The Czech social security smart card

The smart card project has been developed as part of the Czech social security IS. It is the first project of its kind to be used by the Czech government. The main aim of this project was to create a security framework within which all the social security offices could use their information systems. 10,000 professional cards and 1,000 client cards have already been issued. The system consists of the card issuing and management centre and the PKI infrastructure, which is made up of the certification authority and the 200 remote registration authorities. The Internet application has been developed to retrieve, complete and sign the social security forms. Experience gained as well as current situation and plans regarding PKI and smart cards in the social and health sectors in the Czech Republic will be discussed.