MUNICH, Germany and DUBLIN, Ireland, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Irish Order for 100,000 Tachosmart Cards Runs Until 2009

International technology group Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has been commissioned by the Department of Transport of the Republic of Ireland to supply 100,000 smart cards and the corresponding technological infrastructure for digital tachographs over the next five years. As of August 2005, EU regulations require all newly registered trucks and buses to be equipped with a digital tachograph. For G&D, the deal represents the first public contract with Ireland and, following Germany and Belgium, the third tachograph project in succession. As general contractor, G&D is responsible for design consulting, production, personalisation, and delivery of the cards.

Over the course of this year, digital tachographs will be replacing analogue units in every country of the European Union. The changeover will affect around 6,000 buses and trucks newly registered in Ireland every year. Switching to the digital system will serve to improve monitoring of vehicle operators' driving times and rest times as well as their adherence to speed limits. The European Commission expects the new system to boost road safety and create a uniform competitive environment, especially among hauling companies, across the EU.

Department of Transport spokesperson said that G&D were chosen to provide one of the first smart card programmes within the Irish government because of their proven track record in both smart card and digital tachograph technologies.

In Spain, G&D served already as consultant to the government's banknote printing works-responsible for the introduction of the digital tachograph system on the Iberian peninsula-on the nation-wide implementation of the EU regulations. As part of the conversion to the new system, G&D has supplied the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) with the necessary technological infrastructure for personalisation and mailing of the four different types of smart cards. Next to Belgium, Ireland is the second country for which the smart card specialists at G&D are assuming responsibility as general contractor for production, personalisation, and delivery of the Tachosmart cards.

"G&D was one of the first technology corporations to provide solutions and know-how for introducing the digital tachograph in Europe. Now we are reaping the rewards. We are pleased that the Irish Department of Transport has chosen to go with our security technology," says Michael Nitz, Head of Giesecke & Devrient's Industry and Government division.

Besides G&D, Belgian firm Cybertrust, formerly Ubizen, and the English company Intercede are involved in the project. Cybertrust will be gathering and checking the individual information on each driver, company, and automobile workshop and issuing the security certificates for encrypting the data. Furthermore, the company will be setting up the tachograph network. Intercede will be responsible for providing the data and will install the card management system at the Department of Transport.

About Giesecke & Devrient:

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a technology leader in the field of smart cards, providing smart card based solutions for telecommunications, electronic payment, health care, ID, transportation, and IT security (PKI). G&D is also a leading producer of banknotes and security documents, and dominant in the field of currency automation. Based in Munich, Germany, the G&D Group operates subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. In fiscal 2003, the group employed some 6,800 people and generated revenue of EUR1.05 billion. For more information, visit www.gi-de.com.

Contact: Giesecke & Devrient GmbH Ulrike Zeitler, Press Officer Prinzregentenstrasse 159, 81607 Munich, Germany Telephone: +49-89-4119-1189, Fax: -2020 E-mail: ulrike.zeitler@de.gi-de.com

Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Ulrike Zeitler, Press Officer, Telephone: +49-89-4119-1189, Fax: -2020, E-mail: ulrike.zeitler@de.gi-de.com