CARTES 2003 was a must-see for all contactless issuers
01 November, 2003
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Financial, Library
More than 14,000 visitors from 129 countries packed the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center in Paris last week for CARTES and IT Security 2003. It was the 18th annual event for CARTES and third annual for IT security.
Contactless smart cards, contact chip cards, magnetic stripe cards, laser cards, holograms, biometrics, electronic signatures, secure tokens, and more were discussed at the conferences and displayed by more than 400 exhibitors in 25,000 square meters of exhibition space.
The guest of honor country for 2003 was Brazil due to its smart card leadership in South America with 80% of the nation’s payment terminals now EMV-ready (Europay MasterCard Visa). Eduardo Chedid, vice president for Smart Visa Latin America and Caribbean Region, presented highlights of the Brazilian market, its specific needs in the smart card field in Latin America and future projects.
As usual, the seminars and education opportunities were tremendous. Some highlights for contactless industry observers are described below.
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Michael Nitz, EVP of Division Industry and Government, for Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, detailed the production techniques for contactless cards from wafers and antennas to modules and inlays.
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In separate sessions on electronic payments, American Express’ ExpressPay program was profiled as was MasterCard’s PayPass offering.
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The Cards and Transport track featured an entire day dedicated to the use of contactless technology in the transportation industry. Specific sessions focused on the Calypso standards and technology, business drivers for contactless fare collection, London’s Oyster card, the nationwide plans in the Netherlands, the Taipei system, and more.
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The day-long Contactless Technology track provided a true all-star lineup from the RF industry. Some of the founders, leaders, and innovators spoke on a variety of issues and projects.
- Johannes Lehrhofer from Philips Semiconductors explored the company’s high security solutions including ePassport and DESFire
- Ascom Monetel’s Pascal Roux reviewed new developments in contactless standards
- Bernard Vian, Inside Contactless, explored the use of contactless technology with biometrics for use in travel documents
- ASK’s Xavier Bon detailed the use of low-cost paper contactless tickets in transit and beyond
- Jean-Pierre Enguent from ST Microelectronics and Elizabeth Crochon of LETI-CEA explored emerging high-speed, high data rate contactless technologies
- FeliCa™’s Jun Kondo and Sony Secure Communication’s Albert Dorofeev discussed the contactless FeliCa™ technology and numerous applications of the product including Hong Kong’s “Octopus Card”, Japan’s “Suica Card”, and Singapore’s “EZ Link Card.”
- Maximilan Paul from Austria Card described the implementation of contactless technology at the Vienna Museum of Technology for making the visitor experience interactive via kiosks, facilitating at-home continuation of the museum experience via the web, and tracking visitor pathways through the facility for better experience planning
- Other industry leaders presenting during the day included Axel Deininger from Infineon Technologies AG, Yves Ackermann from HID Corp., and Toni Merschen from MasterCard International.
If you were not able to attend this year’s event, make the commitment to yourself today to be there next year. It is truly a terrific value for your educational dollar. CARTES 2004 is scheduled for Nov. 2-4, same location.