HJP Consulting has provided support to the Organization for Security in Central Europe (OSCE) for the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD), to prevent terrorists and other criminals from crossing borders with forged travel documents. ICAO’s PKD is a technologically advanced system to secure the integrity of biometric passports. These moves build on a national action plan that Armenia developed along with the OSCE and the International Organization for Migration in 2009. One of the key points of the action plan was the introduction of ePassports and electronic identification cards in Armenia. Representatives from Armenia’s Border, State Registry and Information Technology agencies are discussing the technical, administrative and operational details of the ICAO PKD in co-operation with the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian police. Since the adoption of an OSCE Ministerial Council Decision in 2009 on the promotion of the ICAO PKD, the OSCE has conducted similar workshops in Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Uzbekistan.
