PRESS RELEASE

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., DECEMBER 22, 2010 – Guiding the creation of strong identity management foundations for citizen and government identity programs is the focus for the coming year, the Smart Card Alliance Identity Council said recently. The Identity Council also announced new officers and a steering committee, and recently held a workshop on the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Interoperable (PIV-I) card at its 9th Annual Smart Cards in Government: Identity, Security & Healthcare Conference in November in Washington D.C.

“With the Obama Administration’s National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) aiming to partner with the private sector to create an identity ecosystem, and state and local governments considering the federal government’s identity, credentialing and access management model and using PIV-I cards, we are entering a new era for identity solutions,” said Identity Council Chair Harold Kocken, manager, Deloitte & Touche LLP, who serves the federal sector technology risk practice. “These programs need strong foundations in privacy, interoperability, security and policy. This year we will continue to build these foundations and educate stakeholders about the benefits of smart card technology.”

The workshop, “PIV-I Credentialing Workshop: Strategies for the Implementation of PIV-I Secure Identity Credentials” was a full-day, interactive Smart Card Alliance educational session that explained the requirements of PIV interoperable identity credentials and real life business applications and usage models for implementing trusted identity credentials that comply with the technology, credential issuance policy, and security infrastructure for secure access applications.

“How to establish, protect and use identities, and the role of smart cards in identity authentication, are main topics being discussed for any government, commercial or healthcare implementation,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “The Identity Council has taken the lead with these discussions, illustrating the need for a solid, standards-based identity management foundation, and providing concise documents and educational resources on how it can be achieved.”

The Identity Council is made up of more than 80 individuals from over 40 end user, chip vendor, systems integrator, card vendor, biometrics provider, identity system and software vendor organizations. New officers are:

Chair: Harold Kocken, manager, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Vice Chair: Neville Pattinson, Gemalto

Secretary: Salvatore D’Agostino, IDmachines

The newly elected 2010/2012 Steering Committee is:

Salvatore D’Agostino, IDmachines

Roland Fournier, L-1 Identity Solutions

Harold Kocken, manager, Deloitte & Touche LLP

LaChelle LeVan, Probaris

Bob Merkert, SCM Microsystems

Neville Pattinson, Gemalto

Steve Rogers, Intellisoft, Inc.

Jim Sheire, NXP Semiconductors

Chris Williams, SAIC

Identity Council resources published this past year can be found on the Council Web site and include “FICAM in Brief: A Smart Card Alliance Summary of the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) Roadmap and Implementation Guidance,” “Securing Identity and Enabling Employment Verification: How Do Immigration Reform and Citizen Identification Align?,” “Assurance Levels Overview and Recommendations,” and “Identifiers and Authentication – Smart Credential Choices to Protect Digital Identity.”

With more than 800 registrants and 50 exhibitors and sponsors, the 9th Annual Smart Cards in Government: Identity, Security & Healthcare Conference is the largest annual event for the government identity and security sector.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.