Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The conference and exposition will bring together the leaders of the smart card movement within government, both from the internal civilian and military agency leadership as well as the technology providers and integrators that are behind these programs. The program will focus on policies, lessons learned and next steps regarding the use of smart cards and related technologies like PKI and biometrics for critical infrastructure areas involving cybersecurity, physical access security and credentialing.

Attendees will learn what technologies are being deployed, where those technologies are being installed and why government is moving so aggressively in this direction. Speakers include: Marty Wagner, deputy administrator for Government Policy, General Services Administration, on the topic of government policy for physical access; Jeanette Thornton, eAuthentication portfolio manager, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on federal identity management; Lolie Kull, senior security specialist, U.S. Department of State and chair of the Interagency Interoperability Task Force (IITF) on interoperability for government ID programs; Jim Zok, associate administrator, Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation on managing the public/private relationship of government security, and Paul McKeown, worldwide leader IBM Global Smart Card Solutions on new attitudes towards responsible security.

In addition to the many prominent speakers and panelists who will be on hand, the Alliance has added an exhibition hall to this year’s event. Attendees will be able to talk directly to the key technology providers behind the government-wide adoption of smart cards and see first-hand the latest advances in access control, PKI, biometrics, secure credentialing, contact and contactless smart cards, readers and applications.

This is one of the Alliance’s most popular events of the year, because government adoption of smart card technology is growing at a faster rate than many non-government segments. A GAO report on “Progress in Promoting Adoption of Smart Card Technology” released in January 2003 stated that as of November 2002, 18 federal agencies had initiated 62 smart card projects.

More information about the program and secure online registration is available at http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to accelerate the acceptance 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. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

Contact: Deb Montner, Montner & Associates, 203-226-9290, dmontner@montner.com