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September 01 Column: That Sure is One Smart Card

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That Sure is One Smart Card
By Jana Barberio
(294 words)

No, I’m not talking about an ace of spades or a greeting card.  Imagine handing a single card containing your complete medical history, including the time you had the measles as a child, over to your new doctor.  Think how thin your wallet would be if it only contained one plastic card instead of a dozen. What if no other person but you could use that one card because it requires your unique fingerprint to use?

Smart cards are plastic wallet size cards which:

· Contain a microprocessor or memory chip
· Look like your credit card
· Track payments, transactions and store information
· Warehouse data, programs and information
· Can contain multiple related or multiple unrelated applications
· Can be custom built or modified on the fly by some companies
· Are protected by advanced security features

Government, Financial, Education and Healthcare industries will be using them for:

· Medicaid, hunting licenses, social services, driver’s licenses
· Transaction records, entertainment, e-wallet, loyalty
· Student identification cards, library and dormitory access, parking & transit, student transcripts, food plans
· Medical histories, vital statistics, prescriptions, health insurance plans

All this information can be housed on a single card.  Numerous companies including Gemplus, IBM, Microsoft and Smart Card Solutions are producing smart cards for these industries.  One of these companies, Touch Technology International, Inc. says smart cards put computer technology into a consumer’s pocket, thus the term: PocketServer™.  Now isn’t that smart?
 

For More Information See:

http://www.gemplus.com/basics/what.htm
Gemplus, a company who makes these cards

http://www.sc-solutions.com/
Smart Card Solutions, LLC

www.smartcardportal.com
Link to smart card info

http://amercard.com.cnchost.com/aboutacti.html
ACTI, an intellectual property licensing company

http://www.touchtechnology.com/
Touch Technology International coined the term: PocketServer

http://www.smarttoolz.com
Kit to create PC-based smart card applications


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Jana Barberio is a freelance writer and a former paralegal. She and her husband, John, co-founded the Holly Computer User Group in Holly, Michigan and the Twin Beach Computer User Group in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland.

 She can be reached by email at jana@barberio.com

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