Princeton Junction, NJ, April 15, 2004–The Smart Card Alliance, the authoritative educational resource for the smart card industry, brings its highly acclaimed training program to CardTech/SecurTech. This marks the first time the Alliance’s Educational Institute course “Foundations of Smart Card Technology” has been presented at the industry’s largest conference and exhibition.

As a sponsoring organization of the CTST event, the Alliance hopes to attract new companies to the conference to learn more about smart cards and the Smart Card Alliance itself, the industry’s leading trade organization. The Alliance will host a networking luncheon on Wednesday April 28th from 12 PM to 2 PM in the Washington Convention Center for executives interested in learning more about the organization. All members who have recently joined the Alliance as well as any prospective members can contact the Alliance office (1-800-556-6828 or info@smartcardalliance.org) to register to attend the networking luncheon to renew existing contacts and meet the new members. Member surveys indicate that networking is one of the most valued benefits of Alliance membership. Mary Dixon, director of the Access Card Office, Department of Defense, will be a VIP guest at the luncheon.

The Alliance Educational Institute developed the “Foundations of Smart Card Technology” workshop for the CTST event. It will be held on Monday, April 26, 2004 from 9 AM to 5 PM. Designed for business managers and executives, the Alliance workshop will cover the technology of smart cards and how they are applied in physical access, payments and computer security applications. The morning presentations will address the standards and security attributes of smart cards and unique characteristics of contactless technology. The afternoon presentations will show how smart card technology is applied to identification credentials and payment cards, and how the combination of smart cards, biometrics and PKI are used as a security platform for physical and computer security. The workshop concludes with sessions on the fundamentals of card personalization and issuance and implementation lessons learned.

Each session module is taught by veteran industry leaders from top companies including Gemplus, Axalto, Philips, SCM Microsystems, Unisys, Datacard Group and SCM Microsystems. When asked what was best about Alliance courses, previous attendees have cited: “the depth of knowledge of presenters the format and content, which were excellent,” “the diversity of the topics” and “overall a terrific session.” Registration for the CTST training workshop is available at www.ctst.com, and additional information on the Smart Card Alliance can be found at /.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to accelerate the acceptance of 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. For more information please visit https://www.securetechalliance.org.