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

INSIDE Contactless strengthens executive team for NFC push in North America

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Looking to expand its position in the North American NFC market, contactless chip maker INSIDE Contactless has tapped two industry veterans to help lead this charge. Andy Germano, who has more than 21 years’ experience in wireless and telecom marketing, is the company’s new vice president of sales and business development, while wireless technology expert Bob Locascio is INSIDE’s director of product marketing and business development.


Germano will lead INSIDE’s North American sales and business development efforts, focusing on securing NFC business from leading handset providers, promoting INSIDE products and executing marketing strategies with members of the NFC ecosystem, such as carriers, banks, and payment brands.

Germano comes to INSIDE from AuthenTec, a provider of fingerprint sensors and solutions, where he participated in the company’s recent initial public offering. Prior to AuthenTec, Germano led sales and marketing teams for several start-up companies, including WiDeFi, Tantivy, and BEC Technologies. He also held numerous marketing positions at Verizon (GTE), Nortel, and Qualcomm.

Locascio will help lead INSIDE’s marketing and business development efforts in North America, working with handset makers, regional standard bodies and industry forums and other ecosystem partners and supporting regional sales efforts in promoting INSIDE’s NFC offerings.

Prior to joining INSIDE, Locascio’s experience included leading the creation and execution of new business and solution strategies for Agilent Technologies’ $1 billion wireless test equipment business. As president and executive director of the Telematics Suppliers Consortium, Locascio planned, formed and led this organization to establish and promote an industry-standard architecture for the wireless in-vehicle information and entertainment market. He also held a number of engineering and management positions at Motorola. [end] 

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