Members of the global identity and Internet communities announced the launch of Kantara Initiative, a new global organization formed to bridge enterprise, Web 2.0 and Web-based identity initiatives.

Kantara Initiative has been founded by the Concordia Project, Data Portability Project, Information Card Foundation, Internet Society, Liberty Alliance, OpenLiberty.org and XDI.org to collaborate on eliminating the barriers that exist in the global identity sector. 

Precise Biometrics, a biometrics solutions developer, has received an order for $226,000 for their Match-On-Card products and services for government employees in the Middle East. The order is in addition to previous order from the same customer and involves both an additional 200 Precise Match-On Card readers and additional licenses for software.

The Match-On-Card system delivers a solution that doesn’t require centrally stored biometric data, but rather the data for each individual is stored on a smart card. When authenticating the cardholder must match their biometric against the one stored on the card.  

Guard Solutions Inc., a producer of RFID solutions for health care and enterprise applications headquartered in Canada, has formed a distribution agreement with Michigan-based Dynamic RFID Solutions, a systems integrator and RFID-based solutions provider. The agreement will provide a new distribution channel for Guard’s RFID applications, including its infant protection, patient protection and asset tracking solutions. 

CARTES & IDentification 2009 is turning the spotlight on strong authentication. Exhibitors will present solutions for meeting today’s security needs in the field of the Trusted Internet. The theme of the fight against cybercrime will also be addressed.

The IDentification trade show will be held alongside CARTES and will bring together players offering solutions and technologies related to biometrics, securing of documents and transactions, authentication, physical and logical access control, cryptography, RFID, as well as electroni government procedures. 

Blackberry phone users will soon be able to utilize new security technology developed by IT software company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), according to a TMC News article. The G&D Mobile Security Card utilizes the soon to be released Blackberry Device Software 5.0 and provides incoming and outgoing message encryption, e-mail signature services and user authentication. 

GlobalPlatform will host a one day card specifications technology training session to educate the U.S. market on the benefits of open and interoperable specifications for smart card deployments. The session is scheduled for July 22 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco.

Following the success of GlobalPlatform’s first card training session, which took place in Vienna earlier this year, a similar agenda will be delivered by Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform’s technical director, to benefit delegates from the U.S. smart card market. Delegates will receive an overview of the organization’s suite of specifications, thorough training on core card specifications and an insight into GlobalPlatform’s forthcoming technical releases. 

ZF Electronics Ltd - formerly Cherry Electrical Products Ltd – was awarded a contract for 8,000 of its smart card keyboard products which are being used as part of an ambitious security project being undertaken by the West Midlands Police in the UK. The company’s G83-6644LUAGB-2 smart card keyboard was an part of the tender documentation for the Gateway Program.

Smart cards are being issued to every member of staff in the organization and the smart card keyboards will be used in more than 150 different police buildings across the region. All personnel can use their smart card to logon to their computer and access applications with Single Sign-On, and in 38 sites staff will additionally use their smart card to gain access into the buildings.