Smart cards finding school and library applications

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, Oct, 1999

Recently, smart card technology is finding increased applications in K-12 and higher ed markets.

Amazing Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) has created a smart card solution for filtering Internet access, and the U of Illinois is piloting smart card access for distance learning students. Both mark a departure from the more typical campus or educational application of using the cards for managing financial transactions or student identification.

U of Illinois Virtual Students Get Smart Cards

Anticipating significant growth in distance learning offerings, and believing that current password/log-on security systems will prove inadequate, the Uof Illinois will be using smart cards for students to access U of Illinois web classes. Working with Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals (www.slb.com/ smartcards), the pilot is a first time effort to apply public key (PKI) smart card technology to distance learning. Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals is a part of Schlumberger Test & Transactions, a $1.2 billion business unit of the Schlumberger Structure Ltd. That parent company, a public company, posted $11.8 billion in revenues in 1998. With sales of 700 million cards, Schlumberger outpaced the general market increase of 30% with smart card sales volume growing by over 40%, says spokesperson Emily Hall.

The company has previously pursued education markets for student identification and payment applications. The company first installed a smart card campus system at the U of Michigan and Western Michigan U in 1995. They have added a dozen institutional clients since then. Those ID features will also be a part of the U of I's smart card. Currently, U of I uses magnetic stripe cards for ID, and those cannot serve distance learning students. The school will roll their existing ID card applications onto the smart card platform so they can maintain one centralized ID card throughout their four campuses.

Along with the card, U of I students will receive a small smart card reader that plugs into the communications port of the PC. The reader needs to have software installed, so students cannot take advantage of the ubiquitous, roaming availability of web courses unless they can carry their computer with them. When a student logs onto the UI network via the Internet, a unique password certificate (private key) encoded on the chips will be matched with the entered password. Using encryption, the card will identify the cardholder to the network. The network can not be accessed without a card and valid certificate.

Randy Vanderhoof, manager of education, also anticipates markets with K-12 schools. "Everywhere there is a need for a physical ID or virtual (password) ID, there is a market for smart cards." He adds that Schlumberger is not pursuing the business of creating every application but will concentrate on building the infrastructure and supplying the core technology.

SmartGuardian Puts Parents in Charge of Library and School Filtering

The SmartGuardian smart card has introduced a new level of parent control in school and library filtering. Recognized as "the product of greatest interest" by the School Library Journal at the American Library Association's recent conference, it allows parents to define permitted Internet access on a school or library card.

SmartGuardian is a product from Amazing Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of publicly traded PubliCARD, Inc. (Fairfield, CT). A pilot implemented at Englewood Public Library in Colorado allows families to pick up the photo id cards and have parents assign a level of Internet access. Full access gives unrestricted use, filtered access blocks about 400,000 sites and restricted access gives access to only about 5,000 "safe harbor" sites. Beyond that, parents can customize access at a page or web site level at the library at any time. A software interface allows them to add or delete pages.

By giving parents control, the solution relieves libraries from being caught between filtering demands from funding sources and opposing objections to censorship. SmartGuardian's Witmer says the company is currently busy following up leads from the ALA show. With a new product in a market with a lengthy decision making process, implementations remain limited to a handful of pilots. But Witmer says that numerous libraries are working on approving funding. Costs break down to approximately $3 per user.

While public libraries are the first market, Witmer plans to sell to schools and to later approach the consumer market. If a district and library in the same area both use the system, Witmer says students will be able to use the same card in both places and parents will only have to define approved usage for one card. Ideally, those same restrictions can apply at home. That use requires a smart card reader on the home computer. Hoping to avoid retail sales of the readers, Witmer plans to reach homes through the school or library.

Amazing Technologies also has an e-commerce product called E-Passky which has potential applications in the education industry. One version, known as Passky, is not a smart card but a web-based software application designed to help retail web sites retain customers. The application provides password management, allowing users to store various passwords and web sites and to create an icon for each site. The free and useful gift from a retailer encodes their web site so that it is one of the first icons seen. E-Passky, an actual smart card, is a step up from Passky. A boxed product for consumers, E-Passky includes software, a reader and two smart cards for $80. Users of the free product would upgrade for added security and additional memory.