We are thinking beyond the card itself to how we are connected to the bigger world of digital security for information technology. At Gemalto, we are thinking and talking about our industry in a different way.

If you think about it broadly, what we are really providing is a personal form of digital security within a networked IT infrastructure. In each of our three biggest current markets — payment, mobile communications, and identity and security — we are protecting individuals’ identities and access to services over networks. And protection of digital identity, assets and transactions are vital to individuals as well as to governments and business.

In these examples, what is the role of the microprocessor card? It is a trusted, convenient and really portable computing platform with its own secure operating system and applications. It is ideally suited to identify someone and his/her privileges when connected to network-based systems.

Secure devices such as smart cards carry applications from one place to another, from one device to another. And they deliver the highest levels of security, up to full mutual authentication with private/public key pairs and encryption. But they always represent someone. A unique individual and his/her unique privileges are securely identified among hundreds of millions of others.

What started as a technology for the unconnected has found that its role is also at the network’s edge as a small, portable highly secure and connected device. Eventually, these secure personal devices will be used by everyone to identity themselves, protect their identities and access services over networks.