Abstract
Operational and Cost Hurdles Restrain Growth of Open Platforms in Mass Transit Applications
While smart cards establish themselves as the default standard for identification and access
control, there has been pronounced growth in the adoption of open platforms such as Java Card and
multiple operating system (MULTOS). Open platforms are ideally suited for dynamic, secure,
multi-application smart card applications and mass transit segment displays the highest potential
for such applications. However, operational hurdles restrain open platform implementations in this
segment. For example, the addition of payment functionality to transit cards calls for high security
features that are absent in the platforms presently in use. However, the inclusion of open platforms
to enhance security is also likely to increase the cost of implementation. In addition to cost, the
need for reconciliation infrastructure among retailers and card associations, for payment
applications also poses additional challenges. Hence, to successfully implement open platform based
multi-application systems in the mass transit segment, cost as well as operational hurdles have to
be overcome.
This Frost & Sullivan research service provides a global overview of the smart cards
platforms and gives an exhaustive comparison of the performances of different types of platforms in
different application segments. It further presents market forecasts for open and contactless
platforms and lists key trends across the Java Card, MULTOS, Mifare, Felica and native platforms
markets.
Open Platform Developers Lower Cost Barriers for Fixed Function Cards
Despite the crucial advances in open platforms, high costs remain a barrier to increasing market
adoption. However, the Java Card S program enables card issuers to benefit from the open platform
while keeping the costs low. Although the program does not accommodate dynamic downloading
capabilities, it does allow for interoperability with full function Java Cards that the issuer may
launch at a later stage. The Step/one initiative from the MULTOS consortium is also a step in this
direction. "High royalty costs are a key deterrent to the adoption of open platforms among card
issuers," says the analyst of this research service. "Organizations that manage them must
find ways to sustain their revenues and also increase the return on investment (RoI) of the card
issuer."
The Java Card platform has evolved rapidly in recent times and continues to sustain its
leadership in the ever-changing smart card market. With a range of mutually interoperable products
from Java Card licensees, card issuers benefit from being able to avoid re-writing their
applications, even if they were to adopt products with different features, prices, or performance
levels.
Move towards Secure Identity Management Could Ensure a Greater Role for Open Platforms
With the increased emphasis on security both at the enterprise and governance levels, identity
management is the key challenge for organizations and governments. Open platforms are expected to
play an important role in identity management because of their scalability and security features and
have to evolve as strong foundations for the credible execution of such applications. While
government ID projects -- a huge market for open platform cards, are increasingly moving toward
contactless and dual interface cards, the majority of the contactless card market in banking
applications remains with native platforms.
"Java Card unit shipments recorded a massive 81.8 percent growth in 2004, making it an
outright leader in the world contact smart cards market," says the analyst. "This platform
enjoys an absolute dominance in the global system for mobile (GSM) market and also leads the market
in the government ID segment." | 
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