Sjöbo chooses Nexus for multi-functional smart cards

Sjöbo municipality in Sweden has asked Nexus to secure access to its Health and Welfare administration’s new IT system with two-factor authentication. "The new smart cards will also be used for visual identification, and later on we will add more functions, such as printing and opening doors and medicine cabinets," says Anie Reis, head of IT and information at the Health and welfare administration in Sjöbo municipality.

Moving forward, it is also likely that other administrations in Sjöbo municipality and neighboring municipalities will start using Nexus’s comprehensive solution for multi-functional smart cards.

"We have a strong desire to use Nexus’s solutions throughout the entire municipality, and ideally also in neighboring municipalities. The other administrations have not yet jumped on the bandwagon and we did not have time to wait for them, but we hope it is only a matter of time,” says Reis.

There was a rush to get a solution in place at the Health and Welfare administration because it changed IT systems, from a locally installed system using username and password, to a cloud-based system, in which there are legal requirements for two-factor authentication (2FA).

"We chose between having smart cards containing certificates, that are inserted into a reader in the computer, and hardware tokens that generate one-time codes. The choice fell on photo smart cards, because they can be used for lots of other things as well,” says Reis.

The certified staff all already have professional ID cards called SITHS, but it is not feasible

to let all personnel use such cards.

"SITHS cards are expensive, and they do not have photos. Moreover, it can take several weeks to receive a card after it has been ordered. We have quite a high turnover of staff, so we need to have the card production on premise,” says Reis.

Identity and security company Nexus Group's comprehensive solution for multi-functional smart cards – which consists of the identity and access management software Nexus PRIME, a photo station, a card printer, cards, card holders and consultancy – is providing Sjöbo municipality with a system that meets both current and future requirements.

"With the Nexus solution, we get a super smooth way to manage the cards and permissions. Nexus was the only vendor that met all of our requirements – I do not think there are many suppliers who have such a comprehensive solution,” says Reis.

Patrick Zangaro, sales manager for the public sector at Nexus, confirms that the Nexus solution is unique.

"We are leading the way when it comes to combining physical and digital access control. We also offer on-premise printing and world-class life cycle management, which makes our solution a natural choice for municipalities that need a comprehensive solution for multi-functional ID cards. We anticipate seeing a large number of deals like this going forward,” says Zangaro.

Press contacts:

Carolen Ytander, CMO at Nexus Group.
carolen.ytander@nexusgroup.com
+46 729 74 34 61

Patrick Zangaro, sales manager for the public sector at Nexus.
patrick.zangaro@nexusgroup.com
+46 723 82 58 40

Anie Reis, head of IT and information at the Health and Welfare administration in Sjöbo municipality.
anie.reis@sjobo.se
+46 766 34 27 69

Press pictures:

Carolen Ytander
Patrick Zangaro