NXP progresses with eKTP project

NXP has announced that it is near completion of its part of the 172m pieces supplied into Indonesia’s eKTP project. Launched in 2011, the eKTP project is one of the largest national eID deployments across the globe. The eKTP cards for 172 million citizens are part of a nationwide, multi-application, complete eID-system that comprises data capturing solutions, servers, data storage, biometric matching and smart cards, plus various infrastructure and networking solutions.

NXP says: “Combining the strong drive of the local companies with the technical expertise of principal suppliers such as NXP, the local production companies in the State Printing Company Consortium (PNRI) were able to swiftly ramp-up the smart card production and personalisation of the eKTP cards and achieve near completion within just 18 months. In addition, the technology efforts brought into the project by international market leaders such as NXP have resulted in strong growth within the local Indonesian smart card and biometrics industry. As such, the eKTP project has also proven to be a valuable investment of governmental funds into the local economy.”

The eKTP project will enable the Indonesian political system to strengthen democracy across the country by de-duplicating the various existing population databases, resulting in a more thorough census and identification of all Indonesian citizens. Once complete, the eKTP system can be the basis for many citizen-government services, proving a citizen’s identity beyond any IC card. It can then be used to open bank accounts, obtain government documents such as birth certificates, register ownership of vehicles or property and many similar transactions. In addition, the multi-application capability of NXP’s chip technology enables the eKTP smart cards to support a large number of voting applications which reduce the possibility of fraud during elections. This will assist in the government’s aim of building stronger citizen trust in the country’s democracy. Fully compliant with the structure of ICAO LDS-9303, the eKTP smart card can also be used as an international travel document, should Indonesia reach agreements on this with neighbouring countries.

“The Indonesian eKTP project is a very good example of how local and global partners can quickly scale up operations and effectively deploy large volumes of smart card credentials over a short period of time. With the help and support of a carefully selected consortium of industry experts, the PNRI is still on track to hit its ambitious mid-year 2013 completion target,” says Phil Sealy, industry analyst, ABI Research. “Using a pure contactless IC, the government had multi-application functionality at the forefront of its strategy. Moving forward, ABI Research expects to see the Indonesian government further extend and enhance its citizen outreach with eGovernment services building upon its success to date.”

“Indonesia’s eKTP project not only confirms our capabilities as a world-class manufacturer of security microcontrollers, able to deliver high quality devices in high volume, but also consolidates our position as a resourceful trusted partner with a global presence, able and willing to support large-scale projects from early stage through to completion,” says Ulrich Huewels, VP and general manager, business line secure card solutions at NXP Semiconductors. “eID roll-outs of this nature have the potential to really change society by providing citizens with convenient and secure access to public services – there is no better illustration of this than the eVoting capability that the Indonesian eKTP smartcards will enable.”

Politicians, lobbyists, and tourists alike can ride bicycles along a specially marked lane between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, part of the 115 miles of bicycle lanes and paths that now crisscross Washington, DC. In Copenhagen, commuters can ride to work following a “green wave” of signal lights timed for bikers. Residents in China’s “happiest city,” Hangzhou, can move easily from public transit onto physically separated bike tracks that have been carved out of the vast majority of roadways. And on any given Sunday in Mexico City, some 15,000 cyclists join together on a circuit of major thoroughfares closed to motorized traffic. What is even more exciting is that in each of these locations, people can jump right into cycling without even owning a bicycle. Welcome to the era of the Bike Share.

Cyclists have long entreated drivers to “share the road.” Now what is being shared is not only the road but the bicycle itself. Forward-thinking cities are turning back to the humble bicycle as a way to enhance mobility, alleviate automotive congestion, reduce air pollution, boost health, support local businesses, and attract more young people. Bike-sharing systems—-distributed networks of public bicycles used for short trips—-that integrate into robust transit networks are being embraced by a growing number of people in the urbanizing world who are starting to view car ownership as more of a hassle than a rite of passage.

Today more than 500 cities in 49 countries host advanced bike-sharing programs, with a combined fleet of over 500,000 bicycles. Urban transport advisor Peter Midgley notes that “bike sharing has experienced the fastest growth of any mode of transport in the history of the planet.” It certainly has come a long way since 1965, when 50 bicycles were painted white and scattered around Amsterdam for anyone to pick up and use free of charge. Unfortunately, many of those bikes quickly disappeared or were damaged. In the 1990s, several Danish cities began more formal systems, with designated racks and coin deposits to check out bicycles. Copenhagen’s famed Bycyklen (“City Bike”) program, which has been an inspiration to many cities, finally closed at the end of 2012 after operating for 17 years with more than 1,000 bicycles. It is set to be replaced by a modern system in 2013, which could help Copenhagen meet its goal of increasing the share of commuting trips on bike from an already impressive 36 percent to 50 percent.

Modern bike-sharing systems have greatly reduced the theft and vandalism that hindered earlier programs by using easily identified specialty bicycles with unique parts that would have little value to a thief, by monitoring the cycles’ locations with radio frequency or GPS, and by requiring credit card payment or smart-card-based membership in order to check out bikes. In most systems, after paying a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual membership fee, riders can pick up a bicycle locked to a well-marked bike rack or electronic docking station for a short ride (typically an hour or less) at no additional cost and return it to any station within the system. Riding longer than the program’s specified amount of time generally incurs additional fees to maximize the number of bikes available.

Although the Netherlands and Denmark had far more pervasive cycling cultures, it was France that ushered the world into the third generation of bike sharing in 1998, when advertising company Clear Channel began the world’s first public computerized program with 200 bikes in the city of Rennes. The country moved into the big leagues in 2005 when Lyon, France’s third largest city, opened its Vélo’v program with 1,500 bikes at some 100 automated self-service docking stations. Its success—-an apparent 44 percent increase in bicycle ridership in the first year—-paved the way for large-scale bike sharing’s early shining star: the Vélib’ in Paris.