PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, April 16, 2008 – The Smart Card Alliance is bringing its industry knowledge and experience to the conference program of the premier event in the payments and security industry for the Americas: CTST 2008 - The Americas Conference and Exhibition. A combination of the Smart Card Alliance Annual Conference and SourceMedia's CTST Conference, CTST 2008 will feature over 120 speakers, 40 conference sessions, and 30,000 square feet of exhibit hall space from May 12th through 15th at the Orange County Convention Center West, in Orlando, Florida.
The Smart Card Alliance developed the conference program around the theme of "The Future of Payments and Security," building six tracks that cover the convergence among technologies and the markets deploying contactless payment solutions, mobile financial services, secure physical and digital access, and the expanding world of secure identification technology. The Alliance has used its presence and experience in Latin America to create the Latin America Spotlight on the agenda, making CTST 2008 an International event for the first time.
"The partnership between the Smart Card Alliance and SourceMedia comes at an important time our industry – technologies are revolutionizing the payments and transit markets, while advanced security implementations are underway throughout the United States and Latin America," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "This partnership enables us to greatly enlarge our capacity to stage both the conference and exhibition to give attendees a complete picture of the present and future of the North American and Latin American payments and security markets."
Popular elements from past Alliance annual conferences are being brought forward to CTST 2008. The attention will focus on advanced applications and users implementing technology in core markets. Daily Birds-of-a-Feather Discussion Groups are planned for contactless payments adoption, the business issues of a shared device for banking, mobile and transit payments, and the business opportunities for using secure credentials. Alliance members can relax in the Smart Card Alliance member lounge during the day, and gather at night to meet with colleagues at networking receptions sponsored by the Alliance and additional conference sponsors.
At a pre-conference Networking Reception on May 12th, the Alliance will present its "Outstanding Smart Card Achievement" (OSCA) awards. The OSCA's recognize the issuing organization, supplier organization and individual that have significantly impacted and influenced the market for smart cards in North America. For the first time, the Smart Card Alliance Latin America chapter will present an Outstanding Smart Card Achievement Latin America (OSCA-LA) award.
The Alliance is also bringing its successful Educational Institute to CTST 2008, hosting the pre-conference Smart Card Technology and Payments Applications Workshop on Monday, May 12th. In this new course, industry experts will present the fundamentals of smart card technology, and its uses in retail payments, transportation, and mobile applications.
"We've added additional content and depth to the popular pre-conference workshop this year, by adding two additional industry groups, GlobalPlatform, and OATH, to deliver workshops on security standards and open authentication," added Vanderhoof.
Early registration discounts and the conference rate at the Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza Hotels expire on Friday, April 18th. Smart Card Alliance members receive one free registration at CTST as they did at past annual conferences. Smart Card Alliance members qualify for a $100 discount off additional paid registrations. Members can visit www.smartcardalliance.org to register. Alliance members also receive a 10 percent discount on CTST 2008 exhibit and sponsorship packages.
Non-members can find more information and register for CTST 2008 – The Americas by visiting www.ctst.com and clicking the "Register" tab.
CTST 2008 sponsors are Oberthur Technologies, CoreStreet, Giesecke & Devrient, Infineon, Inside Contactless, Texas Instruments, Gemalto, First Data and NXP.
