SMART EVENT’ 05 - The Junction of Research and Industry in the Smart Card and eID Sectors

31 August 2005 - Leading international smart card industry associations, Eurosmart and GlobalPlatform, together with the Java Card Forum, announce the 6th annual e-Smart 2005 event, taking place on September 21, 22 and 23 in Sophia Antipolis, French Riviera.

e-Smart, which attracts the leading smart card experts, has now grown to encompass two additional international conferences; the highly regarded World e-ID and Smart University that launches this year. This event package provides a program of sector insight, debate and pilot demonstrations in a week dedicated to smart card activities.

This year, e-Smart will present an incisive overview of the smart card industry’s future, featuring over 50 presentations that have been selected by a distinguished scientific committee. Throughout the four day conference, system and product security will emerge as the core theme, alongside emerging technologies and Java operating systems, terminals and devices.

The expected audience of 350 delegates, from over 30 countries, will have the opportunity to view pilot demonstrations of the latest smart card and electronic identity (eID) technology. Contactless passports based on the International Civil Aviation Organization standards, biometrics software identity tools that ensure image quality and standards conformance, and smart card application testing that can be applied to GlobalPlatform and ISA standards, are just a few of the many technologies to be showcased.

Smart University, in collaboration with academic institutions and standards organizations, will launch at e-Smart 2005. The educational program of seven modules, to be delivered in workshop format, aims to sharpen the skill set of engineers, researchers and business decision makers by deepening their knowledge of smart card and eID infrastructures. Presented by specialists within the industry, the following workshops have limited space; Biometrics, Digital Rights Management & Content Protection, Interactive Smart Card Curriculum, Advanced Java Technologies, Smart Card & ID Security, ID Management Issues & Prospects and New Emerging Standards.

Now in its second year, the World e-ID gathering will present, discuss and clarify the issues and processes required for creating sustainable electronic personal identities on a global level. With a renowned selection of sector specific knowledge practitioners speaking at the conference, national implementations of e-passports, global trends, and biometrics will provide the content foundation for the conference’s debate.

To view the full conference program, and related parallel meetings that will be taking place during the week, please visit www.strategiestm.com/conferences/esmart/05/index.htm

-ENDS-

For further media information, please contact Sarah Bayne or Shona Clarke at Harrison Cowley on +44 (0) 870 606 0960 or email sarahb@harrisoncowley.com / shonac@harrisoncowley.com.

Notes to Editors:

GlobalPlatform

Driven by over 50 cross-industry member organizations, GlobalPlatform is the leading, international association, focused on establishing and maintaining interoperable specifications for single and multi-application smart cards, acceptance devices and systems infrastructure that deliver benefits to issuers, service providers and technology suppliers.

These specifications are known as the standard for smart card infrastructure, thanks to their balance of technical superiority and business justification.

GlobalPlatform specifications are available royalty-free and have been adopted in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia by many public and private bodies. Currently, there are over 30 GlobalPlatform-based smart card implementations world-wide and approximately 70 million GlobalPlatform cards are in global circulation.

GlobalPlatform is an independent, not-for-profit organization and its strategy is defined and prioritized by a Board of Directors. GlobalPlatform is currently chaired by Chairman Robert E. Beer, Vice President Business Development, Datacard Group. www.globalplatform.org