Not many countries have a greater degree of networking than Finland. Government bodies and companies have created a smart-card-based system that makes it possible to do a wide range of business securely from their own terminal. Setec, a Finnish company that is the leading producer of smart cards in Scandinavia, develops suitable technology for the system.

Setec's solutions are being used in the extensive national on-line identity card project being operated by the Population Register Centre. Setec also supplies solutions that meet the needs of banks, municipalities and various-sized companies. Setec's smart card technology is used over a wide area in other Scandinavian countries, where the level of application of smart-card-based information security is the greatest in the world.

Setec Instant™ EID flexible

Although the latest standards have increased openness and interoperability of products, making the different technologies compatible is still not very simple. Setec, however, has developed a smart card solution and the interfaces needed for it in such a way that the customer can easily integrate the solution into the surrounding systems and inaugurate the cards. The smart card can be issued flexibly and users do not require extensive training. The product is aptly named Setec Instant™ EID. It is a quickly installed solution that can be openly adapted to the needs of organizations and/or companies. The smart card is compatible with international standards and for this reason is easily adapted to various user environments.

Smart card is practical and secure

The card-based information-security solution, which is based on public key infrastructure, is so intelligent that you can log in securely, encrypt information and ultimately make a digital signature. On the one hand, the smart card makes the information in a system extremely secure, but, on the other, it gives the user the freedom to operate anywhere. For this reason Setec's Instant™ EID is excellently suited to users who move a lot from one network terminal to another.

The logistics of the solution are simple: even the user himself may activate his new card at his work station. A photo of the user can be added to the card, and in many instances access control is combined into the card.

One of the solution's basic features is that the issuance of the card itself and certificates can be tailored very flexibly to meet the customer's needs. The program is easy to install in the employees' workstations, because the software needed can be downloaded from the net. Setec Instant™ EID is also compatible with the most common products of companies that provide certification services. An organization can freely choose its certification services either by issuing certificates in its organization or by using other suppliers.

Setec launched the card solution in the autumn of 2002 and it is now being used in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Wider international interest is great thanks in particular to the card's applicability, openness and user-friendliness.

Setec develops and produces smart cards that have a high degree of security. At the end of 2001 the Group employed 466 people and the turnover was 69.8 million euros.

>> www.setec.com