|
Dear members
and friends of the Alliance,
Recently, I ran
into a former colleague I had not spoken with since he had
left the card industry several years prior. We talked about
a lot of things we once had in common and I began to tell
him about the Smart Card Alliance. He knew of the Alliance
and asked what we had done recently to really make a difference
in the U.S. adoption of smart cards. At first, I was taken
back by the question. I wasn't sure whether to respond to
the "done recently" part of the question or the "really make
a difference" part.
His question helped
crystallize in my mind the challenge we are tasked with for
the industry as a whole. I pointed to the recent deliverables
such as the many white papers we have published on smart cards
and biometrics, privacy, payments infrastructure, and contactless
technologies. I described our recent conference programs on
Smart Cards in Government, Identity Management, and Catalysts
for Convergence. And I told him of the SmartTalk teleconference
programs, the Educational Institute workshops, this newsletter,
and a host of articles, interviews, and press announcements
that have helped shape the opinions of business leaders and
government policy makers. This body of work was significant,
but the list did not answer the most important part of my
friend's question. Have we really made a difference?
To answer this,
we must all look deeper into our efforts. I truly believe
we make a difference every day, but being a change agent is
difficult to quantify. We can feel good about the more than
200 million smart cards and chip modules shipped to North
American customers since 1999. But, a more accurate measure
of adoption is the number of PCs enabled, door access points
installed, cell phones activated, payment terminals equipped,
and credentials authenticated. Only in these measurements
do we see the technology in use – solving problems, delivering
secure transactions, and protecting valuable assets. The "real
difference" will ultimately be measured in these statistics
and the work of the Alliance will not be complete until we
can speak as proudly in these terms as we can of our other
achievements. Our customers are the ultimate judges.
At next month's
"Smart Cards in Motion" conference (October 14 -16), we will
hear first hand from some of these important customers. We
will welcome card issuers and chip technology users from different
vertical markets to share their experiences using smart cards
for mobile payments, access, subscription services, and identity
management. I encourage everyone to attend this event, not
only Alliance members, because this is the single best opportunity
to experience the true breadth of the smart card industry
in North America.
In addition to
the tremendous conference program, attendees are encouraged
to participate in the "birds-of-a-feather" session in which
we will break into small discussion groups focused on specific
topics of interest. The Secure Personal ID Task Force and
Terminal and eTransaction Task Force will meet to discuss
future projects and white papers. These groups meet virtually
via conference calls throughout the year, but the conference
provides a valuable opportunity for the contributors to gather
face-to-face. If you are planning to come to Sawgrass Marriott
Resort in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, please complete the hotel
reservation form and fax it to the hotel immediately. You
can register for the conference online, or if you prefer you
can fill out the conference registration form and fax it to
the Alliance office. Details are posted on the Alliance web
site.
So long for now.
I look forward to seeing each of you in person next month
in Florida.
Randy
Vanderhoof
Executive Director
Smart Card Alliance
rvanderhoof@smartcardalliance.org
Each week the
latest news, press releases, and articles are made available
at your Alliance web site. To include your company's articles,
news, and releases in this great industry resource, send electronic
submissions to news@smartcardalliance.org.
Click on the headline to read the full text of these articles–currently
"showing" at the Alliance site.
Each month,
the international smart card associations who are members
of the ISCAN network share smart card industry news with the
Smart Card Alliance. Below are some of the highlights from
recent ISCAN member newsletters.
Canadian political
leaders can't ignore the alarming consumer fraud toll
Catherine Johnston, President & CEO of the Advanced Card
Technology Association of Canada, (ACT CANADA) has accused
the political leaders campaigning in the Ontario election
of ignoring the most popular form of consumer fraud, currently
the fastest growing crime in our society. Johnston said that
Ontario has the distinction of being Canada's leader for the
dramatic increase of identity fraud victims and is calling
for a joint government, law enforcement and industry task
force to identify the scope of the problem and steps that
can be taken to quickly minimize Ontarians risk.
................ Source: ACT Canada,
September, 2003
Schlumberger
Easyflow technology used in London's Oyster program
Schlumberger Smart Cards & Terminals announced that the TranSys
consortium is deploying Schlumberger Easyflow contactless
smart cards for its groundbreaking London transport ticketing
and payment program, Oyster. Annual and monthly season ticket
holders are already using the Oyster service - the first of
its kind in the UK - to travel across the UK's capital city.
Oyster cards are now available to annual and monthly Travelcard
and Annual Bus Pass holders via the Internet. The rollout
will be extended later to include 7-Day tickets and a pay-as-you-go
facility, Pre Pay.
................ Source: ACT Canada,
September, 2003
Giescke & Devrient
receives security certification for digital tachograph
Beginning August 2004, an EU regulation will require all newly
registered trucks and buses to be equipped with digital tachographs.
The devices will monitor more reliably than the current mechanical
system whether or not drivers adhere to speed limits and rest
times. Once introduced, tampering with a vehicle's tachograph
will be impossible. Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) will provide
the smart card technology necessary to install the corresponding
infrastructure in each vehicle.
................ Source: ACT Canada,
September, 2003
Smart college
group in Holland
The Fontys Colleges of Higher Education in the Netherlands,
a project unrivalled both in size and design in the Dutch
education world. Hub Keulen, project leader at Fontys, gave
an overview of the Smart Card project. 35 colleges of higher
education spread across 25 buildings, up to 230 km apart,
35,000 students, 4000 employees and 300 cash points Fontys
wanted to standardise on a single system for registration
and funds transfer on campus, removing cash from the operation
and fully utilising the best management information available.
Fontys are an excellent example of scalability. Putting Smartcards
to work has delivered key advantages to an institution committed
to excellence, intelligently utilising technology to deliver
an efficient and usable system.
................ Source: The
Smart Card Society of Southern Africa,
July, 2003
|
Top
