The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 28 February. Those present included current Chairman Paul Dunn, newly appointed General Secretary Micaal Sidorov, Board Members Corinne Murcia (SURYS), Mark Deakes (De La Rue) and Ondrej Fedorchak (Optaglio) as well as representatives from Process Color, OpSec Security, Authentication Solutions Providers Association (ASPA), Centro Grafico, Computer Holography Centre, Papierfabrik Louisenthal and ITW Imagenta.
The Secretariat opened the AGM with a presentation of Chairman’s/Secretariat Report which included an overview of annual Hologram Image Register registrations over the past 10 years, the 2022 financial results, recent implementations such as a new modern website with a new members’ area, Holography News® digital platform and archive, and the 2023 budget.
IHMA’s recent activities and future plans were also presented. The end of last year saw the Association launch the IHMA Sustainability Group to provide support and guidance on the need to develop sustainable hologram manufacturing. Representatives have now been found from 5 companies with John Winchcombe from Reconnaissance International appointed as Facilitator. Using the International Currency Association (ICA) Charter, the starting point will be to establish where the IHMA members are on their sustainability journey. The Group will work to understand member’s needs and provide guidance that would best represent the interests of all members.
The plan to broaden the IHMA horizons through potential alliances with other related associations and institutions has been outlined and is now underway. The Association is currently in discussion with Secure Identification Union (SIU) in China to attract new members and is also speaking to the Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau (CIB) to see how the Hologram Image Register can be enhanced and potentially expanded to include other optically variable devices besides holograms. Part of this process will also be for the IHMA to increase its presence through presentations at conferences and the Association has just presented a workshop on Diffractive Features for Currency at the High Security Printing Conference EMEA in Abu Dhabi on 7-9 March.
Finally, Ondrej Fedorcak from Optaglio who had been co-opted to the Board last year has now been confirmed by vote. A special vote was also held to allow Paul Dunn to stay on as Chairman for another year which was unanimously approved.
The AGM closed with the Chairman’s statement reaffirming the Board’s commitment to improving and enhancing membership value through new initiatives.
