In a recent move to enhance night-time road safety and curb accidents caused by poor visibility, the Telangana Transport Department (India) has issued a new mandate requiring all transport vehicles to be equipped with high-standard reflective rear-marking plates and tapes.

In a move to redefine national security, President Gustavo Petro has unveiled the design of Colombia’s new passport. Set to enter circulation on 1 April 2026, the document is being hailed as one of the four most secure travel documents in the world.

The International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) held its electronic Annual General Meeting (e-AGM) on 24 February 2026, reaffirming its governance structure and presenting a strategic roadmap for the coming year.

Hanoi-based Q&T Hi-tech Polymer continues to strengthen its position in the global polymer banknote ecosystem, combining certification milestones with new technology investments that deepen its capabilities in high-security production.

A breakthrough in computational imaging is set to transform how scientists study complex biological structures. Led by doctoral researcher Shivasubramanian Gopinath at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Physics, a research team has developed a method to bypass one of the most persistent limitations in microscopy – fixed focal depth.

Securikett, a provider of tamper-evident security labels and brand protection products, has announced a strategic partnership with Dust Identity, a provider of physical-to-digital identity technology.

Over the past few years, light-field imaging has been considered one of the more promising directions for next-generation document security features. By reproducing not only the intensity of light but also its direction, a light-field structure can create convincing 3D imagery that changes naturally when the viewing angle shifts. For the holder of a passport, banknote or ID card, the result is an effect that is both visually striking and immediately verifiable by the naked eye.

Just before the end of 2025, I travelled to Uxbridge, north-west London, to see Musion 3D’s newly opened World’s Largest Hologram Showroom (WLHS). The site is located within The Atrium, a conventional mixed-use commercial-technology building whose exterior offers little indication of the optical and computational systems operating within.

The High Security Printing (HSP) EMEA Awards continue to be the region’s premier platform recognising excellence in banknote and ID design and innovation. This year’s awards took place on 10 February in Rabat, Morocco. In our last edition, we covered the ID awards; now we focus on the best innovation in banknotes.

Fibarcode, a materials science startup spun out of the University of Michigan, has secured a $1.5 million Fast-Track grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance its work on textile labelling for authentication, traceability and recycling.

Covestro, a German materials science company, has concluded a challenging 2025 fiscal year, despite a persistently testing market environment. Volatile geopolitical dynamics, sustained weak global demand, and intense competitive pressure, coupled with the impact of the fire at the Dormagen Chempark, weighed heavily on the group’s economic development.

On International Women’s Day (8 March), we celebrate the female researchers, engineers, and leaders who have helped shape the optical and security printing industry.

Researchers at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in South Korea have developed an eco-friendly smart security label that combines colour-based verification with holographic authentication. This sustainable alternative to conventional security labels can dissolve completely in water, leaving no trace.

The Central Reserve Bank of Peru has introduced an updated version of the 200 soles banknote, first issued in 2023 and the highest value in the current series.

Recent financial results from Crane NXT highlight growing global demand for advanced authentication technologies, especially micro-optic security features in banknotes. The company reported strong performance for the fourth quarter and full year ending 31 December 2025, reflecting wider adoption of its currency and security solutions by central banks worldwide.

Back in our November 2025 editorial for Holography & Optical Technology News™, we said that collaboration was becoming a smarter strategic pathway than aggressive acquisitions, which appeared to have reached a natural peak. This shift encouraged more agile partnership models, offering companies a faster route to innovation in the rapidly evolving anticounterfeiting landscape.

Banknote security specialist Hueck Folien has acquired California-based WaveFront Technology LLC, transforming the Austrian firm into a ‘full-liner’ with end-to-end control over the security feature lifecycle. By integrating WaveFront’s 30-year expertise in micro and nanostructures, Hueck Folien secures strategic independence and the ability to originate custom optical designs in-house. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

The Bank of Russia introduced a redesigned 1,000 ruble banknote on 26 December 2025, featuring the Volga Federal District and Nizhny Novgorod.

The UK is navigating a pivotal moment in its national infrastructure, embarking on major security printing tenders totalling over £1 billion. These flagship programs, covering banknotes, passports, and excise-control stamps, will define the country’s currency, identity, and tax-enforcement landscape for the next decade.

In April 2022, Holography News (the predecessor to Holography & Optical Technology News™) published an in-depth interview with Chris Rich, co-founder and CEO of WaveFront Technology, charting more than three decades at the forefront of holography. That conversation explored WaveFront’s origins in recombination and tooling, its evolution into deep microstructure UV-casting and freeform optical technologies, and the company’s vision to integrate macro, micro and nanostructures into unified optical security features.