Smart Card Forum8201
Greensboro Drive, Suite 300
McLean, VA 22102 USA
+1 (703) 610-9023
Fax: +1 (703) 610-9005

http://www.smartcrd.com

"The Smart Card Forum is a multi-industry group focused on encouraging the development of an open infrastructure for multiple application smart card technology. The Smart Card Forum began in 1993 as a collaborative effort between Citibank, Bellcore and the US Treasury in an effort to accelerate smart card awareness and acceptance in North America ."

Members of the forum include industrial corporations, Federal departments, and State governments.

Working groups within the Forum include the following:

• Transportation. Promote the adoption of smart cards within the transportation industry.
  
  
• Telephony. Promote the use of smart cards in wireline (e.g. public pay phones) and wireless (e.g. cellular and PCs). Promotes the introduction of multiple application cards between telephony and non-telephony uses (e.g. home banking on a screen-based telephone).
  
  
• Education. Encourages broad participation of higher education organizations in smart card pilots and market trials.
  
  
• Retail. Advance the perspectives of the retailer in the widespread acceptance of smart card technology. Encourage collaborative effort among retailers, financial institutions, industry service providers, appropriate government agencies and technology vendors to facilitate the development and deployment of smart card technology in the retail environment.
  
  
• Travel & Entertainment. Promotes smart card products and services within the T&E industry. Encourages broad participation of the T&E industry in smart card pilots and market trials.
  
  
• Legal and Public Policy. Develop proposals that remove legal barriers to the implementation of related public policies, and to act as a national and international legal information clearinghouse.
  
  
• Government. Provide a clearinghouse for information and a source of education for government card programs.

It is obvious that Smart Cards are more than a State-level drivers license effort. They are a national (international?) effort to change our economic structure. Implied in all of this is a high level of cooperation and data sharing between all of the groups using Smart Cards.