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Executive Director’s Letter
Dear members and friends of the Alliance,
The anticipated announcements from the Federal Reserve pertaining to debit interchange fee limits and what considerations, if any, will be applied to those rates for issuers and merchants who meet new higher, yet to be defined, security standards are nearing. The speculation about what will happen varies widely based on which side of the business you identify with–the fee-generating side of the issuers or the fee-paying side of the merchants. With literally billions of dollars at stake in the outcome, tensions are high, and opinions, like the Unites States political climate today, are very polarizing.
SCALA Associate Director’s Letter
Dear Smart Card Alliance Latin America (SCALA) members and friends,
As some of the industry is returning from spring break or carnivals, it is clear that time passes too quickly for all of us to accomplish all our desired goals. Time management is a great tool used by managers to prioritize the limited time we have available to complete competing tasks. I always start the week by listing our goals and then dividing them into four categories: urgent/important; important/non-urgent; urgent/not important; and non-urgent/not important. Unfortunately, for some people, everything on their plate is urgent and important due to their job responsibilities.
Member Profile
This month Smart Card Talk spoke with Joerg Borchert, responsible for Chip Card and Security for the region Americas for Infineon Technologies. Joerg Borchert was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. He achieved his PhD in Economics before he joined Siemens AG in 1988. Initially Joerg was on the staff of the Corporate Board of Directors handling Mergers & Acquisitions in Munich, Germany. In 1992 he joined Siemens Semiconductor which became Infineon Technologies in 1999.
Feature of the Month
Smart Cards and Biometrics: Use Cases
Smart cards are widely acknowledged as one of the most secure and reliable forms of electronic identification. To provide the highest degree of confidence in identity verification, biometric technology is considered to be essential in a secure identification system design. Combining smart card technology with biometrics provides the means to create a positive binding of the smart card (a difficult-to-clone token) to the cardholder thereby enabling strong verification and authentication of the cardholder’s identity.
Upcoming CSCIP Training and Exam Dates
Visit /activities-leap for registration information.
CSCIP Training & Exam Prep Course¹ |
CSCIP Exam | City, State, Country |
May 2, 2011 (CSCIP only) |
May 5, 2011 | Chicago, IL (Smart Card Alliance Annual Conf) |
June 2, 2011 (CSCIP/G only) |
June 3, 2011 | Gaithersburg, MD (Washington DC area) |
June 13, 2011 (CSCIP only) |
June 15, 2011 | Niagara Falls, Ontario CANADA² (ACT Canada Cardware 2011) |
June 22, 2011 (CSCIP only) |
June 23, 2011 | London, UNITED KINGDOM² |
November 1, 2011 (CSCIP & CSCIP/G) |
November 4, 2011 | Washington, DC (Smart Cards in Government Conf) |
November 14, 2011 (CSCIP only) |
November 16 or 17 | Paris, FRANCE² (Cartes & Identification 2011) |
¹ This full day course is held from 9:00am–4:30pm at a location to be named in the city, state listed above. The cost for attending this course is $475 ($380 for members). ² International CSCIP training and exam pricing varies from standard pricing. Please contact [email protected] for further details. |
New CSCIP/G Accreditations
Congratulations to the LEAP members who have successfully completed the requirements for professional accreditation as Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals / Government.
View the entire list of Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals / Government.
Name | Company | Certified Since |
Mari Devitte | XTec Incorporated | March 2011 |
Nabil Ghadiali | XTec Incorporated | March 2011 |
Michael Kelley | SIM-G Technologies | March 2011 |
Taylor Marcum | Inside Secure | March 2011 |
Ahmed Mohammad | Oberthur Technologies | March 2011 |
Stefan Negritoiu | SIM-G Technologies | March 2011 |
John Pearson | Xtec Incorporated | March 2011 |
Dwayne Pfeiffer | Northrop Grumman | March 2011 |
Ernest Wolfe | XTec Incorporated | March 2011 |