NASA uses Philips' contactless smartcard chip technology

22 September 2004 News

Royal Philips Electronics has announced that NASA has selected its advanced MIFARE DESFire contactless chip technology to enable secure smartcard access to its facilities. Compliant with the US government's Government SmartCard Interoperability Specification (GSC-IS) standard, Philips' chip technology is being incorporated into smartcards deployed to agency employees and contractors for immediate identity authentication. Other government agencies, such as the US Department of Interior, are also implementing physical access systems compliant with the GSC-IS interoperability specification.

Philips claims its MIFARE DESFire V0.6 is the first chip solution currently compliant with this specification.

In partnership with smartcard system integrator, Maximus, NASA is the latest federal agency to move from low-frequency (125 kHz) to industry-standard ISO 14443 technology for increased interoperability based on GSC-IS. Different agencies using a GSC-IS compliant physical access system based on the secure MIFARE DESFire will have the option to allow each other's physical access cards to work in different secure areas, further enhancing inter-agency collaboration.

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