Smart Card Alliance rebrands, expands charter

The Smart Card Alliance has changed its name to the Secure Technology Alliance and expanded its charter to include a broader range of security and privacy-enhancing technologies.

“The Alliance’s focus has always been on engaging in industry-wide discussion and providing best practices and educational resources for designing and building secure payments, identification, access and mobile applications and systems,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Secure Technology Alliance. “As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and mobile, the technology used in smart cards is being used more widely in mobile devices, wearables and internet-connected devices. The clear next step for this organization is to expand and engage in activities across the full spectrum of these new applications as the Secure Technology Alliance.”

Smart card technology will remain a priority for the Secure Technology Alliance, while the scope of technologies that the organization focuses on broadens to include embedded chip technology and related hardware and software that enable privacy and data protection for end users and industry stakeholders in payments, cybersecurity, mobile, healthcare, identity and access, transportation and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

“The Alliance has members from all of these industries actively participating in the organization, making it uniquely equipped to provide education and actionable guidance, foster industry collaboration, and encourage adoption of secure technology,” Vanderhoof added.

Existing industry council activities, conferences, and education and training programs initiated by the Smart Card Alliance will continue and evolve. These programs will incorporate additional security technologies and applications, such as those used for IoT and mobility applications, under the expanded scope of the Secure Technology Alliance.

The Secure Technology Alliance is governed by an elected Board of Directors led by its executive committee, including: Chair, Brian Russell, Giesecke & Devrient; Vice Chair, Jack Jania, Gemalto; Treasurer, Brian Stein, CH2M; Assistant Treasurer, Morgan Richard, XTec, Inc.; Secretary, Thomas Lockwood, NextGenID, and; Technology Vice Chair, Kelly Urban, First Data Corporation.

Article Topics

access control  |  cybersecurity  |  identity management  |  mobile payment  |  Secure Technology Alliance  |  Smart Card Alliance