Princeton Junction, NJ, August 23, 2002–Speakers from U.S. government agencies, financial services firms, and retail organizations will address the common opportunities and challenges before them in moving to smart cards at the 10th Annual Conference of the Smart Card Alliance October 7th to 9th at the Marriott Camelback Inn Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Annual Conference will bring together hundreds of smart card industry leaders and corporate and government executives to discuss and explore the ‘Catalysts for Convergence,’ such as policy decisions, standards and new infrastructure implementations that are changing how corporations and government agencies do business.

“The financial services, retail, corporate IT and government sectors are all converging on smart cards to provide new solutions to their common needs for ID, authentication and risk management,” said Randy Vanderhoof, president and CEO of the Smart Card Alliance. “For example, the need to positively identify a cardholder and ensure a card or credential is authentic applies equally to payment, access control and entitlement program applications. In our conference, we will seek to identify the drivers and catalysts leading to this convergence, so our attendees can learn not only what’s going on in their sector, but take away valuable insights and lessons from other industries finding smart card solutions to the same problem.”

Executives will share lessons learned from large-scale rollouts of smart cards in financial services and retail, and from deployments of secure identity cards in government and corporate IT. The conference includes focused sessions discussing infrastructure, applications and new technologies that are influencing organizations to implement smart cards to address key business priorities.

Kicking off the conference will be keynote speaker Dr. Richard Fletcher, a professor at MIT Media Labs, who will present “Nanoprocessors: Making the Future of Smart Things Smarter.” Dr. Fletcher explores ways that miniature computer chips will improve, expand and alter the way many electronic devices will be used in the not-so-distant future.

The second day keynote speaker is Lee Holcomb, Director of Infostructure, Office of Homeland Security and CIO at NASA. His presentation, “The Application of Government Policy and Technology to Address Security in Today’s Society,” will look at the government’s re-examination of critical security principles and policy decisions that are protecting the United States and explore the changing role of technology in light of the past year’s threats to our personal freedoms.

Additional conference speakers–representing important government policy-setting agencies–and their topics include:

• Bob Donelson, U.S. Department of the Interior, presents his agency’s effort to launch its smart card ID project and discusses the Border Security Act.
• Greg Hawrylko, Transportation Security Administration, discusses the Transportation Worker ID credentialing program.
• Warren Blosjo, Northrop Grumman, addresses the challenges of integration of physical access and biometrics infrastructures.

There are many panels aimed at policy and infrastructure issues within the financial services markets. “Beyond Security and Payments: What Lies Ahead?” will look at new technologies and new approaches to payments and identity verification such as proximity payments, mobile commerce, loyalty applications and biometrics for POS. In “Contactless Technology: Where Is It Heading?” panelists will explore the many uses for contactless technology for Quick Service Retail (QSR), mass transit and integrated access control and payments.

Also focusing on financial and payment are the following speakers and topics:

• Ted Iacobuzio, TowerGroup, presents an analyst’s view of the financial application infrastructure convergence.
• Simon Pugh, MasterCard International, provides an update on global standards and policies for chip-based payment cards.
• Joseph Giordano, ExxonMobil Speedpass, talks about the use of contactless technology for retail payments in retail petroleum, convenience stores and QSRs.
• Dennis Anderson, CSK Auto, and a representative of the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), presents the role of standards in retail application implementations.
• JCB Bank, Japan, introduces the global J/Smart EMV card program.

The Alliance’s Educational Institute will hold its Introduction to Smart Cards 101 and its new Advanced Business of Smart Cards 201 courses immediately following the annual conference program. The EI program will begin on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 9th, and conclude on Thursday, October 10th at noon.

Online registration and a complete agenda with speaker information can be found on the Alliance website, https://www.securetechalliance.org. For more information, please call 800-556-6828.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association of member firms working to accelerate the widespread acceptance of multiple applications for smart card technology. Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S.