Keycorp Canada Inc - Smartcards: Smart ID

For any government ID card system, there are a number of system components necessary. In most cases, government ID projects combine the capabilities of a number of organisations that provide expertise in one or several components of the entire system. The system comprises three distinct sub-systems:

	The smartcard ID card that is assigned to each user or citizen as necessary.
	The terminal or reading device to accept the smartcard and process commands between the smartcard and the host system.
	The host system which contains the databases and card management capabilities for the whole system.

Under each of these sub-systems is a further system to handle the issuing, usage, maintenance and support of the complete system.

For the smartcard part of the system, Keycorp has been involved in numerous government projects using our MULTOS products. We believe that MULTOS is able to provide the maximum benefit for a secure identity document to both governments and document holders. No other solution matches the data integrity potential of MULTOS.

MULTOS is the world’s most secure smartcard operating system and has been utilised in many applications globally including national ID card systems, financial applications for EMV transactions, secure data exchange for government and business e-commerce and many others. A MULTOS smartcard is able to provide multiple applications on a secure platform, allows multi-vendor sourcing and is issuer centric. Click here to find out more.

There are a number of key issues facing identity card systems. *1) Platform Specifications:*
		Open Standards
		Industry and End-User Backing – to what extent is the specification backed by the industry and end-users?
		Access to card API and Load / Delete Specifications – to what extent are these specifications freely available?
2) Interoperability and Security:
		True interoperability is only achieved through Type Approval. This is usually a key requirement for multi-sourcing strategies common in government contracts.
		The smartcard security requirements are dependant on the government, but it is common to request the most secure available (such as ITSEC E6)
		Maturity of specifications – how long have the platform’s specifications (all elements) been stable and available to vendors for implementation?
3) Commercial:
		Overall card costs – what factors relating to the platform specification have an impact on card cost? For instance: cost of the Virtual Machine/Load Delete Mechanism/Operating System Implementation licenses for developers, per card royalty/card issuance fees, type of silicon hardware supported, ROM and E2PROM size required for OS and applications.
		Ease and efficiency of card application development - how flexible are the options for application development?
		Performance comparisons – what comparisons exist comparing the performance of the platforms with regard to application execution and loading and deleting?
		Product Availability – how many compliant and interoperable platform products are available on the market today? How many smart card applications, manufacturing companies, perso or card management system providers, have solutions that support the platform now?
		Supply chain flexibility – how easy is it for the card issuer to pick and choose silicon, card manufacturer, perso provider, and applications for the platform?
		Deployment – what volume of cards complying with the platform specifications have been delivered to consumers to date? In which market sectors? Give some examples from the government, finance, and other market sectors. What market sectors potentially with new form factors are utilizing the platform’s technology?

Click here to read a case study on Keycorp's MULTOS solution for the Hong Kong Smart Identity Card.

Click here to read more case studies on Keycorp's MULTOS and MULTOS step/one solutions.

Click here to read Keycorp's industry white papers.

For details about any information on this page, please click here to send an email to info@keycorp.ca