Scott McNealy, CEO and president of SUN Microsystems, met with government officials in Ottawa last week to discuss the possible adoption of SUN's smart card technology by the public sector.
The meeting came on the heels of a joint announcement made by SUN and EDS Canada saying the two companies plan to collaborate on "addressing the growing demand for smart card solutions" within Canadian governments.
Topics at the government-industry forum, which was held Thursday following McNealy's morning address to members of Ottawa's IT community, included the traits of SUN's Java-powered smart cards, government network security, as well as the leveraging of SUN's international experience and how it can be applied to the Canadian market, according to a SUN spokeswoman.
EDS and SUN plan to work with ActivCard, a smart card developer based in California. The cards incorporate SUN's Java card technology, which is capable of storing large amounts of personal information on an integrated microprocessor chip. On Thursday, SUN executives pointed out the U.S. Department of Defence already uses the cards for its security and authentication systems.
"We've got some targeted (government) departments in Canada," confirmed Stephen Heckbert, EDS spokesman. "We've worked with (SUN) to develop a solution where if someone requires an ID card or some form of more secured access ... we can easily implement a solution that's pretty scalable (to government departments)."
Heckbert added SUN's Java-powered cards are capable of having a biometric component that could comprise hand geometry, a fingerprint or iris scan. He also recognized the interest Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre displayed in smart card technology when he recently proposed to adopt a national biometric ID card for all Canadians.
"It's that kind of (national biometric ID card) where we might have some capabilities for (the public sector)," said Heckbert. "But I can't say if that's an active pursuit we're on." Biometric smart card technology sparked controversy in the House of Commons and across the country following Coderre's proposal. Worries over privacy violations were strongly voiced by opposition and Liberal MPs, as well as concerned citizens.
Meanwhile, smart cards that rely on PIN numbers are already in limited use by some governments and businesses. A smart card system called CANPASS has been used at Vancouver International Airport since 1996. Earlier this year, an iris-scanning pilot program called CANPASS – Air was launched at the Vancouver airport for frequent flyers. The pilot will be introduced to Canada's other major airports in coming months.
Prior to the meeting with government officials, McNealy told an audience of several hundred people from Ottawa's IT community that high-tech companies are designing custom-built data systems that look like "jalopies".
"Imagine if a had an airplane hangar at home, I designed my own plane from different parts and I told you to fly it. It wouldn't be safe, yet that's what we're doing (in the high-tech sector)," said McNealy, who addressed the technology executive breakfast organized by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation.
McNealy vowed the world's "jalopies" will soon be pushed aside by a "massive standardization" in the way technology is deployed and developed.
Also on Thursday, Steven Milunovich, a prominent analyst at Merril Lynch & Co., sent an open letter to SUN's board, as well as McNealy, saying the CEO needs "a makeover" and the company needs to cut up to 7,000 more workers and drop out of some businesses. Otherwise, Milunovich predicted Sun's ultimate value will only be its customer list for another tech company that buys it.
