SPRING Singapore issues new standard for smart card ID
By Chio Su-Mei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 27 November 2007 2005 hrs

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SINGAPORE : A new standard for smart card identification by SPRING Singapore will enable one card to be used to enter the workplace, shop or take a bus.

Called the Singapore Standard 529 Smart Card ID, or SSID, the standard specifies the type of data, format and security settings that should go into a smart card or smart-chip enabled device.

The average person carries at least three identification cards daily, all of which carry the same basic information such as the name, gender, date of birth, and an address.

But with the new Singapore Standard for smart card, all a person will need is one card for his daily living based on the information specifications in Singapore's e-passport.

The standard allows data storage on a single item, which can be used across different companies.

So if companies were to cooperate and share their information requirements, Singaporeans could one day use their mobile phones to pay for purchases.

More significantly, the standard will allow Singapore industries to match up to international technical standards, thus giving Singaporean businesses an edge in open market competition.

Lin Yih, Convenor, Working Group for SSID, said: "If you develop this reader that reads SSID, effectively it also reads the basic parts of your passport also. You can sell your reader for the passport market, which means that your market is not just Singapore, but also overseas.

"So it opens up the supplier base, it opens up the market, as well as lowers the barrier for anyone who enters this market itself."

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the PSA are piloting the use of the standard in their employee security access passes. - CNA/ch