The InspireD consortium comprises 16 of the leading industrial and academic stakeholders from the European Smart Card arena. Headed by Gemplus, the team includes representatives from ActivCard, ARTTIC, Atmel, Axalto, Everbee Networks, France Telecom, Gemplus, Giesecke & Devrient, Infineon, INRIA, NDS Technologies, Oberthur Card Systems, Orga, Philips, the Université Catholique de Louvain, and the University of Twente. This is so far the only European Commission project exclusively dedicated to smart cards. It will create a new standard for open platforms for the entire smart card and security industry. All aspects of smart card technology will be studied, including the silicon component platform, the cryptography and security authentication protocols for data protection, operating systems, and the software application layers. This will enable a seamless integration of Trusted Personal Devices in many IT applications. Smart card adoption is gaining speed as governments and corporate entities currently deploy a wealth of projects ranging from national identity to telecommunications, banking, e-commerce, and healthcare. With this growth comes the need to manage risk and ensure standards prevail as more solutions make use of smart card architecture. This initiative is the latest step taken to bring consistency, accuracy and openness to this industry. It will provide the best possible environment for industry players to develop the smart card technology platform to its full potential. The European Commission has created seven key pillars around the development of an Information Society and Trust & Security is one of them. As the Information Society becomes more and more important to business and individuals, it is increasingly critical to ensure the security of both the infrastructure and the information that runs through it. As a result of InspireD, users will see growing interoperability between a widening range of e-services of benefit to their daily lives, and they will be able to connect to them in an increasingly secure and intelligent environment. jane.strachey@gemplus.com www.gemplus.com www.inspiredproject.com