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ACS, Hong Kong, 27 Apr 2006 -
Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (HKGEM: 8210), Asia Pacific's number one in PC-linked smart card readers industry
(Source: research report issued by Frost & Sullivan), today announces the decision by the Federal Information
and Communication Technology (FedICT) Department of the Belgian Government to deploy ACS' ACR38 smart card reader
for their national electronic identity (eID) cards. The initial scope is the issuance of electronic identity card readers to the
12-year-old children when they obtain their eID cards for the first time.
In order to use the revolutionary applications
benefited from the smart card technology, e.g. safe chatting online, reaching secured sites and
obtaining secured files online, tax on web information, etc., a high-performance smart card reader
must be chosen based on its user-friendliness, multi-platform compatibility and reliability.
As Belgium improves its information infrastructure by
implementing e-Certificates for user authentication and for digital signatures, to be used by e-government
and other public or private applications, etc., the government is tasked with protecting the access to sensitive
information of the citizens' identities. Determined to meet their goal of improving overall services without compromising
the citizen's security, the government must seek for alternatives other than the services based on the use of classic
non-chip-based identity cards. In 2002, Zetes was appointed by the Belgian federal government as the main contractor
and global coordinator for the prestigious development project of national eID cards in Belgium whose rollout started in
September 2004 (10+ million cards to be delivered over a period of 5 years). ACS' ACR38 Smart Card Readers were used
for this prestigious service project orchestrated by Zetes.
The rollout in October 2005 involves more than 100,000
pieces of ACS' ACR38 smart card readers in the pilot run of the project "Belgian eID card reader for the
12-year-olds". By going to the site http://readers.eid.belgium.be,
the users that are entitled can get a free ACR38 reader distributed and supported starting from October 1st, 2005.
Comprehensive testing was done on several big
brands of smart card readers on the market. ACS' ACR38 PC-linked smart card reader was fully tested to prove its compliance
with all major ISO-7816 MCU cards in the market, in particular, the Belgian eID card; and so ACS was awarded the coveted honor
in the project.
As Ronny Depoortere, Senior Vice President of Zetes
PASS, has commented, "The driving factors in winning this tender are based on our overall service level, and especially also the proven
technical performance of the ACS' ACR38 smart card reader and the outstanding service level offered." ACR38 is unsurpassed as the
true smart card reader with robust, technically superior firmware and driver; demonstrating the highest level of interoperability available
in the market. With the remarkable performance of ACR38 and its ease in implementation, the great technical support and fine service of
ACS, projects from small to large can be deployed with speed and confidence.
About ACS
Founded in 1995 and now listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Advanced Card
Systems Holdings Limited (ACS) is one of the selected groups of global
companies at the forefront of the smart card revolution. ACS develops,
manufactures, and distributes a wide range of high quality smart card
reading/writing devices, smart cards, and smart card operating systems to over
80 countries worldwide, facilitating an easier adoption of smart card
applications in different industries.
As the world's
fourth and Asia Pacific's number one industry participant within the smart card
PC-linked reader industry [Source: Frost & Sullivan, 2003], ACS has the
technology, expertise, and global resources to develop and offer the next
generation in smart card versatility to satisfy the needs of its customers worldwide.
Press Release
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