 Can you please give us some information about activities of OYTEK?
OYAK Technology, Informatics, and Card Services Inc. (OYTEK) has been in service since March 2002, as a (well-known) solution company that applies (the) changes occurring in information technologies, that makes difference, and that is widely known. Besides providing information technologies solutions that they need for companies primarily from finance sector and also from different sectors such as construction, food, automotives, tourism, logistics and insurance, Oytek also provides service for system integration in public and private sector. The company provides products, solutions and services for software services specific to market, card software technologies and services, Communication Center infrastructure and technologies, turnkey delivery special projects, e-business, ERP, document management and workflow solutions, CRM, security, virtualization solutions, service, hosting, hardware and network. OYTEK, being the first in the sector to qualify for it, is cementing its success by “ISO 27001 Information Security Management System Certificate”.
Again with OYTEK NFC Project regarded as worthy of encouragement and developed within the framework of R&D programs of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Technology and Innovation Funding Programs Directorate (TEYDEB), it is continuing to break new ground.
It continues its endeavors to make our R&D group, which is structured to be ready for new technologies, to produce software and application projects compatible with future generation technologies, officially an R&D Center in near future.
You put forward being a company of the OYAK Group as one of your privileges. What are the advantages of being a company of the OYAK Group for you and for your clients?
Oyak Group is one of the few big groups in Turkey. Being companies of the Oyak Group, we have to understand the needs of our clients correctly, present them the most appropriate solution and at the same time protect our brand without compromising any of our ethical values. In fact, we offer our clients that we to be their informatics department. This perspective makes it possible for our clients to choose us for their projects.
What about the latest developments on NFC Project which is supported by TÜBİTAK and which you are planning to finish by the beginning of 2010?
Oytek NFC project is our R&D project that is evaluated within the area of informatics in the framework of TÜBİTAK R&D support programs.
We applied to TÜBİTAK in June 2008 for NFC project. Our application was regarded as worthy of support in the framework of R&D. We completed our project on developing NFC mobile application software by the end of January 2010 with close follow-up of TÜBİTAK and in accordance with the plan of the project.
We plan to attend to a number of activities both at home and abroad in order to advertize NFC and mobile application solutions that we developed, to show with demos their area of use in different sectors.
The first one of such activities is WIMA NFC Fair that will be held in Monaco in April 2010. We will be sharing with the participants especially the NFC Kiosk concept and our product that we developed. Other activities that we plan to participate this year are Cardist Istanbul that will take place in May 2010 and Cartes Paris in November 2010. Thus, we plan to advertize all NFC solutions of ours both at home and abroad.
In conclusion, we combined our experience in smart card technologies with knowledge accumulation that we gained through R&D endeavors in NFC and mobile applications.
In that sense we can say that OYTEK will hold a powerful position as an application developer within the emerging NFC ecosystem.
By using NFC technology, you plan to develop multi-functional and contactless-mobile communication payment, data access, and controlled access application solutions in retail, entertainment, transportation and logistics sectors. How are solutions that have been developed with this technology going to provide an advantage to these sectors?
Firstly NFC technology in near field data communication is also new in the world, but it is one that is developing fast, that arouses interest in many areas due to opportunities it provides and is a technology whose awareness is fast growing.
As a firm that is also providing service in card and payment systems, we anticipate that in near future in parallel with the establishment of NFC business rules and standards and with the NFC devices’ becoming widespread, NFC devices will substitute especially plastic cards.
Thus, a NFC compatible mobile phone, in addition to being used as a payment device will be able to become a mobile solution device that could achieve multi tasks thanks to different NFC applications that will be put on it.
With Oytek NFC project; we developed new concepts and solutions to be used in areas such as entertainment, retail, transportation, closed circuit payment systems with NFC-compatible devices. In NFC device we used telephone based model as secure element. On the other hand we are also working on SIM based model. We aim to be ready as NFC application developer between service providers and GSM operators when GSM operators and work models become clear.
We can give, especially in entertainment sector, “smart posters/ NFC Cinema” through which service will be initiated by making the content read via the poster and purchasing can be done with e-Wallet; in retail sector, the concept of “mobile basket” which will substitute physical shopping basket; in transportation and logistics, “mobile pass” solution; in payment systems, “NFC payment/ E-Wallet”, dynamic labeling with NFC Kiosks as examples to solutions and concepts that we will bring.
When NFC applications and mobile devices are considered simultaneously, it will provide the sector in which it is used and its clients many advantages such as operational efficiency, fast payment, mobility, decrease in queue and waiting time, compatibility with the existing contactless RFID technologies, managing multi-functional applications in one and mobile media.
How big is OYTEK today?
Today OYTEK is celebrating its 8th year as a solution company that has been wanted in public and private sector informatics projects till today. There is long way ahead of us; however when we look behind, we can express that we have been through processes that will make us a quite experienced team. We are continuing to reap the benefits of it in a determined and firm way.
For example, last year was one of the best years that Oytek had been through despite the economical crisis.
What are OYTEK’s goals for 2010?
In 2009, we cooperated with Oyak Group only for 8% of our performance. The rest were mostly projects that we did for outside the group. Last year in that sense was one in which we carried out important projects for outside the group.
In 2010 we aim to increase our income both in and outside the group more.
We will continue to create added value for the sector by increasing NFC technology that we have newly developed, multi-functional smart cards, our new product that we have produced this year for printing security, software and service services.
In which areas from among sectors for which you are providing service and producing products do you see the biggest potential in the coming period?
Researches show that in 15 year’s period the technology will develop more and more, and will play an important role in economical improvement of countries. This is why we can say that informatics technology will come to the foreground even more with technological developments.
Informatics market continues to grow despite the reflections of economic crisis in the world. In fact fears that the international economic crisis and raising raw material prices would severely harm information technologies enterprisers have come to nothing till now. Thus we can say that software, hardware and services market will go on growing in similar rates.
What kinds of technologies are awaiting us in the coming ten years, when we project into the future?
When we think about Card and Payment systems, in near future concepts of contactless, offline, mobile payment will substitute the conventional devices in the system (card, fixed POS etc.) by means of mobile devices and technologies. One of our reasons for choosing NFC as an R&D project is this anticipation.
Another subject is about what secure element model in NFC devices such applications as passport, identity card, credit card, prepaid cards that require security will be based on and how life-cycle of these applications will be managed. Our projection is that especially in mobile payment, secured NFC applications will become prevalent on UICC (SIM) based model.
During this process, work models concerning how GSM operators, service receivers, dependable service management providers (TMS), chip producers, international standards establishers and NFC application developers might cooperate with each other will develop fast.
As Oytek, we are following up developments in this area closely. We are continuing to work on SIM based models. In this framework, we are getting in touch with banks, card institutions at home and abroad and with GSM operators concerning common work areas.
Models that will be formed will be decisive about safe, practical and widespread use, and thus the acceptance of NFC .
What kind of a picture do you see when comparing the latest developments in smart card and payment systems inTurkey with developments in the world?
Turkey holds a good position in the world, especially in Europe with respect to card technologies and payment systems. When passing to EMV in card payments systems , which is a widespread and secured standard, Chip& PIN application that it launched in April 2006 and rendered established in approximately two years, which is much faster when compared to Europe, has strong references, like Contactless card applications.
105 millions of card, 44 millions of which are credit cards, 1.7 millions POS and almost 23 thousands ATM machines, 16.3 billion TL credit card and 14.7 billion TL cash card transaction amount are indicators of its potential in payment systems (BKM 2009 II. Term Reports).
What is Multos card? What are its application areas? What are points that set it apart from other smart card applications?
Multos is a smart card operating system that supports high security and multi applications.
Functions to be loaded to the card can be developed upon a high-security platform. Unlike Javacard, it does not allow for direct data sharing among different applications.
MULTOS applications can be developed with high level programming languages like “C” java or low level programming languages like “assembly”. It is compatible with international standards developed for smart cards (EMV, contactless etc).
Multos cards are preferred to be used in projects, such as military projects, that require special high security level.
What are your expectations from Cardist 2010?
Cardist is an important activity and platform in which card technologies and payment systems providers and solution providing companies come together. It is a very convenient channel to follow up and gauge new advancements and trends in the sector.
This year we are considering participating in Cardist with our NFC project and NFC solutions. By doing so, we want to have a closer look at ongoing developments in NFC area and at the same time we want to receive evaluations of potential service providers concerning our NFC solutions.
Will we be able to see OYTEK’s surprise new application and services in Cardist this year? Do you plan to make any launches of new products and/or services in Cardist?
We plan to take part in Cardist 2010 with OYTEK NFC project and solutions that we developed within R&D encouragement program of Ministry of Industry and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Technology and Innovation Funding Programs Directorate (TEYDEB).
Within this framework, we want to advertize our NFC Payment, NFC Paid Pass, NFC Controlled Access, NFC Autopark, NFC Entertainment, NFC Mobile Basket, NFC Kiosk (Dynamic NFC labeling) solutions through demo media.
What do you think Cardist stands for the sector? What does it contribute to the sector?
We believe that Cardist fill the lack of a platform in our country, where card producers and companies engaged in that sector can come together, can communicate their solutions directly to their related clients, can discuss the latest technology and it provides companies engaged in this area with the opportunity of displaying themselves on the shop window in some sense.
Why do you think companies engaged in information technologies should participate in Cardist?
We think that taking part in an international activity, other than providing the opportunity to see advancing technologies together, also provides mutual development with companies. And we also think that the activity opens new doors and provide new opportunities outside our country as well.
What kind of a message would you convey to companies that have not yet met with Cardist, and are considering participating?
We expect that clients, technology producing informatics companies and also institution or people that use this technology will come together at this fair and thus, we will meet at a productive activity.
Thank you for your time. |
