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 Government Issues Smartcards to Citizens Malaysia has begun issuing a national multi-purpose smartcard, believed to be a world first, that will contain the holder's identity, driving license and passport information and also have e-cash capability.Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi described the introduction of the government multi-purpose card (GMPC) as "historic" and said that it would eventually realize a government-led plan to go completely paperless. "Life will be easier with the GMPC...one day you can even swipe the card to enter your room. We will add more applications when all the systems are in place," he said. The GMPC is embedded with a 32-kbyte EEPROM, provided by Motorola, Inc, and stores a digitized version of the cardholder's picture, a thumb-print for biometric verification and data related to the four applications. It is expected to allow for further applications to be ported later, such as health records - including blood group, allergies and illness history, access to public key infrastructure for secure e-commerce transactions, and contactless toll payment. The smartcard is a key product of the multi-billion ringgit (Malaysian dollar) Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), Malaysia's version of Silicon Valley, which has been marred by various delays and infrastructure shortcomings. Teething Troubles Although the contract for the GMPC, worth US$71.6 million, was awarded to consortium developer GMPC Corp Sdn Bhd two years ago, only 6,000 cards have been issued to date - a far cry from the original projection of two million cards by 2001. The April launch of the GMPC comes on the heels of a scathing confidential status report by consultants McKinsey & Co, which was leaked to the media, and which stated that "key gaps still exist" in the development of the corridor and its contribution to the broader economy. The report suggested the four-and-a-half year project, meant to vault Malaysia onto the world stage in the use of technology applications such as the smartcard, smartschools, telemedicine and e-government, has yet to fulfil its promise. McKinsey recommended reducing bureaucracy and bringing more technical and venture-capital expertise into the project. The global dotcom and tech meltdown is likely to exacerbate the situation. Malaysia's MSC plans include the launch of a second multi-purpose card for commercial payments, which will include ATM, debit, credit, e-cash and possibly loyalty features. Eventually both cards are to be merged and issued to all 22 million Malaysians within the 2002-03 timeframe. Abdullah said the GMPC with four applications costs M$20 (US$5.26) each while the one with single ID application only costs M$10. The government suggests it is subsidising up to M$13 for the production cost of each GMPC. by Julian Matthews, Kuala Lumpur (June 2001 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia) |
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