September 2006: As the whole of Asia drives towards establishing an eID framework, many countries are aiming to roll-out ePassports or ID cards in the near future. From Australia to Thailand, India to the Philippines, and New Zealand to Malaysia and Singapore, the entire Asia-Pacific region is on the eID trail.
It's easy to see why. Smart ID cards offer such attractive benefits as improved counterfeit prevention and multi-application capability. Online banking, electronic voting and health services are just a few of the application possibilities - Australia aims to feature up to 17 unique functions on its new ID card.
Many imminent projects and current roll-outs - such as New Zealand's and Singapore's new ePassport - are based on NXP Common CriteriaEAL5+ security certified SmartMX chip technology. SmartMX offers a wide variety of interface, memory and cryptographic hardware options including future-ready AES and industry-first security certified triple interface IC, making it the platform of choice for major smart ID projects. The benchmark for data security, performance and reliability, SmartMX fully meets or exceeds the requirements of large scale ePassport and other citizen credential schemes.
Of course the sheer volume of eID cards is enough to interest manufacturers. Even the estimated 35 million cards needed for South Korean citizens is dwarfed by China's 800 million! The business potential is huge and NXP is in prime position to help governments implement their eID projects. Numerous regions have already chosen NXP solutions in advance of implementation, keeping us on track to maintain an estimated 80% share of Asia's smart passport market.
Smart move by Australia
Drawing on the experience of similar large-scale government projects around the world, the Australian government's decision to implement a new smart card infrastructure for the Department of Human Services came only after much deliberation. Standardization and consistency were critical aspects of the project and will be safeguarded by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).
AGIMO will help address issues such as what information is kept on the chip, what is in the system and how the system needs to be configured for maximum integrity. NXP takes its social responsibilities seriously. We are actively supporting AGIMO on issues relating to IC and smart card technology to ensure a successful implementation that protects people's privacy.
Due to be rolled out in 2008, each card will contain a set of unique keys that prove the cardholder's identity for a number of services. So for example, when a doctor puts a card into a reader, he can access that person's medical information from a central database. This approach limits the amount of personal information stored on the card, while still giving the cardholder the option to store additional information on the card for access to other services.
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