Smart Cards On Campus

The new smart card technologies will help NSU to more efficiently manage and control security privileges for buildings, residence halls, laboratories, IT infrastructures and critical shared applications. In a strategic relationship to help provide NSU with a wide choice of smart card benefits such as cashless payment, biometric applications, e-Ticketing and much more, Siemens is working with SmartCentric Technologies International Ltd. to integrate the Siemens(R) HiPath(R) SIcurity(R) family of solutions with SmartCentric's SmartCity(R) multi-application smart card portfolio.

"By working with Siemens and SmartCentric we are making it easier for select students, faculty and visitors to get the right access privileges, to the right places and at the right times - all through one easy-to-use smart card," said George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., NSU's executive vice president and chief executive officer. "This is part of NSU's vision to create an 'academical' village community for our patrons that is both secure and, at the same time, open to access by our education-minded patrons."

The initial deployment phase will include the distribution of more than 30,000 chip-embedded multi-application cards, utilizing both contact and contactless radio frequency identification technologies. The smart cards will provide NSU students, faculty and staff with identification cards, physical and logical access privileges and the ability to pay for purchases such as meal plans, printing services and vending machine items. The solution also includes biometrics, Web-based card re-value and a cardholder portal.

Future deployment plans include e-Ticketing, allowing cardholders to pay for events via the Internet and load the ticket purchase onto their smart cards. The paperless e-Ticketing solution means quick, secure and simple entry to NSU events. In subsequent deployments, NSU plans to extend smart card functionality to off-campus usage as part of revenue-generating merchant programs, parking payments and transportation fees.

The Siemens and SmartCentric solution will allow NSU to reduce the number of cards currently in use - from five cards to a single multi-application card. Simplification of authentication processes should help improve campus security and reduce back office management costs. Smart cards are part of NSU's vision to improve security and, at the same time, reduce access complexities and associated back office management costs.

NSU's smart card relationship with Siemens is part of a 10-year technology commitment between the two organizations. NSU will become a Siemens International Demonstration Site where current and potential Siemens' customers can experience the use of leading-edge technologies in a real-world environment. In addition to smart card security solutions, the plans for the Siemens International Demonstration Site project includes the deployment of advanced communication systems, building automation, medical equipment, energy solutions and transportation systems.

"As a growing research university, NSU expects to leverage the latest technologies and incorporate them into our academic protocols almost as soon as they reach the marketplace," said NSU President Ray Ferrero, Jr., J.D. "This will help NSU to continue to position itself as a pioneer in the development and application of new technologies in higher education."