Interview with an ITSA Member: DİAS

Tax Stamp & Traceability News took the opportunity to sit down with the company's Deputy General Manager of Production & Operations, Dr Alper Goknar, to discuss Turkey's tax stamp and excise control programme, and which aspects of it are most transferable to other countries. This interview is reproduced below.

The DİAS Group, founded in Istanbul, provides high security printing services alongside digital security solutions in the areas of loss and theft prevention. It approaches tax stamps as not just a physical security measure, but an integral part of digital tracking and verification systems that allow public authorities to effectively monitor and audit taxable products.

Q: For readers who may not be familiar with DİAS, could you introduce the company and explain its role within Turkey's tax stamp and excise control programme?

A: At the simplest level, DİAS builds and operates the infrastructure which stands between public revenue and those attempting to divert it. We design and implement nationwide digital traceability systems, which protect government revenues, strengthen market integrity, and enable consumers to trust the products they purchase. In practice, this means bringing together two disciplines which are rarely combined at this scale: high-security printing on one hand, and advanced software engineering on the other.

Turkey is a demanding environment for such systems. With the population currently exceeding 85 million, and being one of Europe's largest economies – I believe it ranks sixth by size – its excise control programme must operate at enormous scale while tolerating virtually no downtime.

DİAS has been one of the principal technology partners supporting this national infrastructure, and today, our expertise extends far beyond excise stamps. We have also successfully delivered nationwide track and trace programmes for precious metals (gold, silver, etc.) and construction iron and steel reinforcing bars, as well as deposit return systems and nationwide vehicle identification. That's five national programmes, each one built on a different technological foundation, but all addressing the same challenge of creating trusted identities at national scale without disturbing the industries that rely on them.

I believe what differentiates us is our combination of extensive operational experience in secure production environments and deep software expertise. We have roughly 400 software engineers we employ currently within our 1,000-person organisation. This multidisciplinary capability enables us to not only build technology, but operate mission-critical national infrastructure successfully over many years.

Q: Looking back since implementation, what do you consider the programme's biggest achievements? And its biggest challenges?

A: This is a hard question. To be honest, the technology itself has rarely been the toughest part for us. The real challenge is introducing new technologies to live national programmes without disrupting production for even a single shift.

I recall visiting one of the country's largest cigarette manufacturers before one of our biggest migration projects, and their first question wasn't about any technology, it was simply: can you guarantee production will not stop?

Turkey's excise ecosystem operates across more than 350 high-speed tobacco and alcohol production lines, and these factories cannot simply close while infrastructure is upgraded. Every single technological improvement had to be introduced while manufacturers continued production at full capacity, while products continued reaching consumers without interruption. Even one hour of downtime can affect an entire national supply chain.

So, during the project I mentioned, we successfully migrated more than 350 production lines to an entirely new technological platform in less than four months – an incredible time period – all without interrupting production or availability anywhere in the country. People often compare this sort of undertaking to changing the engines of an aircraft during flight. In our case, that analogy is remarkably accurate!

Ultimately, however, success should be measured by outcomes rather than the technology alone. Over the lifetime of the programme, Turkey's illicit cigarette market has fallen dramatically, from approximately 29% at its peak in 2012 to around 2% today. That achievement cannot be attributed to technology alone. Effective enforcement, sound regulation, and close cooperation across stakeholders have all played essential roles.

A secure national track and trace infrastructure capable of generating, commissioning, and verifying billions of unique identities each year removes much of the opportunity on which illicit trade depends. If there is one lesson we have learned in this process, it is that, while technology is of course very valuable, it can only work if it performs flawlessly under real industrial conditions. National infrastructure is judged not by impressive demonstrations, but by reliable performance, day after day.

Q: What are the main technical characteristics of the current Turkish tax stamp system?

A: If I had to describe the Turkish system in a single phrase, it would be 'digital uniqueness at industrial scales'. Physical, overt and covert security features remain indispensable, of course. However, what truly distinguishes the Turkish programme is its ability to generate, personalise, commission, and verify more than 10 billion uniquely identified tax stamps every single year. This is far more than a serialisation project. It is an end-to-end digital ecosystem connecting secure production, manufacturers, government systems, inspectors, distributors, and ultimately consumers, through a trusted digital identity.

One observation has become increasingly clear throughout our experience: scale doesn't just make the problem bigger; it changes what the problem is. Designing a system which produces millions of unique identities is maybe one engineering challenge. I accept that. But designing one that reliably handles more than 10 billion IDs every single year, while maintaining real-time authentication, production efficiency, and uninterrupted availability? That is a completely different discipline!

Q: How has the system evolved since you first assumed responsibility? Have there been significant technology upgrades?

A: For me, the real turning point wasn't simply an upgrade; it was a transformation of the very nature of the programme.

Like many national excise programmes, it all began with a highly secure physical stamp, which incorporated overt and covert security features. The transformation occurred when every single individual stamp ceased to be merely a securely printed object and became a unique digital identity, traceable throughout its entire life cycle. That shift fundamentally changed the role of the tax stamp. It evolved from a passive anticounterfeit feature into an intelligent component of a fully integrated national track and trace ecosystem capable of authentication, traceability, data analytics, and consumer engagement.

Subsequent developments focused on continuously improving industrial performance. We introduced new commissioning processes, strengthened authentication services, and enhanced production line integration. We improved system resilience, and expanded analytical capabilities, which support both operational monitoring and enforcement. Rather than imposing technology from the top down, operational realities shaped the architecture from the bottom up.

Q: How do you balance physical security features with digital capabilities such as serialisation, authentication and traceability?

A: Honestly? I would challenge the word 'balance' here. It suggests a compromise between physical and digital security when, in reality, there is no such trade off. Physical security protects the product itself, but the digital security protects its identity. Neither can substitute for the other.

Sophisticated counterfeiters rarely attack the strongest layer of protection. Instead, they search patiently for the weakest one. If physical security is exceptional, but weaknesses exist within authentication services, governance or data integrity, that is precisely where they will focus.

Our objective is therefore not to optimise between physical and digital security, but to maximise every independent layer simultaneously. That means advanced secure printing, secure serialisation, authentication services, and continuous monitoring and data analytics. We believe true resilience comes from integration, not compromise.

Q: What measures are in place to ensure resilience against increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters?

A: Counterfeiters evolve continuously, so defensive strategies must evolve even faster. This is our task. Turkey benefits from a comprehensive inspection network supported by specialised forensic laboratories that analyse suspicious products recovered from the market. We have laboratories in our own facility, plus laboratories in the Turkish Mint. Every counterfeit attempt becomes an opportunity to understand emerging attack methods. We improve our future protection according to those findings.

One misconception is that the counterfeiters attack only physical security features. This is not true. Increasingly, they attack processes. Now, weak governance, maybe compromised credentials, maybe disconnected databases or operational weaknesses, can all present greater opportunities than flaws in the physical tax stamp itself.

Modern protection, therefore, extends well beyond security printing. It requires safeguarding the entire operational ecosystem surrounding the product, alongside continuously improving our own technology.

We closely monitor international developments as well. We collaborate with universities and research institutions. We evaluate emerging authentication technologies for future integration opportunities.

Q: Turkey is often regarded as one of the more advanced excise control programmes globally. Which aspects do you believe are most transferable to other countries?

A: Several lessons from Turkey's experience are highly transferable to other countries. First, physical and digital security should never be treated as competing alternatives. Their real strength lies in their integration.

Maybe the second lesson we can transfer is that digital uniqueness can operate successfully on a national scale. Not just millions, but billions of uniquely identified products can be managed reliably every year when architecture and operations are designed together.

Thirdly, implementation strategy matters just as much as technology itself. Through standardisation, modular deployment and extensive pre-configuration, we significantly reduced installation times on production lines while minimising disruption for manufacturers.

One final thing: governance deserves as much attention as technology. The long-term credibility of any national track and trace programme depends not only on technological excellence, but also on clear governance. Governments should retain ownership of critical data, control over authentication services, and the flexibility to evolve their systems independently over time. Technology providers should strengthen their independence, not replace it.

Q: Do you see future excise programmes moving towards fully integrated digital ecosystems, or will secure physical tax stamps remain essential?

A: Personally, I firmly believe secure physical tax stamps will remain an essential part of future excise programmes. That's for sure. Fully integrated digital ecosystems may represent an attractive long-term vision, but they also rely upon assumptions which are not always reflected in operational reality.

Excise programmes are most valuable precisely because manufacturing environments, distribution channels, and enforcement capabilities vary significantly. Even small gaps, anywhere within that chain, create opportunities for illicit trade.

Consumer authentication presents another practical consideration. Not every citizen owns a device capable of supporting advanced digital verification technology. Without an independent physical layer of security, those consumers would have no reliable means of distinguishing genuine products from counterfeit ones. That's why the future is not a choice between physical and digital security. It is about combining both into a single trusted ecosystem.

Q: What are DİAS' priorities for the next few years?

A: Our primary objective is to bring the experience we have gained from one of Europe's largest national track and trace programmes to international markets. Governments around the world are facing increasingly similar challenges: protecting public revenues, combating illicit trade, and modernising digital infrastructure without disrupting the industry. Our ambition is not simply to export technology, but to export operational experience solutions which have already been proven under demanding real-world conditions.

Q: Are there any new technologies, products or initiatives that you can share with our readers?

A: I believe the next frontier for DİAS – and our entire industry – is clear. The future is not about making tax stamps incrementally more secure. It is about creating trusted digital ecosystems where secure physical identities connect seamlessly with artificial intelligence, predictive enforcement, advanced analytics, and compatible public infrastructures. That is where we believe the industry is heading and where DİAS intends to continue contributing.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a government considering a new tax stamp or traceability programme, what would it be?

A: Never evaluate a national track and trace programme solely through presentations, demonstrations, or technical documentation. Go and visit operational production sites. Observe the system under real manufacturing pressure and conditions. Speak not only with the technology providers, but also with factory managers, inspectors, operators, and government authorities responsible for daily operations.

Most importantly: do not buy technology, buy operational capability. In the end, the success of a national excise programme is determined not by how impressive it appears during procurement, but by how reliably it performs every single year for years to come.

For more information, visit the company website: https://diasteknoloji.com/en