ITB students design anti-counterfeiting chip for e-passports

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2 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Students from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) have developed a security chip design aimed at preventing the counterfeiting and duplication of digital identities, specifically for electronic passports (e-passports).

The innovation, created by the ITB team “Casa Tubagus”, secured first place in the PERURI Chip Hackathon 2026, which was held as part of the PERURI Digital Summit 2026.

In a press statement in Jakarta on Monday, PERURI’s Director of Digital Business, Edwin Purwandesi, explained that the technology designed by the team utilizes the unique physical “fingerprint” of each individual chip as a security identifier.

The approach is intended to enhance protection against the risks of counterfeiting and the unauthorized duplication of chips used in electronic identity documents.

Beyond identity security, the competition also yielded several semiconductor technology designs tailored for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and digital data protection.

The “iSeeDesignITB” team from ITB, which took second place, developed an AI-based chip design to help robots navigate more intelligently, safely, and efficiently, particularly when operating in environments shared with humans.

Meanwhile, the “Digilarp” team from the University of Indonesia (UI) earned third place with a security chip design aimed at protecting encryption keys and sensitive data within e-passports from physical attacks.

The three innovations were selected from entries submitted by 98 teams, comprising 338 students from 41 universities across Indonesia.

In the competition, participants were challenged to develop chip designs across four technological domains: Secure Identity & Security Element Chips, Hardware Cryptography Accelerators, AI/Edge Accelerators, and Secure Communication.

Purwandesi noted that the development of human resources is a crucial step toward strengthening Indonesia’s capabilities in the semiconductor sector.

Purwandesi stated that PERURI is working to prepare national talent through the PERURI Chip Hackathon.

“We hope this initiative can be further developed so that, within the next two to five years, Indonesia will possess a pool of talent that is increasingly well-prepared and experienced in the field of semiconductor technology,” Purwandesi said.

He added that the development of domestic chip designs is to build national technological capabilities, particularly to support requirements in digital security, artificial intelligence, and national communication systems.