Expert View

October 6, 2004
Infineon technology enabler in national health card

Geetanjali Wadhwa & Pradeep Chakraborty

NEW DELHI -- Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., the semiconductor major, is a key player in the Indian smart card space, with specific initiatives in the national ID and health card. Convergence*plus recently met up with Ashok Chandak, director, EMS, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, to find out more about its current projects in India and how it is overcoming the challenges. Excerpts from the interview:

Convergence*plus: What are the major challenges in the Indian smart card market?

Ashok Chandak: The major challenges in the Indian smart card market are: interoperability - the card should be read anywhere in India, need for a level-playing field, convincing the concept to the Government and the private sector, garnering the involvement of the local industry, making it consumer friendly and infrastructure.

CP: How are you overcoming these challenges?

AC: We are trying to overcome these challenges via education and awareness of users and key stakeholders, adopting a collaborative approach, via partnerships, development of local industries and institutes, and standardization.

CP: Please elaborate on your current projects in India.

AC: Infineon Technologies is involved in the following projects: for driving license and vehicle registration projects in various states, SIM cards for GSM, toll collection, access control, and identifications.

CP: What is Infineon's role in the national health card?

AC: Infineon Technologies is the technology enabler. We provide high security chips and technical support to the local company on the operating systems development.

CP: What steps are you taking for developing the local industry?

AC: We provide the technical support to the local company on the operating systems development. We also encourage a collaborative approach to develop the market, and facilitate standardization for various applications.

CP: How secure are these cards? What sort of security is built into the health card and the automated fare collection (AFC) card?

AC: An independent international evaluation institute will certify the chips. Common criteria EAL defined security has been implemented in the cards.

CP: Elaborate on Infineon's contribution on the AFC project.

AC: Infineon is developing the special mask set for the high security chip. We also bring in the third party software developer for providing the complex software solution that resides on the chip. The AFC will also have stored value and can be used in the metro rail system.

Contact:
Infineon Technologies
www.infineon.com