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July 2008 • Volume 13 Number 7
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Executive Director's Letter
I remember a saying from an old movie about drivers in Italy that goes something like, “Mirrors? Who needs mirrors?" -- referring to the idea that Italian drivers believe if you are driving faster than everyone else, you don’t need a mirror to look behind you. I feel I must have a little Italian blood inside me. Month after month, I seem to be racing around the next bend in the road, never looking in the rear view mirror to see the accomplishments the Smart Card Alliance has accumulated behind me. July begins a new fiscal year for the Smart Card Alliance. As I have prepared for my year-end reports and new fiscal year plans for the board, I have been spending time evaluating the results of the last 12 months and also looking at the year ahead. What I discovered is a record year for membership growth, projects completed by the Alliance’s five industry councils, web site visits, and media coverage of the Alliance’s thought leadership on issues involving identity, security, privacy, payments, transportation, and emerging market adoption in healthcare and mobile payments. Let me begin with the level of participation and productivity of our five industry councils – Identity, Physical Access, Contactless Payments, Transportation, and Healthcare. Combined, the councils completed 28 projects during the year, with the Identity Council finishing 8 projects and the Physical Access and Contactless Payments Councils close behind with 7 projects each. Included in these totals were 13 published reports, 3 research projects, 3 web briefings, 3 focused industry comment submissions, and 6 physical events. What is more impressive is that the pipeline is full with in-progress reports and activities. An additional 10 reports and 5 other active council projects are nearing completion this summer. In comparison, a look back at my year-end report for 2005 proudly reported 7 projects completed. Why such a large increase? A big reason is the terrific job Cathy Medich, the Smart Card Alliance programs director , does multi-tasking with the council working groups to keep projects moving and to encourage council members to contribute to projects in a timely fashion. Another factor is the tremendous commitment and enthusiasm that Alliance members bring to the council projects -- all in addition to their "day jobs." Also, the council chairs and steering committees are always thinking about new opportunities to get more involvement from the 118 different member organizations and 415 individuals registered for one or more councils. More volunteers providing more insight and thought leadership leads to more results. It has been a winning formula for the Alliance and the smart card industry. On the public relations front, the Alliance produced 27 press releases, 13 of which covered announcements of white papers and research reports. This contributed to a steep increase in the number of media placements spreading industry messages across television, print media, and countless electronic newsletters and blogspots that reach people around the globe. The Smart Card Alliance web site also continues to be the go-to resource for information about smart cards, with a 9% increase to over 953,000 visits during the past fiscal year. More content brings more visitors which leads to knowledge being shared throughout the market. The Alliance also invested significantly this year in making sure its members are keeping up with events both here in the U.S. and overseas. We introduced a new industry news service to members, the Daily Smart Card Industry News Summary, This summary provides daily news reports from around the world about smart cards and related industry news sorted by industry segment, thus helping Alliance members be the most informed smart card professionals around. An average of 15 - 20 news items are delivered by email to over 800 subscribers each morning. In a few months we will be announcing additional services for both Smart Card Alliance members and non-members to further expand their smart card knowledge through advanced educational enrichment opportunities. Of course, none of these accomplishments would be possible without the financial support we receive from our member organizations. Our membership grew to 180 members in 2008, a 50% increase in 3 years, with a record 47 new members joining since July 2007. The growth in member organizations in the Alliance and the Latin America Chapter has enabled us to invest in better services to our members. We added the Products and Services Directory to our public web site. We increased outreach to the government market by contracting with a communications specialist to get our message to the media and government leaders. Also, with additional member sponsorship support, we supported 2 new web seminars, an extensive market research report on consumer attitudes towards contactless payments, and the well-attended, in-person Payment Councils Summit in Salt Lake City in February 2007 where members exchanged ideas and discussed opportunities for contactless payments, transit, and mobile convergence. The Alliance is already the largest smart card industry organization in the world, and is a co-founder of ISCAN, the International Smart Card Associations Network. The respect we've earned helps when we approach other industry organizations, government groups such as NIST and the GAO, federal and state regulators and legislative bodies, and standards organizations. We find that doors are open to discuss how the Smart Card Alliance can educate their constituents, collaborate with their members and open new channels of communications between the groups. With that power comes the added responsibility of maintaining the highest standards for our technical knowledge, objectivity, and vendor-neutrality. So, after this brief pause in the hectic pace of the Smart Card Alliance, it is time to look away from the rear view mirror, grab the wheel, and take this fast-moving, nimble, and powerful machine for another spin down that winding road -- focusing on the journey ahead. Thank you for being a part of the ride so far. I hope we can keep up the pace and the high standards we have set. I also want to remind those who are still waiting on the sidelines that there is no time like the present to get on board the Smart Card Alliance and join the ride – and there are no mirrors for what is behind you, only the opportunities that are ahead for all of us. P.S. Don’t forget to register for our next conference event, the 7th Annual Smart Cards in Government Conference, October 22 – 24, 2008. at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. There are still exhibit spaces and sponsorship opportunities available. You do not have to be a member to attend or participate as an exhibitor.
Randy Vanderhoof
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