Singapore-New Standard for Smart Card Identification means Lower Costs and Greater Convenience for Issuers and Users
Singapore-It is common practice today for us to carry one or more cards that show our identity. This can be in the form of a national identity card, staff or student card, library or club membership or loyalty programme card. All or any of these cards essentially have the same personal information - name, sex (gender), age or date of birth, a unique identification number and perhaps an address as well.
But one day soon, we may only need to carry one card that would allow us to access our office, borrow books at the library, and/or chalk up loyalty points when we shop or order online. This could become a reality with the launch of a new standard for smart card identification.
The Singapore Standard for Smart Card ID (SSID) or SS 529 SSID is a common standard applicable to the various identification cards and their reading devices used by government agencies and private organisations. It specifies the data structure, security and access conditions for a smart card that contains personal identification data. This standard can also be used for smart chip-enabled devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), watches and mobile phones.
The smart card or smart card-like devices can communicate by contact or contactless means, and they only need to comply with the data structures, security and application protocol data units (APDUs) specified by SS 529 SSID for electronic reading and processing of data for identification.
SS 529 SSID was developed by the Cards and Personal Identification Technical Committee under the purview of the IT Standards Committee and published by SPRING Singapore. The team comprised representatives from industry and government agencies including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Defence Science and Technology Agency, and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. The standard was launched at an industry seminar today.
SS 529 SSID is based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s specifications for electronic passports, with additional extensions for data and security that is not required or stored in an e-passport. This means that in the near future, we could have one reader that can scan both international e-passports and smart cards and devices that comply with this standard.
“SS 529 SSID marks a significant achievement in smart card deployment, where the standard for ID card is fully aligned with that for e-passports. This is not the case for many countries,” said Mr Lin Yih, Chairman of the Cards & Personal Identification Technical Committee. “Another significant achievement is that the standard will encourage multiple smart card issuers within the same country, instead of depending upon one central issuer to get mega projects going.”
Mr Loh Khum Yean, Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore said, “Different ID cards have different formats and are protected by different security access control and trust mechanisms. It is costly to do automated reading and verification of cards from different issuers as different hardware and software are needed. By providing a standard to define the format of the data, how it is encoded onto the chip and where to place the chip on the card, SS 529 SSID will help make it possible for one card reader to read multiple cards. This will greatly benefit industry by bringing down costs and improving interoperability.”
Currently there are an estimated 40,000 smart card readers being deployed in government and private organisations in Singapore. These exclude readers for financial payment. Taking a conservative estimate of $300 per card reader, the cost of introducing new readers could amount up to some $12 million. Without standards, each time a new non-standard compliant ID is introduced, the cost is easily $12 million, and this can run up to $48 million if we have four different but yet widely used ID standards. However if all complies with SS 529, then the cost is just a one-time upgrade and migration of $12 million.
Two organisations have already deployed cards and readers that are SS 529 SSID-compliant. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has issued 70,000 ID cards to all staff working at Changi Airport while PSA Singapore Terminals has issued about 100,000 ID cards to its port workers. Their dual-interface (contact and contactless) smart cards are used primarily for identification and door access control.
"PSA is proud to be one of the pioneers in the large-scale adoption of SSID-compliant smart cards in our port access control system. This is part of our continuous effort to boost global supply chain security through our port facilities," said Corporate Spokesperson, PSA Singapore Terminals.
SS 529 SSID is also used in the new Singpass system, which was launched on 25 November 2007. SingPass is a common online ID and password for users to transact with the Singapore Government online. At the SingPass Reset Counters, officers from government agencies use the SSID-compliant USB tokens to gain access to the SingPass administrative functions to process a SingPass reset request.
As SS 529 SSID is the de facto standard for smart card ID, and aligned with international standards, the standard is expected to be widely used in the future. The day could well be near for a single standardised smart card for access, e-commerce, computer logins, and many other applications.
On the possible adoption of SSID for the public transport system, Mr Silvester Prakasam, the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) Deputy Director of Fare Systems said, “LTA takes an inclusive approach to public transport fare payment methods and is open to new methods of payment. Over the years, we have been continuously seeking ways to improve operational efficiency so as to ultimately provide excellent services to commuters. In implementing the Contactless E-Purse Application Standard (CEPAS) for public transport we have allowed for other applications such as SSID on the same card which should prove useful to organisations who wish to implement electronic identification.”
SPRING Singapore 2007
December 05, 2007
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