or be adapted for use in other documents requiring protection against counterfeiting.

A research team at Hong Kong University is working on the development of an extremely precise 3D printing process that can be used to produce polarisation-encoded anti-counterfeiting labels.

The FINAT Sustainability Award has been held annually since 2014 to honour member initiatives that address environmental and social aspects of sustainability.

Dutch security print company Royal Joh Enschedé is teaming up with PROxID and Concordium blockchain to connect the world between security print products, NFTs and the metaverse.

The return of in-person conferences this year, after a hiatus of two or more years, has seen a slew of new features launched for banknote authentication.

Jura Security Printing recently held a series of practical workshops in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the future of security printing. This was one of the first events in the last 20 months or so that customers and suppliers had physically travelled to in order to meet up in person, so it was filled with plenty of energy and enthusiasm.

Many technologies and features with their roots in commercial printing have made, and continue to make, a substantial contribution to secure document production. However, these technologies have for the most part been concerned with producing visual colours, perceived by the unaided eye as conventional colour printing.