News

Smart Card Alliance council moves forward after first year

July 10, 2006

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. - The Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council, an organization focused on technology and processes of physical-access control that are used to make employee identity credentials more secure, brings together government and industry leaders within the Smart Card Alliance. According to a news release, the council's purpose is to guide organizations through changes in physical-access control-system technology and implementation.

"The tremendous success of the Physical Access Council's first year is a result of the high level of participation from our members," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "Their collaboration has established a solid foundation for the group to work on projects that affect all stakeholders in the industry and increase adoption of smart cards for physical access."

More than 50 Smart Card Alliance member organizations - including government agencies, reader manufacturers, physical-access-control manufacturers, systems integrators, biometrics-solutions providers, and chip, card and software manufacturers -got involved with the council in 2005, the council's first year.

"The strong working relationships that the council has established with other important industry associations, including the federal government Inter-agency Advisory Board, the International Biometrics Association and the Security Industry Association, have been and will continue to be key for collaborative projects that address the issues that enduser organizations have in deploying new physical-access system technology," said Bob Merkert, council chairman.