CAIRO: To "e or not to "be at all? That has become the ultimate question in Egypt now, as different institutions, corporations, and banks come under increasing pressure to convert to the more secure chip-based cards or else prepare to move into obsolescence in the quickly transforming e-society. Coming at a time when Egypt is moving towards greater e-government implementation, the fifth annual Middle East and Africa Card Technology (Card-Ex) Exhibition and Conference held from May 6-8, assembled key players from local, regional and international smart card application companies to showcase the latest technology, trends and security measures in the card industry. "Deployment of smart card applications in Egypt will eventually eliminate bureaucracy, enhance investment, and thus empower society, said Tarek Kamel, minister of communications and information technology, at the inauguration of the conference. Smart cards are small devices with an embedded computer chip offering a host of services such as e-government, e-payment, healthcare, transportation, social insurance, telecommunications, and security access systems. These chip-based cards store huge amounts of information, while significantly reducing the risk of fraud. The National ID project, put into practice several years ago, is the nation's first widespread smart card application. The government is currently implementing other similar applications targeting the welfare of the Egyptian community. The food subsidy smart card, fully utilized in Suez a year ago, is now being replicated in Sharqeya, Assuit, Mounfeya, and the Maadi district in Cairo before finally covering the entire nation. "The ministry decided to begin with Suez because it is a very small community compared to Cairo, said Mohammed Abdel Hady, project coordinator at the ministry of state for administrative development. "After gaining enough experience in Suez, we will now more easily implement the project in Cairo and later take it to other governorates. He added that the pilot in Suez had so far helped the government save around 25 percent of expenses lost in previous fraudulent activities. "These smart cards contain the bearer s personal information, photograph, fingerprints and other details encoded into the chip - prohibiting both the dealer and the bearer from manipulating the distributed share of commodities and therefore diminishing the threat of fraud. Government officials attending the conference also promised to revolutionize both the healthcare and transportation sectors by implementing similar smart card technologies. "Both ministries of health and transportation have taken vital steps to provide chip-based services on the same smart card used for food subsidy, explained Tarek Sadek, project coordinator with the ministry of health. With the full implementation of the project, a patient s medical data will be electronically stored on the card. Medical history, insurance information, and emergency contact information will be immediately accessible through terminals installed in state-run hospitals and emergency rooms. "That way, a patient's diagnosis and prescription will be electronically stored on the card, enabling him/her to purchase medication from member pharmacies. In the meantime, the Ministry of Health has offered up to a bidding to select a smart card technology provider to fully implement this service across the country. The project is projected to begin operations in Suez sometime this year. The Ministry of Transportation is no alien to the chip-based technology either. "The ministry is looking into signing protocols with third party providers to offer services to citizens embedded on the same cards, said Sadek adding that these cards can be used in metro, bus, rail, and inter-city toll stations, Cairo Cab stands, as well as in public parking lots. "With these multi-functional cards, people will no longer have to stand in long queues to buy tickets or grapple with searching for change in their pockets, Sadek stated. As the letter "E precedes more and more words these days, Card-Ex gave particular attention to e-payment applications deployed across the country, hoping to break new ground in the banking sector. Over the past three or four years, several banks in Egypt moved to the more secure chip-based credit and debit cards. They will enable smart card holders to manage on/offline transactions by using interchange portable terminals. However, to bring together and better organize the e-payment sector, the government has recently contracted a consortium of companies to fully deploy a unified infrastructure for e-commerce, enhancing the use of chip-based applications. "Each bank deployed its own infrastructure for e-commerce. However, having a unified infrastructure deployed across the entire country will further enhance security of e-payment transactions, said Ahmed Assem, senior sales manager at Giesecke & Devrient - one of the world's leading providers of smart cards and banknotes and one of the subcontractors for the project. "E-banking is booming in Egypt. Card issuance is increasing in banks, and acceptance of chip-based cards is moving fast, Assem explained. "If you compare last year's electronic transactions to this year's, you will find a much higher penetration rate of card-based transactions and online purchasing. Several government officials dub efforts exerted towards transforming the country into a cashless society highly successful. "E-culture in Egypt has highly evolved, and dealing with smart cards has become a base for many applications across the country, Abdel Hady pointed out. "The government wants to move away from a cash into a card-based economy, saving the huge costs involved in printing banknotes.
