TC51

Activities

Technology for real-time access control is widely used for many situations. Sophisticated cloud, virtualisation, database, networking technology and services and the evolution of authentication technology such as biometrics, NFC, QR codes used in distributed and modular access control systems enable previously underserved users and operators to innovate around new use cases.

TC51 developed ECMA-412 “Framework for distributed real-time Access systems” which defines a common module architecture and the message exchanges between each module for various cloud, virtualization and other services. ISO/IEC published ECMA-412 as ISO/IEC 20933 in May 2016. The 2nd edition of ECMA-412 introduces new functionalities on performance management mechanisms. Performance management mechanisms allow an Access system to be evaluated for performance by using specific elements and metrics. ECMA-412 2nd edition was also published as a revised edition of ISO/IEC 20933.

In December 2018, the Standard ECMA-417 “Architecture for a distributed real-time access system” was published. This standard specifies the architecture for a distributed real-time access system. The architecture specifies layer concept of the system, functionalities of each layer, and interfaces. The 2nd edition introduced some clarifications and editorial improvements and was also published as ISO/IEC 24643. The 3rd edition of ECMA-417 introduces Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and vaccine passports as additional examples of complicated authentication.

TC51 is currently working on the next phase of the standard and the expectation is that current access systems for particular services can easily expand their services to wider areas and also easily collaborate with various other service systems by keeping interoperability and therefore a standard in mind.