Council announces second year successes, new officers, upcoming initiatives

Princeton Junction, NJ, June 22, 2007–The U.S. government’s migration to new physical access control systems (PACS) to be used with federally mandated FIPS 201 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart cards was the top priority for the Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council last year. The Council today announced second year successes, new officers and upcoming projects. The Physical Access Council brings together government and industry leaders within the Alliance to provide guidance to organizations on how to implement smart card-based physical access control systems.

Government programs including Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and REAL ID top priorities

Princeton Junction, NJ, May 15, 2007–The Smart Card Alliance Identity Council successfully provided education on and increased awareness of identity issues and technologies in its first year, focusing particularly on new government initiatives like REAL ID and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The Council today announced its accomplishments for the last year, plans for the upcoming year and newly elected officers and steering committee members, including chair Neville Pattinson, vice president of government affairs and standards for Gemalto North America.

Same level of security, privacy and authentication found in smart card technology used in other federal ID applications required at state level

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, May 8, 2007–The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should not rely on static 2D barcode technology to store citizens’ personal information on REAL ID driver’s licenses or identification cards due to its inherent security drawbacks, according to the Smart Card Alliance’s comments in response to the DHS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on minimum standards for REAL ID cards.

New partnership to provide unparalleled value for the largest card & identity technology event in North America

NEW YORK, NY and PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, May 3, 2007–The Smart Card Alliance and SourceMedia announced a new partnership that will combine the Alliance’s annual conference with CardTechSecurTech (CTST), the largest card and identity technology event in North America. Beginning in 2008, the Alliance will spearhead the CTST conference agenda development, bringing the Alliance’s base of leading smart card technology suppliers and end users together in one venue. SourceMedia will continue to provide its extensive event management experience and resources, along with the promotional benefits its broad range of publications and websites deliver, including Cards & Payments, Card Technology, CardLine, CardLine Asia and American Banker.

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, April 24, 2007–The privacy and security of U.S. citizens would take a back seat to convenience if border states follow the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recommendations to pilot long-range, vicinity-read RFID-based state driver’s licenses that would double as border crossing cards, according to a statement released by the Smart Card Alliance.

Princeton Junction, NJ, April 23, 2007–The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council today announced its second year results, upcoming project plans and new officers, including returning chair, Paul Korczak from MTA New York City Transit. Formed in 2005, the Transportation Council is a focused group within the overall structure of the Alliance that works to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry. The new council plans and leadership were announced this month at the Transportation Council in-person meeting in Salt Lake City.

HSPD-12, TWIC, First Responder and Privacy Other First Day Topics

Washington, D.C., April 12, 2007–“What an amazing enabler it is for security,” U.S. Army Col. Barry Hensley said of the Department of Defense (DOD) smart card-based network security implementation. Hensley’s remarks came as the Smart Card Alliance kicked off its 6th Annual Government Conference by hosting a meeting of the Federal Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board (IAB) at the Ronald Reagan Building yesterday.

Full-day educational session to feature speakers from Microsoft, VeriSign, Lockheed Martin, General Services Administration, and more

Princeton Junction, NJ, April 19, 2007–With reports of security breaches increasingly in the news, commercial and government organizations recognizing the critical need to strengthen IT security are often turning to cards, tokens and new software solutions. The Smart Card Alliance will lead the discussion on these and other trends in cybersecurity and identity management in its full-day educational session, May 16th from 8:30am to 4:30pm at the SecurTech 2007 conference on secure identification, part of CardTech/SecurTech (CTST) 2007. The CTST event is being held May 15th–17th at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco.

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, APRIL 17, 2007–The Smart Card Alliance government conference speakers from the federal government and industry reported on the significant progress in smart card programs and available technology since they last met in Washington D.C. one year ago.

May 3rd webinar features speakers from Wells Fargo, KeyBank, BB&T and IBM Canada

Princeton Junction, NJ, April 16, 2007–Consumers love fast and convenient contactless payments, and top card issuers like Wells Fargo, KeyBank and BB&T are responding–more than 20 million contactless financial payment cards have been issued in the United States. Well-known retailers are on board too, with more than 46,000 merchant locations worldwide enabled to accept contactless payments. Issuers interested in learning why contactless payments are so popular and how they can take advantage of the benefits of the technology are invited to join a free Smart Card Alliance webinar, “Contactless Payments: Issuers Meet Demand for Speed and Convenience,” May 3rd at 12:00pm Eastern Time.