CARTES 2012 EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE, PARIS, Nov. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The mobile community now has new tools to navigate the standards, specifications and certification requirements for the emerging NFC mobile application ecosystem. The Smart Card Alliance Mobile and NFC Council today released an educational NFC standards landscape document and accompanying interactive PowerPoint tool, covering the core standards as well as several NFC applications.
Both the "Mobile/NFC Standards Landscape" white paper and the PowerPoint tool are available on the Smart Card Alliance website at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-mobile-nfc-standards-landscape. Bart van Hoek, Collis/UL, led the project and created the interactive PowerPoint tool.
"In order to have a complete and workable NFC ecosystem, the mobile community must understand the standards and specifications of the technology - those that govern the core technology and functionality of mobile NFC devices, and those that are specific to applications," said Brent Bowen, INSIDE Secure and chair of the Mobile and NFC Council. "With these easy-to-use, interactive materials, the mobile community will come away with a broad understanding of the standards, specifications and certification requirements developing and deploying NFC applications."
The landscape document and accompanying PowerPoint tool provides a comprehensive educational resource on the standards and specifications used within the NFC ecosystem. They include those from: EMVCo; MasterCard; Visa; American Express; Discover, GlobalPlatform; ISO/IEC; NFC Forum; SIM Alliance; ETSI; GSMA; AFSCM; as well as those associated with transit and access control.
"The NFC standards landscape project included broad cross-industry member participation and the tools are a great complement to the array of materials already available from the Mobile and NFC Council," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "The Council's resources have filled a critical educational gap in the mobile community, raised awareness of the technology, and will accelerate market adoption of all NFC-enabled applications."
Participants involved in the development of this white paper included: Collis/UL; CPI Card Group; Discover Financial Services; Giesecke & Devrient; HID Global; Identive Group; Infineon Technologies; INSIDE Secure; Intercede; IQ Devices; NXP Semiconductors; Quadagno & Associates; SafeNet, Inc.; VeriFone Systems; Visa Inc.
The Smart Card Alliance will be exhibiting this week in booth 4 H 057 at the Cartes 2012 Exhibition and Conference in Paris.
About the Smart Card Alliance Mobile and NFC Council
The Smart Card Alliance Mobile and NFC Council was formed to raise awareness and accelerate the adoption of payments, loyalty, marketing, promotion/coupons/offers, peer-to-peer, identity, and access control applications using NFC. The Council focuses on activities that will help to accelerate the practical application of the technology, providing a bridge between technology development/specification and the applications that can deliver business benefits to industry stakeholders.
The Council takes a broad industry view and brings together industry stakeholders in the different vertical markets that can benefit from mobile and NFC applications. The Council collaborates on: educating the market on the technology and the value of mobile and NFC applications; developing best practices for implementation; and working on identifying and overcoming issues inhibiting the industry.
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.