Entrust and Vietnam-based MK Group have established a framework to pursue government identity credential opportunities together, including electronic passports and national identity cards. The arrangement combines Entrust’s issuance and identity-security systems with MK Group’s smart-card technology, secure manufacturing and local program implementation.
The companies have worked together on citizen ID programs in Asia-Pacific. Their latest agreement creates a broader basis for identifying government projects where both firms can contribute, rather than announcing the award of a particular passport or national-ID contract. MK Group already lists Entrust as a security and card-issuance partner in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Electronic passports and national identity cards require more than a printed document. An issuer must prepare identity data, personalize a card or booklet, secure embedded electronics where used and manage the keys and processes that allow a credential to be checked. Entrust markets systems for physical and digital government credential issuance, identity verification and cryptographic protection. MK Group supplies smart-card technologies, secure manufacturing and personalization capabilities.
Entrust CEO Tony Ball said the two companies’ previous Asia-Pacific work supported the decision to pursue additional government ID opportunities. MK Group’s founder and CEO, Nguyen Trong Khang, said the partnership can combine technology and manufacturing with local requirements for national-scale programs. The framework gives the companies a route to offer complementary parts of a government identity project when an opportunity arises.
Entrust has experience beyond document production. It supported a UK biometric immigration application and acquired WorldReach, a government digital identity and travel technology provider. Those activities sit alongside its passport and ID-card issuance products.
MK Group is headquartered in Vietnam and says it serves public agencies, financial institutions and enterprises across Asia, Africa and Latin America. It has manufacturing and operational capabilities in Vietnam, Brazil and Ethiopia, and develops authentication and digital-trust systems alongside physical credentials. Its existing Entrust relationship in Indochina makes the new framework an expansion of cooperation rather than a first introduction between the companies.
The agreement is focused on future government credential opportunities, with the firms proposing to combine issuance technology, secure production and implementation capacity according to a program’s requirements.
Sources: Business Wire, MK Group, Entrust
–
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
