Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

SourceMedia, Smart Card Alliance partner to produce expanded, CardTechSecurTech next year

Monday, May 7, 2007

A new partnership will combine Smart Card Alliance’s annual conference with the SourceMedia-produced CardTech/SecurTech conference beginning in 2008. Under the agreement, the alliance will spearhead the CTST conference agenda development.


NEW YORK, NY and PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ–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.

“For the last 17 years, the goal of CTST has been to provide a forum for the card and security sectors to gather, learn and share ideas,” said Rob Whitaker, vice president of conferences & events for SourceMedia. “Through this new partnership with the Smart Card Alliance, we are inviting those in the industry; our attendees, vendors and visionaries, inside CTST to build the event they desire. And by combining our resources, CTST will be in a position to foster future growth and innovation in the card and ID technology industries on an unparalleled scale.”

“The content and breadth of topics we cover at our annual conference has grown just as rapidly as the smart card market in North America,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “Attendees and Alliance members will get a richer experience, and exhibitors will get a bigger venue to promote the industry’s latest technologies. A combined event will create a much grander platform to continue to expand our educational mission.”

The Smart Card Alliance is deeply involved in this year’s CTST agenda, organizing a full-day panel on identity management and cybersecurity. Vanderhoof is also moderating the “CardTech Americas Executive Summit,” a question-and-answer forum with card technology industry leaders. CTST 2007 will be held May 15th–17th, 2007 at Moscone Center West in San Francisco.

Program details and registration information are available at www.ctst.com. For more information on the alliance, visit www.smartcardalliance.org[end] 

The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council has published a white paper examining how the transit industry can best make use of NFC technology.

“One of the major challenges facing transit agencies today is how to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of mobile phones with a solid mobile strategy,” said Transportation Council Chairman Craig Roberts. “This white paper builds on the knowledge base developed in earlier white papers to foster a greater understanding of NFC technology, explain its role in the transit industry, and shed light on key issues facing the transit industry in developing a mobile strategy.”

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Sprint Nextel has announced that it will make NFC a standard feature on Long Term Evolution (LTE) smart phones, reports Light Reading Mobile.

Sprint, a launch partner of Google Wallet, told LR Mobile that they will include NFC chips in all LTE smart phones, excluding free phones and low end models, in order to “aggressively promote contactless technology.”

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Intercede Group plc and Oxford Computer Group LLC (OCG) have formed a strategic alliance to sell PIV products to non-Federal organizations in the United States.

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Envoy Data Corporation announced a partnership with biometrics developer Zvetco Biometrics that will see Envoy offering Zvetco’s fingerprint scanners to its clients.

The biometric readers now carried by Envoy have been designed with both convenience and performance in mind for use in the enterprise, financial, health care, gaming and retail industries. The new partnership means an expanded product list and more options for Envoy’s clients and an expanded customer-base for Zvetco.  

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After a nearly three-year delay, the Algerian government has finally launched its biometric passport program.

Magharebia reports that the biometric passports, which contain a contactless smart card chip that holds a digitized photo, fingerprints and signature, were supposed to be released in 2009. But the documents were delayed due to complexities with the operation of the project and the need to thoroughly research and analyze other countries’ experiences with biometric passports.

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To commemorate the smart card industry’s achievements throughout 2011, the Smart Card Alliance has decided to release its first-ever E-Yearbook.

The nearly 70-page e-book discusses the year’s leadership and advancement in the smart card industry and highlights industry achievements.

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