GridLock Secure Exam Management

www.smartlockinglogic.com

Pioneered in conjunction with:

www.ieb.co.za

System Overview:

Smart locking Logic and the IEB have been pioneering an innovative solution to secure examination scripts and answer sheets, in providing a secure solution for remotely conducted examinations. The system has been under development for the past 12 months, on which initial field trials have been concluded with actual examinations conducted in September 2013. A more extensive field trial is planned for the national matriculation certificate in November 2013, with 180 separately conducted examinations scheduled over a two week period and comprising over 30 different locations within South Africa. The system is planned for implementation, by the IEB for the 2014 academic year.

Centralised Management Platform

GSM Interface

Inductive Interface to

GRIDLOCK E-Seal

SMART KEY

GRIDLOCK E-Seal fitted to an exam

script bag

The Secure Exam Management system employs the use of uniquely designed electronic seals and remotely located Smart keys, as well as a centralised management software application, to not only manage the opening of examination scripts at the appropriate time before commencement of the examination, but also the time window within which examinations are to be conducted. It further geographically locates the examination venue and ensures that all opening of scripts and sealing of the answer sheets, can only be effected at these geographic locations – these are predefined on the system as Geo-cells. After the sealing of answer sheets on completion of the examination conducted, which needs to also be within the pre-defined time allocation, the secure package is dispatched or couriered back to the central examination control venue where the package is inspected and validated. The seals are then opened and the papers processed for marking. All activity relating to a particular examination is recorded on the system transaction log and a report is generated verifying that the examination was carried out in accordance with the requirements and that no unfair bias or irregularities were encountered.

The system therefore protects the centrally packed examination scripts from the central location where the packing is done through the entire examination process, as well as the answer scripts all the way back to the central location, where these are then validated. It further prevents any early opening of the examination scripts. It also prevents the scripts being opened at any venue other than the allocated examination venue. This is with the aid of satellite locating (GPS – Global Positioning System )on the Smart keys. It further ensures that examinations are conducted strictly within given allocated time intervals, by insuring that the examination scripts are placed and sealed in secure bags within the allocated time window. The system also secures the examination scripts and answer sheets in transit and during their “waiting period” both before and after examinations have been conducted. It is therefore also not possible to change the contents of the secure bag once the examination has been concluded.

System Overview:

Additional security features are included with unique hologram marking and bar coding of the bags to ensure these cannot be reproduced. The electronic seal is also protected with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology), unique ID codes programed in manufacture, bar coding, as well as two Hologram tamper indications included in its design. The entire system therefore provides an extremely high level of integrity and provides end users the assurance, that their examinations have been conducted in a secure, controlled and consistent manner and on a fair and transparent basis, with valid proof in the form of an activity report on each venue of all activity during the entire process.

In addition to the GridLock management system and software application controlling the system, a specific packing software application is also provided to the central packing location. This is to facilitate and optimise the packing of examination scripts and ensures that the process of programming the GridLock management system with the required secure bag numbers and electronic seals, as well as specific examination venues and time frames, is automated to a large extent. By further introducing a systematic approach to this packing process, as well as bar codes and readers for the secure bags and electronic seals, packing errors are minimised and an electronic record is established at the same time of this process. The concept and system has been lodged with provisional patent applications in South Africa, which are in process of being finalised and extended to include international provisional protection. It is therefore unique in global terms , and provides a solution for documentation management and control, that not only spans national boundaries, but can also provide the same capabilities across the Globe.

Red Dot indicating an open seal

Green Dot indicating a secured seal

Hologram Tamper Indicator

Key Hole

Stainless steel hook. (can be custom shaped to fit a variety of bags)

Unique bar code

All events and activity on the Smart Keys is communicated to the management system in near real time (Excluding only the processing and propagation delay over the GSM (Global Switched Mobile) network. This means that the monitoring of examinations can take place centrally as examinations are being written. Alarms are generated for extended time and can be queried and managed with the remote venue should this occur. It is therefore not necessary to wait until all scripts have been received back to determine if examinations went as planned and without incident, as this will be visible when the last venue has secured the answer sheets in the specific bag.

Technical Specifications:

Unit 24D, Scientia Technopark Meiring Naude Road, Scientia Pretoria

Tel: +27(0)12 349-5301 Fax: +27(0)86 533-1411 Email: info@smartlockinglogic.co.za Website: www.smartlockinglogic.com

GSM Smart Key

Construction ABS Plastic with stainless steel antenna housing. Integrated LCD display.

Dimensions 72mm x 29mm x 148mm (Various antenna lengths available)

Communication GSM Modem – SIM card included

Power Source 2000mAh Lithium Ion

E-Seals (Refer to individual brochures for detailed information)

Environmental Operating Temperature: -10⁰C to 55⁰C Ingress Protection: IP67 Drop and Impact: 1m and 20.0 Joule

Power source None, Powered via inductive circuit from Smart Key.

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Bluetooth Smart Key

Construction ABS Plastic with stainless steel antenna housing.

Dimensions 60mm x 26mm x 113mm (Various antenna lengths available)

Communication Bluetooth Modem – GSM communication via Android Device

Power Source 2000mAh Lithium Ion

Android Platform Tested on all versions between Ver 2.3.2 to 4.1 .2

GLA

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Platform

Hardware Requirements Dedicated hardware is hosted for all clients including data backup, in a data centre environment.

Client server Each clients network is hosted on a partitioned server application on their own private and secure application.

Client access Clients access their server application through a standard windows WEB client session from an existing desk top environment.