Axalto’s Paul Beverly sees great things ahead for smart cards in North America
24 October, 2004
category: Contactless, Financial, Government, Library
Axalto’s Paul Beverly kicked off the Smart Card Alliance Annual Fall Conference by painting a very bright picture of the industry’s recent past and coming future. “There will be 100 million smart cards issued in the U.S. and Canada alone this year,” he began. “The Department of Defense has issued 5.7 million cards, HSPD 12 mandated smart card usage (for U.S. federal agencies), and the ePassport, registered traveler, and TWIC programs (are making progress).”
“There are 1 billion GSM users worldwide,” he added, “and 62 million in the U.S. EMV is being adopted worldwide and contactless payments (are taking off).” Stressing the cross-industry acceptance of smart cards role in security initiatives, Mr. Beverly joked “it is one of the only things that Bill Gates and Scott McNealy agree upon.”
Looking to the future, Mr. Beverly cited the fix for some of the most pressing e-commerce problems of the day. “Spam, phishing, stolen PCs … clearly the fix is a smart card for two-factor authentication.” But he was quick to admit that this is not enough. “We need strong authentication from the client PC to the ISP,” he said, again naming smart cards as the key. “They are secure and portable,” he concluded. And at least at this meeting of North America’s smart card industry leaders, he would receive no argument.
About Mr. Beverly:
Paul Beverly manages Axalto’s activities in North, Central and South America. He began his career as a sales engineer within the Schlumberger Group. Over the course of his 19 years within the Schlumberger Group, he has held various management positions in operations, marketing and sales in North America and in France. From 1999 to 2003, Paul Beverly was Director of Volume Products for Schlumberger in North America. In April 2003, he was named Director responsible for North and South America. Paul Beverly holds degrees from the universities of Harvard and Auburn in the United States.
Research and evaluate FIPS 201 Approved Products and get the latest info on compliant credentialing systems at FIPS201.com. Click to visit FIPS201.com.