Member Spotlight

Responses provided by Bob Beer, Business Consultant at Aconite and member of the GlobalPlatform Board of Directors.

What are your company's objectives for the forthcoming 12 months relating to chip?

All of Aconite's products are chip based. We will focus on expanding the customer base for our EMV, prepaid and mobile solutions as well as driving sales for our newest chip infrastructure product, Affina Enterprise.

What challenges do you currently recognize in the global chip marketplace and how is your organization working to overcome them?

Currently, one the largest challenges for chip is the development of a sustainable and profitable business model around mobile NFC. When one considers the younger generation's adoption and dependence on mobile phone based technology coupled with major deployments of contactless for transit and cash displacement, the mobile NFC market looks set for significant growth. For Aconite, our challenge is to be ready with the right products and to be prepared to invest in and help drive this market at the front end. This has driven much of our interest in GlobalPlatform.

Which GlobalPlatform initiatives are your company most actively engaged in at the present and why?

As a new member of GlobalPlatform, we are just beginning our GlobalPlatform activities. We have been elected to the GlobalPlatform Board of Directors which we have assigned staff to, and will be proactively participating in the Mobile Task Force, Systems Committee and Advisory Council.

What are the key benefits your organization derives from being a GlobalPlatform member?

We joined GlobalPlatform to be part of the community that is driving an open and interoperable infrastructure for chip. The immediate benefits to us are:

• Strong marketing support that GlobalPlatform offers its members.
• The privilege of working collaboratively with industry technical leaders who have a common vision regarding chip infrastructure.
• The ability to affect the direction of specifications and technology for chip in a positive way to further the cause for open and interoperable standards.