GlobalPlatform Publishes White Paper

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- GlobalPlatform, the international smart card specifications body, has published a white paper – along with a use case scenario - to explain the value GlobalPlatform Specifications bring to smart card based government ID programs worldwide. The white paper clearly defines the advantages of deploying GlobalPlatform’s open and interoperable card management infrastructure in place of a proprietary solution, and provides a detailed overview of how and where GlobalPlatform technology is applied across an ID management program and to what effect.

GlobalPlatform’s impact relative to the ID card itself and different roles within a card management system are also explored within the document, and the role that GlobalPlatform plays in facilitating interfaces and data exchange between different actors in an ID management program is outlined.

The white paper, which is intended to aid government officials, project managers and consultants advising on the implementation of smart card based ID programs in government, is informational, rather than technical, to ensure that it is accessible to the widest possible audience.

GlobalPlatform technology for smart cards and card management systems is known to have been used within sixteen successful government ID implementations throughout the world to date*. One of these widely recognized use cases - the U.S. Department of Defense’s Common Access Card – is used as a case study throughout the white paper to illustrate how the GlobalPlatform Specifications can be applied across the entire smart card infrastructure to benefit the issuance and management of smart ID cards and applications in a government program. It is intended that other use-cases, originating from Europe and Asia-Pacific, will be developed and explored in future editions of this white paper series.

Bob Beer, Vice President of Business Development at Datacard Group and Chairman of GlobalPlatform comments: “The launch of this white paper is a significant step forward in GlobalPlatform’s efforts to educate government audiences worldwide about the relevance and value of GlobalPlatform technology to smart ID programs. The paper casts light on a key challenge for governments responsible for deploying a smart ID program for the first time. This challenge is how to select a secure and cost-effective technology infrastructure before all future possibilities for the program, such as additional applications or potential partners from the public or private sector, are known and scoped. The paper illustrates how a standardized approach – such as basing a program on GlobalPlatform Specifications - can ensure the future security of government programs and protect current infrastructure investment, regardless of future business decisions, thanks to the scalability of the GlobalPlatform architecture.”

GlobalPlatform Inc.