Moving to expand its position in the near field communication (NFC)
market in North America, Inside Contactless, a provider of advanced,
open-standard contactless chip technologies, has named two sales and
marketing executives for the company's NFC business line.
Inside appointed Andy Germano, an executive with more than 21 years of
experience in wireless and telecom marketing as vice president of sales
and business development, and named Bob Locascio, who has more than 15
years of strategic, technology and team leadership experience, as
director of product marketing and business development.
"We are delighted to welcome Andy to the team, and expect to benefit
greatly from his broad experience," said Didier Serra, executive vice
president, sales, and general manager for the U.S. "Andy's extensive
experience in the telecommunications and technology industries make him
uniquely qualified for developing Inside's share of the emerging North
American NFC market."
Germano will lead Inside's North American sales and business
development efforts, focusing on securing NFC business from handset
providers, promoting Inside products and executing marketing strategies
with members of the NFC ecosystem, such as carriers, banks, and payment
brands, and developing new business opportunities emerging from the
consumer electronics market.
Germano joins Inside from AuthenTec, a provider of fingerprint sensors
and solutions, where he participated in the company's recent initial
public offering. Prior to AuthenTec, Germano led sales and marketing
teams for several start-up companies, including WiDeFi, Tantivy, and
BEC Technologies. He also held numerous marketing positions at Verizon
(GTE), Nortel, and Qualcomm.
Bob Locascio will help lead Inside's marketing and business development
efforts in North America, working closely with handset makers, regional
standard bodies and industry forums and other ecosystem partners,
supporting regional sales efforts in promoting Inside's NFC offerings
and providing valuable feedback to the product group.
Prior to joining Inside, Locascio's experience included leading the
creation and execution of new business and solution strategies for
Agilent Technologies' $1 billion wireless test equipment business. As
president and executive director of the Telematics Suppliers
Consortium, Locascio planned, formed and led this organization to
establish and promote an industry-standard architecture for the
wireless in-vehicle information and entertainment market. Locascio also
held a number of engineering and management positions at Motorola.
"NFC is a primary area of focus for Inside Contactless, and we welcome
Bob Locascio to the team," said Andre Ponton, vice president, key
account management for the NFC Business Line, "Throughout his career,
Bob has established vast contacts and built strong relationships in the
wireless industry which will be invaluable to Inside as we work to
promote NFC for handsets and other mobile devices in the North American
market."
