The Smart Card Alliance has re-branded as the Secure Technology Alliance.
In a statement announcing the change, the organization explains that it’s meant to reflect a greater breadth in the organization’s mission. The Smart Card Alliance had focused mostly on the promotion of smart card technology as the key standard for security in payments, access, and other identity and authentication applications. But the organizations has now expanded its paradigm: As Secure Technology Alliance executive director Randy Vanderhoof explains, the world is becoming “increasingly interconnected and mobile,” and as a result “the technology used in smart cards is being used more widely in mobile devices, wearables and internet-connected devices.”
In other words, the embedded chip technology at the heart of the smart card is now also supporting various other kinds of devices, and while smart cards will continue to be a priority area of focus for the organization, it’s also going to support applications in areas like payments, mobile, healthcare, transportation, and the IoT.
The STA’s paradigm shift reflects a broader one in the authentication industry. For example, biometrics specialists that previously focused on getting their technology into mobile devices are now moving into smart cards, while companies that have specialized in smart card-based ID are now digitizing such solutions for mobile applications.
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March 10, 2017 – by Alex Perala
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