Sony smarts cards up

Together Sony and Fujitsu have developed the next generation of the FeliCa branded contactless IC smart card chip. The new technology increases memory on the chip from four to nine kilobytes and provides for improved processing speeds of 424kbps.

Sony points to multi-application management as a selling point for the upgraded smart card. It's a development that could allow organisations to explore a wide range of options including membership ID, identification, e-ticketing, e-wallets and access control.

The new technology has built on Sony's existing FeliCa product. Sony says there are over 100 million of these smart cards in circulation across the world used in operations such as identification, e-trade, transit ticketing and e-commerce. The Asian market has proven particularly valuable with large scale product roll-outs occurring through the "ex-link" card in Singapore and "Octopus" card in Hong Kong.

SecureID has implemented Nigeria's first e-government multi-application smart cards for Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

The card, a general multi-purpose card (GMPC), is an e-government and high-profile initiative in the multimedia smart card industry.

The GMPC is a rugged credit card-sized plastic token with an embedded microchip, contactless mifare chip and magnetic stripe. The solution uses a global platform 8KB Java (read and write memory) chip. This enables the card issuer to add applications to the card after issuance. GPMC makes use of biometric technology for identification which makes the face and fingerprints possible.

The Modi government has decided to introduce e-ration cards in the state. The e-card would have a chip, which would contain the details of family members, member's blood group, driving licence number, etc. The card would also contain the number of the fair priced shop (FPS) to which the card holder is attached for buying ration.

In the first phase, the project would be implemented in Unjha Taluka where more than 40 000 ration card holders will be given smart cards. The smart cards would be used in more than 60 FPS in Unjha Taluka.

According to the district collector, the implementation of the project would start from December and within two months, all ration card holders would be given e-cards.