Smart Card Alliance Schedules October Government Conference

September 14, 2009 SSI Staff

PRINCETONJUNCTION, N.J.– The Smart Card Alliance’ physical access council will work toward educating government agencies about the next generation of systems, by organizing a conference and producing a white paper on authentication, the group has announced.

The council’s eighth annual Smart Cards In Government Conference is scheduled for Oct. 27 in the nation’s capitol. The group has also installed new officers.

“Many government agencies are in critical stages of their implementation of new physical access control systems to meet the government mandate,” said Lars Suneborn, the new physical access council chair and representative of Hirsch Electronics. “Our goal for the upcoming year is to provide educational resources that will move them over their implementation hurdles and towards success.”

The workshop, “Smart Cards and Next Generation Physical Access Control Systems (PACS),” will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 27. The council will present an overview of the technologies and requirements that are driving next generation PACS designs, based on FIPS 201-2 and NIST SP 800-116 guidelines. The workshop will look at the impact that cryptography, federal interoperability requirements, risk-based multi-factor authentication, and PACS integration with asset tracking and logical access systems will have on next generation PACS implementation, according to the group.

“The council is made up of the individuals who are really in the trenches of physical access control—the solution providers, the integrators, the end users—making it a reliable source of educational information and first-hand experiences,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “The council used its experience to be a strong educational presence this past year by participating in industry events [such as] ISC West and ASIS, providing comments on government specifications, and making important recommendations on technology and credentialing for the air transport industry and emergency response officials.”

The physical access council elected new officers and steering committee representatives in August. The Council is made up of more than 150 individuals from 68 organizations spanning government agencies, smart card and software manufacturers, reader manufacturers, physical access control system manufacturers, systems integrators and biometrics solutions providers.

The new officers are: Lars Suneborn of Hirsch Electronics; Bob Merkert of SCM Microsystems; Sal D’Agostino of IDmachines. The steering committee includes Tony Damalas of Diebold; Bob Gilson of the U.S. Department of Defense/Defense Manpower Data Center; Walter Hamilton of Identification Technology Partners; Patrick Hearn of Oberthur Technologies; Kevin Kozlowski of XTec Inc.; Roger Roehr, a consultant; Bob Samuel of MorphoTrak Inc.; Adam Shane, AMAG Technology Inc.; and Mike Sulak of the U.S. Department of State.

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