Smart Bits: Smart Card Group Grew Fast Last Year

The Smart Card Industry Association said its membership grew in 1997 to 45 from 14.

The association, which represents manufacturers and system providers, was revitalized after several years of dormancy.

"Our objective was to establish ourself as a key player in the smart card industry and its evolution, and as a result attract new members," said Dan Cunningham of Phoenix Planning and Evaluation Ltd., who is president of the association. "The results have been fantastic."

The association has three tiers of membership. Added last year were 16 principal, nine associate, and six contributing members.

Among current projects is an effort by the standards and specifications committee to educate the industry on operating systems, programming languages, and the differences between the two.

"We are clearing away the fog of confusion that shrouds the interface of smart card operating systems and software language," the committee chairman, James Russell of Russell Technology Associates, said after a meeting in December during the Cardtech/Securtech West conference.

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