Arizona State University wins NACCU award for NFC pilot
06 June, 2012
category: Education, NFC, Smart Cards
The National Association of Campus Card Users awarded Arizona State University its Innovative Technology Award in recognition of the school’s work piloting an NFC-enabled smart phone to control door access.
To conduct the test, which was completed last summer, a group of ASU staff and students were given NFC smart phones containing HID Global’s Secure Identity Object technology, a key feature of the company’s iCLASS SE credential and reader platform. This technology protects the integrity of identities while enabling the use of multiple form factors ranging from smart phones to microprocessor-based cards, contactless smart cards and other devices.
ASU pilot participants gained access to their residence hall and selected rooms by presenting the phones to their door readers, just like they do with their iCLASS-based campus ID cards. Participants used a variety of smart phones connected to a number of major mobile networks.
About 80% of participants said using a smart phone to unlock a door is just as convenient as using campus ID cards and nearly 90% said they would like to open all doors on campus using their smart phones.
“This pilot proved the viability of the NFC-based mobile access model using secure portable credentials,” said Laura Ploughe, the university’s director of business applications and fiscal control. She said it also confirmed the value that staff and students place on using their phones for more and more applications.
“We are very pleased with the results, and gratified to have received this recognition from NACCU,” added Ploughe.
“We are honored that NACCU has recognized this pilot program, which is an important step toward global deployment of mobile access control technology beyond cashless payment applications,” said Debra Spitler, HID’s vice president of mobile access solutions. “The pilot results clearly demonstrated the benefits of opening doors using HID’s digital credentials embedded into NFC smart phones.”
To read more detailed coverage of the ASU trial at CR80News, click here.
