| Road
transport applications |
| One
of the first important activities of SCAFI was to co-organise a
National Seminar on "Induction of Information Technology in
Road Transport Sector" jointly with the Ministry of Surface
Transport (now Ministry of Road Transport and Highway - MoRT&H),
Government of India, and National Informatics Centre (NIC). The
Seminar, which was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on June 15-16,
2000, was inaugurated by the then Hon'ble Minister of Surface Transport,
Mr. Rajnath Singh. The Seminar was attended by senior Government
officials from the Central and State Governments, Transport authorities
and SCAFI members. |
 |
| The
Seminar recommended the introduction of smart card based driving
licences and Vehicle Registration in the country in the minimum
possible time-frame, which was accepted by the MoST. |
|
| An
Apex Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ashoke Joshi, Secretary,
MoST, and a Technical Committee, under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.
K. Gairola, Deputy Director General, NIC, with representation from
SCAFI, State transport authorities and other related organizations
|
|
| The
Terms of Reference of the Technical Committee included development
of Standards featuring inter-operability with appropriate interface
protocols and incorporating necessary security standards. |
|
| To
assist and interact with the Apex Committee, SCAFI constituted an
in-house Transport Committee, comprising member-companies,
numbring about 20, providing solutions to the transport sector.
|
|
| To
assist the Technical Committee, SCAFI constituted a Technical Sub-Committee
with representation from Gem Plus, Schlumberger, Infineon, STMicroelectronics,
Smart Chip, Shonkh Technologies, Eximoft , and CMS Computers to
actively participate in the initiative to formulate interoperable
standard. |
|
| After
extensive discussions and debate, the first version of the Standards
was released by the Technical Committee in December 2001. Thus the
Smart Card Operating System for Transport Applications (SCOSTA)
was born. SCOSTA is the open Operating System interface specifications
and is based on ISO 7816 - 4, 8, 9 standards. |
|
| On
the request from MoST, SCAFI drafted Technical Specifications for
incorporating in all future Tender documents. These technical specifications
were unanimously arrived at by all the members of the Transport
Committee. |
|
| In
nutshell, SCAFI Transport Committee worked very actively with NIC,
IIT-Kanpur, and MoRT&H to make SCOSTA a reality. Following are
the key achievements of this joint collaboration of the Government,
Academic institution and the industry: |
|
|
· SCOSTA specification were successfully frozen; |
|
| · SCOSTA
test and certification procedure has been finalized; |
|
|
· Minimum Specifications for DL/RC applications
were released by MoRT&H; |
|
· Several vendors are at the advanced stage of
implementation of the SCOSTA OS and 13
of them have already received the Certification; |
|
| · NIC
has developed and implemented the Bach-end, KMS and process for
card issuance. |
| |
| Round-Table
Meeting on Telecoms |
| SCAFI
also organised a Round-Table-Meeting (RTM) on "Road Map for
Smart Card Applications in the Telecom Sector" in Delhi on
November 18, 2000. The RTM was inaugurated by Mr. Shyamal Ghosh,
Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary in the Department of
Telecommunications. Senior officials from Mahanagar Telephone Nigam
Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), participated
in the RTM. |
|
| SCAFI
made presentations on technology trends. |
|
| Committee
on Multi-application Smart Cards |
|
| Another
important initiative was taken by the Ministry of Information Technology
(now Department of Information Technology, under the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology, by constituting a Committee
in September 2001, to define standards for multi-application smart
cards. This Committee was set up to implement the recommendations
made by a "Brain-storming Session, organised by the MIT on
August 21, 2001. The brain-storming Session itself was organised
in response to a letter written by SCAFI to the Secretary, MIT. |
|
| The
committee, comprising representatives of various government departments/agencies,
such as Election Commission, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of
Finance, State Bank of India, National Informatics Centre, Indian
Army, Indian Railways, Department of Post, Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways, Bureau of Indian Standards, Ministry of Home Affairs,
selected smart card vendors and a representative each of Smart Card
Forum of India (SCAFI) and Manufacturers Association of Information
Technology (MAIT), was headed by Mr. Rajeeva Ratna Shah, Secretary,
Department of Information Technology, Government of India. |
|
| Two
sub-committees were formed under the Main Committee to evolve a
comprehensive framework to facilitate deployment and manufacture
of multi-application smart cards in the country. The first sub-committee
- Sub-committee-I - to focus on a common identification system,
and non-financial applications in the Government sector, while the
second sub-committee - Sub-committee-II - to focus on financial
and banking applications in both public and private sectors, as
well as issues pertaining to non-financial, government applications. |
|
Both
the Sub-committees were also asked to examine the issues of interoperability
and standards.
Here again, to deliberate internally and formulate SCAFI's viewpoint
on the subject, an in-house Technical Committee i.e. MIT-SCAFI Technical
Committee, was constituted by the SCAFI, comprising member-companies
engaged/interested in the subject. |
|
| E-Cash
Focus Group |
| Apart
from the above referred in-house Committees, SCAFI, as part of its
drive to create awareness about e-Cash applications, constituted
a Special Interest Group i.e. eCash Focus Group. |
|
| Presentation
before Railway Board |
| The
e-Cash Focus Group made a presentation to Railway Board. Member
Traffic, Mr. Thoopal and Dr. P. K. Goyal and other senior officials
of the Board attended the meeting. Issues related to widespread
implementation of smart cards in Railways were discussed. A suggestion
was made by eCash Focus group to constitute a joint group to address
the issues, which was accepted by the Railways. It was also agreed
that the Railways would prepare a white paper on the issues faced
by them to determine how eCash focus group can help. |
|
| Committee
on Smart Card ID and Government Applications |
|
|
In
December 2003, SCAFI has formed a Committee on Smart Card ID and
Government Applications
|
|
· To promote use of Smart Card ID and Government
Applications, including National ID
and to facilitate multiple applications
thereof; |
|
| · To
facilitate the development of interoperable Standards for aforesaid;
and |
|
| · To
facilitate a Pilot as proposed by the MIT Sub-Committee-1, in the
NCR of Delhi, for multi- Application Government
applications. |
|
| Twenty
nine companies, who are specifically engaged or interested in the
above, are the members of this Committee. |
|
| |
