Peter Thomas, Managing Director, introduces Smurfit Westrock Security Concepts, an internationally recognised provider of high-security printing and identity management solutions
SWSC is an internationally recognised high security printing and identity management solutions provider with a range of award-winning products including passports, identity cards, excise stamps, birth and education certificates. For government and public sector organisations, our solutions help secure borders, protect citizens, prevent fraud, generate revenue and enable the delivery of frictionless services to citizens. We are a Smurfit Westrock company and can leverage our parent company’s strong international presence and infrastructure.
Where we operate
Our head office is in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. We honed our skills and expertise on award winning projects including the Irish Passport and we provide The Revenue Commissioners (Revenue), the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters, with tobacco excise stamps – a contract we have held for over 20 years.
SWSC now supports organisations around the world with current clients in the UK, Europe, Africa, the Middle and Far East and South America. We recently opened an office in North Africa and signed an exclusive reseller agreement with Signe, a Spanish company, to supply the full range of its products, including its digital certification platform, which provides secure, encrypted electronic documents for a range of uses, including identification in the legal, education or corporate sectors.
Issues governments and public sector organisations should be aware of
With the imposition of stricter security regulations and standards globally in recent years, the challenge to provide trustworthy security documents is greater now than ever before. As secure printing technology has improved, so too has the sophistication of the forger, meaning there is an ongoing need to find new ways to protect these documents. Fraud and related counterfeiting are increasingly commonplace, often using identity documents such as birth and education certificates.
In addition, the whole world is changing, and every organisation is undergoing digital transformation as international communities become more connected. Many of the products we supply are still paper-based. Still, the increasing use of mobile digital wallets and online verification is slowly replacing physical documents, and we are at the heart of that evolution. Currently, the world is straddling both the physical and the digital, with different regions at different stages, and we need solutions for both.
SWSC is a good fit for government and public sector
We have worked with governments and public sector organisations for over 40 years, supporting ambitious programmes of reform in this challenging and ever-changing sector. We understand the unique culture and business processes, the importance of social value, as well as the requirement for accountability and transparency.
SWSC’s solutions, which are designed to make the world a safer place, help to protect against criminal elements. We stay up-to-date with the latest fraud and counterfeit trends, designing products to combat future attacks and address the ever-improving technological techniques used by ‘bad actors’. Our in-depth understanding of data and brand protection is also integral to this. We are meeting today’s challenges head-on, leaning on the foundations of our security printing traditions and driving a long-term future into digitised solutions and services.
Our projects are varied but always important
In recent months, SWSC have been awarded several new projects including: a contract from the Revenue Commissioners, Ireland, to provide a comprehensive and fully compliant end to end solution for the provision of between 110 and 150 million ID Issuer codes each year for all tobacco related products to be imported and sold in Ireland; and a renewal with the University of Limerick and Atlantic Technological University Sligo and Galway to continue to produce ID cards for all University students that are highly secure, fully personalised and chip enabled to allow for greater functionality.
We take our responsibilities seriously
As a responsible organisation, we are committed to strong Environmental, Social and Governance standards, as part of Smurfit Westrock’s ‘Purpose’ initiative to create, protect and care. This means doing the right thing for our people, communities and the environment, through products and processes that make a real difference for customers and across the entire value chain. Our people are at the heart of our operation, and the company is passionate about their wellbeing, which is reflected in the high levels of staff retention, resulting in a highly experienced and knowledgeable team, enabling consistently high levels of service delivery.
SWSC is also a member of Repak, Ireland’s first voluntary incentive between industry and government, designed to meet industry producers’ responsibility and obligations under European Union directives on packaging and packaging waste, and has been accredited to the ISO 14001 standard since 2009.
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