GlobalPlatform Publishes End-to-End Framework For Deploying and Managing Secure Mobile Services
Market-focused implementation guide will reduce solution time to market and reduce deployment costs
9 January 2014 – To bring clarity to the deployment of secure mobile services, GlobalPlatform, the association which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has published the first release of its ‘End-to-End Simplified Service Management Framework v1.0’. The initial document, which focuses on contactless payments, will be of interest to service providers, mobile network operators, secure element vendors, data preparation bureaus, trusted service managers and mobile device manufacturers.
The GlobalPlatform end-to-end framework was created by the association’s End-to-End Simplified Framework Working Group, which comprises 28 GlobalPlatform members. The document streamlines the service management process by outlining how GlobalPlatform Specifications can be used to implement a comprehensive end-to-end configuration relevant to each market sector such as payment, transport and healthcare. The configurations will enable service providers to deploy services faster by starting with a basic template. This document specifies: the workflows between the involved parties to ensure a seamless user experience; the overall architecture to provide clarity in the data flow and implementation; and, the configurations that should be used to ensure interoperability across various interfaces and devices.
Contactless payment was the initial focus for GlobalPlatform. This is in response to industry demand for an accessible deployment framework that eases complexity and promotes standardization of this ecosystem.
James Anderson, Group Head, Emerging Payments at MasterCard, which initially proposed and subsequently led the initiative for payments, comments: “As the mobile payments industry continues to advance, we identified the need for an approach that would simplify the deployment of mobile payments. We chose to work within GlobalPlatform to utilize the expert knowledge of its members and ensure that parties across the payments ecosystem could contribute to, and benefit from this framework. We recognized that it’s important to make technical information accessible and to offer guidance to promote consistency and ensure an interoperable payment framework. We are pleased to lead part of this activity and look forward to future releases of the framework.”
“As new players enter the secure services ecosystem and new partnerships are formed to deliver innovative products, it is vital there is clarity across the payments infrastructure,” adds Gil Bernabeu, Technical Director at GlobalPlatform. “The end-to-end payment framework acts as an entry point to GlobalPlatform for new players. Each actor selects their end-to-end configuration by answering a simple set of questions. The configuration selector will filter out the options enabling each actor to determine how to implement its own components for a particular deployment.”
“GlobalPlatform Specifications already address what is required on the secure element, trusted execution environment and mobile messaging to deploy secure mobile services”, continues Gil. “Creating an end-to-end framework which defines how each element of a mobile payments deployment connects with each other and to the backend office is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle; its brings the whole solution together and shows how GlobalPlatform truly supports the full lifecycle of secure applications in a simple deployment environment.”
Following the development of its payments-focused end-to-end framework, GlobalPlatform will work with its members to determine the next market that will be addressed. The ‘End-to-End Simplified Service Management Framework v1.0’ is available free to members and can be downloaded from the GlobalPlatform store by non-members.
