Increasing the security of access to urban critical infrastructure with a Near Field Communication micro SD smart card for mobile devices using on-chip state of the art technology

Project Information

OneCard

Grant agreement ID: 719660

DOI

10.3030/719660

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2016

Start date 1 March 2016

End date 31 May 2016

Funded under

• Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

R-DAS, SRO
Slovakia

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OneCard (Increasing the security of access to urban critical infrastructure with a Near Field Communication micro SD smart card for mobile devices using on-chip state of the art technology)

Reporting period: 2016-03-01 to 2016-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

R-DAS (Research and Development Application Systems) is a Slovak company founded in 2009 with the objective of transferring expertise in micro and nanoelectronics into commercial products.
At the present time, our main commercial product is the LGMcard a secure NFC micro SD card developed for our partners SMK-Logomotion for use in the payment industry. The technology developed for LGMcard, which is covered by a total of 32 patents and has been proven to work well in payment, will form the basis of OneCard.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range, wireless connectivity technology that enables data exchange and simplified transactions between two electronic devices when in close proximity. The NFC market is expected to be worth €19.3 Billion by 2020 with access control and authentication a significant part of this total, in addition to the traditional market of contactless payments. The potential applications of secure NFC technology in access control are extremely large. From building access to public transport, aviation, healthcare and education, anywhere where we currently present a card or document to gain access or verify our identity we could use a smartphone with NFC and a method of holding the confidential data securely. The main factor acting against the widespread adoption of smartphones in these particular markets is the lack of secure NFC technology in phones and their relatively high cost. OneCard provides a solution to these problems. It is a micro SD card that costs only €20, fits in almost any smartphone and provides NFC capability with hardware security allowing the phone to be used as a replacement for the wide range of cards we each carry in our wallet, leading to improved security and enhancing the user experience. OneCard has two secure elements, which enable it to be used in the access control and payment industry simultaneously and most importantly has a patented antenna that is able to communicate through metal back plates, cases and card slots.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The past 3 months we have developed a thorough Feasibility study to investigate if the developed OneCard technology may be applied in access control and authentication. The objective of the feasibility study have been consolidated into the following overall aim and six points:
Consolidate a business plan addressing the specific requirements of each target market. This includes results from the market research, marketing plan, operational strategy and financial viability plan, as well as review of risks.
1. Market research. We have carried out a detailed market analysis of ten application domains identified for OneCard. We have chosen two preferred market areas: access control and authentication, public transport and higher education, based on market size, barriers to market entry, channel partners and an analysis of competitors.
2. Specification of technical requirements. We have produced a detailed specification of the technical requirements (HW, SW, FW and infrastructure) which will form the basis of the Phase 2 project for the development of OneCard in access control and authentication. We have also included a detailed list of the appropriate standards and certifications for each of the three preferred markets.
3. Definition of operational costs and employee profiles. The business plan developed by us during the Feasibility Study includes a company growth plan, and an analysis of production and operational costs. Elaboration of an exhaustive roadmap of the transition from current industry into access control market. A roadmap to the preferred market segments within access control has been developed in conjunction with our channel partners in access control.
4. Selection of distributors and preparation of agreements to boost international commercialization. We have identified two channels partners: IMA s.r.o. (Czech Republic) and Ubiwhere Lda (Portugal) in the building access control and transport industries respectively, who we will use to distribute OneCard in these industries. We are in the process of signing commercialization pre-agreements with them.
5. Carry out a Freedom to Operate analysis and Intellectual property strategy for OneCard. We have carried out a Freedom to Operate analysis and have developed an Intellectual Property Strategy for OneCard. The developed technology and its use in the payment industry is already covered by 32 patents.
6. Work plan to implement OneCard Phase 2 project: A detailed budgeted work plan for the Phase 2 project has been developed.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

OneCard will increase the adoption of NFC technology in the access control and authentication market in the EU by: (1) greatly increasing the number of smartphones with NFC capability and (2) reducing the cost of this technology to the end user. This will enhance security and reduce the threat of crime and terrorism in the specific markets of building physical access, transport and higher education. In addition, the wide adoption of logical access control based on OneCard will improve cyber security. These outcomes are in line with the Cybersecurity Strategy for the EU, the European Agenda on Security and the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (which has been laid out in EU directive: EU COM (2006) 786 final). This will give Europe a competitive advantage in the area of security.
In terms of employment, after 5 years of exploitation, we expect to generate 35 additional job position within R-DAS, 23 directly related to software and engineering and assembling and 12 more related to marketing, sales, finances, administration, project management and logistics as results of our overall growth. The activity of R-DAS and OneCard production will have a positive impact in the creation of indirect employments.

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