In 2008, a State Agency of Australia entered into a contract to replace its early-generation laminated driver's licence cards with an advanced, multi-purpose smart card and card management system that would take the programme to the forefront of ID management. Their vision was a fraud-resistant card that could flexibly evolve to meet a multitude of future requirements. HID Global's ActivID® business was selected for the project as a preeminent provider of comprehensive and advanced ActivID card management solutions.
Creating a next-generation driver's licence
The state's previous driver's licenses were easily counterfeited and could not be updated once issued. In addition to the cost and administrative benefits of introducing a fraud-resistant, updateable card, the State Agency of Australia wanted to couple the new credential with post-issuance card management capabilities to provide a flexible platform for a continually evolving card application portfolio.
The new solution was designed to incorporate support for cards in the field, handle updates to both customer data and on-card applications, and accommodate potential new functions. This required an innovative and comprehensive ID solution integrating customer-directed card design and content delivery, plus complete cardholder management.
Project requirements
- Highly secure digital identities: Provides counterfeit-resistant, durable and updateable electronic ID cards and a comprehensive approach to security in the card management system.
- Customisable for evolving card services: Delivers multiple functions and services to citizens through a single card management system via a single updateable card, and supports customer-driven evolution of the card contents.
- Scalable: A card management system that can handle both the card population and throughput required; can functionally grow with the state's evolving needs; and can be augmented with application upgrades or future applications for other citizen services.
- Post-issuance support: Manages cards throughout their entire lifespan for increased return on investment; easily makes personalisation data updates and card application upgrades, or adds card applications.
- Custom integration: Backed by a card management system vendor team that is extremely familiar with the ecosystem and best practices (enrollment systems, credentialing systems, cards, card applets, service bureaus) and brings a holistic solution approach to the programme.
- Open standards: Strict adherence to open standards to ensure a "vendorless" integration approach.
An innovative and scalable ID system
The pioneering efforts of the State Agency of Australia have placed the new system at the forefront of the driver's licence market. The agency played an integral role in defining and evolving a new standard, resulting in one of the first ISO 24727 smart driver licences in the world. Via a single applet suite, the system also supports marine licences, combination driver and marine licences, proof of age IDs, and person of authority IDs (independent authorities such as taxi, truck drivers, bus drivers and other services).
To optimise the program's functionality and return on investment, the State Agency of Australia contracted with HID Global for the delivery of its industry-leading ActivID® Card Management System (CMS) for National ID.
By investing in this Card Management System, the government now has the capability to continually evolve the solution |
The CMS provides issuance support and enables post-issuance updates of card personalisation data as well as expansion into new on-card applications and services. The system updates citizen data such as addresses or licence details, or manages identity updates such as renewal of PKI certificates that provide digital proof of the cardholder. By investing in this Card Management System, the government now has the capability to continually evolve the solution – even after the card is in the citizen's hands.
GlobalPlatform specifications
The CMS is deployed in the state's facilities, providing the State Agency of Australia with the authoritative store of cardholder, card, application, and credential information.
The ActivID Card Management System's unique and secure remote update capability enables the State Agency of Australia to securely update cards from readers in remote field locations while cards are still in the possession of cardholders. The system is designed to operate remotely, centrally and/or through interaction with one or more service bureaus.
The CMS implements and supports a broad suite of specifications from GlobalPlatform, the leading provider of open card management standards, supporting the GlobalPlatform Messaging, System Profiles, Scripting, and Card specifications to facilitate a customer ecosystem integration that does not lock the customer into a specific CMS product or implementations.
Flexible identity assurance
The Australian Driver's Licence program is designed to evolve over time, which requires not only platform scalability but also the capability to adapt to possible technology, security, services, and applications changes.
HID Global's' ActivID platform and team of experts provided authorities in the State Agency of Australia with the confidence that their evolving needs would be met through a flexible approach and HID Global's commitment to customisable, innovative solutions. By helping governments find cost savings through inter-agency synergies in service delivery, the ActivID CMS for National ID is leading the way in delivering robust and scalable identity assurance solutions for today's complex realities.
