Samsung on Wednesday launched the Tab Iris. It is the first ever commercial device to tap into the Aadhar platform initiated by the government. It is a seven-inch tablet which has digital authentication integrated into it in the form of an iris scanner. Sukesh Jain, vice-president, Samsung India showcased how the tablet could access his Aadhaar details by scanning his eyes. The device was designed by the company’s R&D labs in Bangalore during past 18 months. The device, which comes with a price tag of INR 13,499, is reportedly protected by Samsung Knox and is known to transmit only encrypted iris packets. The device also has an open SDK, letting developers create apps for the tablet.
Sukesh Jain said, banking sector will be front runner in adoption and we foresee the telecom sector using it given the number of SIM cards they activate every month. Also, business correspondents who are crucial for financial inclusion will also use it. He also said that it was too early to say if the government departments will be willing to adopt the tablet, but they have already started using digital authentication, which may be a positive sign for the company. It is not unknown that a lot of other countries are also looking at the Aadhar system to create their own unique identification systems. Therefore, Samsung could use the knowledge gained here to tweak the product for other markets.
TRAI chairman R S Sharma was one of the leads of the UIDAI project. While speaking at the event, he said that a lot of proliferation happens in schemes like pensions because there is no way to authenticate the beneficiaries at the rural level. He said, Aadhar is the most cost effective ID system in the world. It is also scalable and unique. India today gives about INR 5 lakh crore as subsidy and in some states the PDS is about 130% of population. He added that saving on duplication can save the government INR 50,000 crore.