The Hindu Business Line : `Tipping point for smart cards to come in 3 years'

Smart cards are still in the realm of hype, according to the experts who participated at a seminar held in the city orgainsed by HID, a US-based smart card manufacturer.

"The tipping point will only come 2-3 years from now," said Mr Harish Vellat, Managing Director - South Asia, HID Global. "The bouquet of applications for smart cards is still limited," he added. The heightened need for security, increased memory capacity and international standardisation have led to smart cards being adopted more this year.

While applications such as e-purse, which would let one walk into a laundromat or retail store and pay using the company ID card are still far away, experts believe smart cards will start making their presence felt in access control management in large enterprises in the country. Other such applications are the smart citizen identity and driving ID card, cards that can be used to accept couriers and those that will help in laptop management, visitor tracking and canteen management. The smart building of tomorrow will also use multi-technology cards to control electricity use and water supply.

Companies such as Honeywell Building Solutions, Bosch, C&S (a joint venture between Computer Associates and Satyam) are investing in the RFID-based (radio frequency identification allows data to be transferred across short distances, hence the cards are `contact less') cards to complement and complete their security offerings. Smart cards are also now linking with existing applications (biometric, CCTV, GPS) to improve security for enterprises on a large scale. "While cost is currently an issue, the implementers could reduce the blow on consumers by phasing out the investment - offering an application at a time," said Mr Anil Makhija, General Manager - Projects, CA Satyam ASP. The company offers smart card and e-learning solutions and has four development centres in India.

The Indian electronic access control market, according to a report by analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, is $ 52 million for 2006, of which smart cards form 25-28 per cent.

More Stories on : Events | Science & Technology

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page