Twenty-six new organizations have recently joined the Smart Card Alliance, a multi-industry organization working to accelerate the acceptance of smart card technology.
Of the 26 new members, four joined at the Leadership Council level and a fifth, Assa Abloy, recently upgraded. Identix Inc., Samsung Electronics, Unisys Corp. and XTec Inc. joined at this highest level in order to play a more important leadership role for the organization and the industry.
Leadership Council members vote for and make up the board and often become spokespersons at conferences, in the media and in working groups.
“This is an exciting time for our industry,” stated Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, and former industry executive. “For the Alliance to be gaining these highly respected commercial and government organizations as members, demonstrates there is real value here.”
Roughly half of the more than 100 members are companies and government agencies that use or are planning to deploy smart card-based solutions; the other half are technology companies supplying products or services. This balance makes the Smart Card Alliance a unique place where users, issuers and suppliers meet to exchange ideas, discuss common issues and work together to develop and expand the use of multi-application smart cards in North America.
Others joining the Alliance include: Alegra; BearingPoint; Booz Allen Hamilton; ImageWare Systems; OmniTek; Precise Biometrics, AB; RSA Security; X-ident Technology and Zebra Tech Corp. These firms bring a mix of new technologies such as biometrics and contactless cards, system integration and card issuance experience, and a vision about the changing role of smart card technology in established business areas such as financial and telecom, plus emerging areas such as government, corporate enterprise, transit and healthcare.
A complete list of current members can be found at www.smartcardalliance.org.
