In The Boardroom With...

Mr. Randy Vanderhoof
Executive Director
Smart Card Alliance
www.smartcardalliance.com

SecurityStockWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Randy. Please give us an overview of your background and a brief history of The Smart Card Alliance.

Randy Vanderhoof: I joined the Smart Card Alliance in 2002 and took over as the Executive Director later that same year. The Smart Card Alliance organization dates back to 1992, when the Smart Card Forum was formed by leaders from the banking industry and smart card industry as a way to bring the two groups together to prepare the U.S. for the expected adoption of smart card technology.  Renamed the Smart Card Alliance in 2001, it continues to prepare the U.S. for the coming of smart card technology but its mission has expanded to also include the identity, access security and mobile markets in addition to the payments industry.  The Smart Card Alliance expanded its focus to include Latin America in 2004 and has grown to over 170 member organizations and is the largest smart card industry organization in the world.   

SecurityStockWatch.com: What are the main priorities, activities and achievements of The Smart Card Alliance?  What about 2009 Goals?

Randy Vanderhoof: The Smart Card Alliance now represents a much more diverse market for smart cards in 2009 than there was even 5 years ago.  Our mission is to educate the market and raise awareness of the value that smart card technology brings to all of the markets the technology serves.  After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, our national conscious was awakened to a new sense of urgency when it came to security and identity.  Suddenly the government and private sector began to look at smart cards for secure ID cards for identification and access control as the banking industry was rethinking the business case behind its efforts to institute electronic cash programs and chip cards for payments.  The Alliance quickly responded to the need for education and awareness of how smart cards could do for access security what it once did for payments security.  As the focus on security and its  membership within the Smart Card Alliance grew, the payments industry focus shifted away from e-purse programs to new smart card transit ticketing and contactless credit and debit card programs.  The federal government-led electronic passport program and new federal employee ID card built on secure microprocessor-based chip technology further solidified smart cards as the gold standard technology for identity, while at the same time, the payments and transit industry-lead contactless payment card has permanently altered to future of payment cards here in the U.S. and abroad.  In 2009, we believe we will see the evolution of mobile phones entering into the financial and transit payments markets building on the expanding infrastructure of SIMcard equipped mobile phones and broadening merchant adoption of POS terminals that accept all forms of contactless payments.  In the security market, we expect chip-enabled identity cards to see increased adoption in the government and enterprise security markets, and begin to move into healthcare and new standardized non-federal identity programs, such as airport security badges and emergency responder credentials.    

SecurityStockWatch.com: As the worldwide financial crisis continues, what is your perspective on the market drivers for smart card technology at the present time?

Randy Vanderhoof: The smart card market is expected to be impacted by the broadening financial markets crisis and global economic downturn, but to a lesser extent than other technology sectors.  Payments fraud increases during tough economic times, as does other forms of fraud and theft related to identity theft and security breaches.  The cost of fraud in government benefits programs, data breaches against commercial payments processors, and online retail and banking theft can no longer be absorbed as cost of doing business.  These services providers will need to increase spending on security and find solutions to increase efficiency during difficult times.  Smart card technology has over 20 years of solid history in doing these things.  It has always been a question of making the business case for governments and private industry to invest in the infrastructure necessary to open the door for smart card-enabled payments, access, and mobile services.  I think the next few years consumer expectations will put security on an equal plane with convenience and low cost delivery of services in government, as well as in the private sector, and financial institutions and healthcare organizations will have to invest in smart card technology to remain competitive.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Please give us a profile of Smart Card Alliance members….who are they…what do they do? What are the benefits of membership?

Randy Vandrhoof: Smart Card Alliance members generally falls into two classes – either they are suppliers and integrators of smart cards and related technologies and services or they are adopters of the technology.  The adopters include financial institutions, government agencies, transportation operators, retailers, and other industry associations.  The technology suppliers span the entire value chain of the industry, from the smart chip manufacturers upon which all smart card technologies are built around to the smart card manufacturers, software developers, terminal and reader manufacturers, security and payments systems designers, processors, card personalization and issuance systems, and consultants and integrators that help adopters utilize smart cards in their commercial or government operations.  This diverse mix of smart card users and suppliers creates a very rich networking and educational environment.  Organizations join so that their people can interact with their peers, suppliers, customers, and potential business partners.  They hopefully come away with a better understanding of the technology, its uses, and how each of them fits into the business ecosystem that they are a part of.    The product of all of that knowledge and experience comes out in white papers, web seminars, conferences, and media outreach in the form of interviews, articles, and television news reports reaching a global audience.  The Smart Card Alliance web site averages about 75,000 visitors per month and industry publications pages experience 150,000 document downloads per year.  The monthly Smart Card Talk newsletter published by the Alliance has over 9,000 international subscribers.

A new professional development service for individuals was recently launched for 2009 called the LEAP Program.  LEAP stands for Leadership, Education, and Advancement Program, and is a program to educate professionals to advance their career in the smart card industry.  The Alliance has created the Certified Smart Card Industry Professional (CSCIP) accreditation program to train and certify experienced individuals who prepare for and pass a certification exam, so that they can be recognized as highly qualified professionals in the industry.  LEAP is a global program and is open to members and non-members of the Alliance.  

SecurityStockWatch.com: Are there any special upcoming events you’d like to mention?

Randy Vanderhoof: The Smart Card Alliance 2009 Annual Conference will be held in conjunction with the CTST 2009 – The Americas Conference and Exposition on May 4-7, 2009 in New Orleans is our next big industry event.  This is the second year that CTST and the Alliance have joined together in creating the CTST – The Americas event as a way to produce and 3 day international conference and exhibition on advanced card technologies for payments, identity and security, mobile payments and NFC, emerging technology, plus one day track sessions on healthcare and Latin America.  Our next government security industry focused event is later in the year, called Smart Cards in Government Conference, which will take place October 27-30, 2009 in Washington, DC.  This year will be the 7th annual conference focused on identity and security in government and annual draws more than 700 attendees and 35 exhibitors. The Smart Card Alliance also participates at ISC West, RSA 2009 Conference, CTIA Wireless, and Digital ID World.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Thanks again for joining us today, Randy.  Are there any other subjects you'd like to discuss?

Randy Vanderhoof: Thank you SecurityStockWatch for allowing me this opportunity to talk to your readers.  I invite all of your readers to visit the Smart Card Alliance web site often to read about the latest security industry news and smart card announcements.  Readers can access the free white papers, security industry resources, industry news, and upcoming calendar of events for the year ahead.  Finally, I would invite organizations to consider membership in the Smart Card Alliance and individuals to join the LEAP program and become more involved in the growing smart card community in the U.S. and internationally.