Issues Affecting the Implementation of Multiple Application Smart Card Systems

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a study into the use of multi-function smart cards in the university environment, an area in which they have been widely deployed and quite successful. Traditionally, smart cards have tended to handle a single application, rather than being linked to a number of applications. The variety of facilities and services available on a university campus which can be placed on a smart card, however, have made it a promising arena in which to introduce integrated systems (and hence to investigate the integration of these functions). This paper describes results from the first round of a Delphi study focused on investigating the issues associated with success or failure of smart card systems in the tertiary sector. The survey round results show that the issues universities and solution providers consider to be important cover a wide range, including: procedural/operational issues, technical issues affecting the efficiency and reliability of a system, and social issues affecting the users of the system.