NEW YORK, NY and PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ–The Smart Card Alliance and SourceMedia announced a new partnership that will combine the Alliance’s annual conference with CardTechSecurTech (CTST), the largest card and identity technology event in North America. Beginning in 2008, the Alliance will spearhead the CTST conference agenda development, bringing the Alliance’s base of leading smart card technology suppliers and end users together in one venue. SourceMedia will continue to provide its extensive event management experience and resources, along with the promotional benefits its broad range of publications and websites deliver, including Cards & Payments, Card Technology, CardLine, CardLine Asia and American Banker.

“For the last 17 years, the goal of CTST has been to provide a forum for the card and security sectors to gather, learn and share ideas,” said Rob Whitaker, vice president of conferences & events for SourceMedia. “Through this new partnership with the Smart Card Alliance, we are inviting those in the industry; our attendees, vendors and visionaries, inside CTST to build the event they desire. And by combining our resources, CTST will be in a position to foster future growth and innovation in the card and ID technology industries on an unparalleled scale.”

“The content and breadth of topics we cover at our annual conference has grown just as rapidly as the smart card market in North America,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “Attendees and Alliance members will get a richer experience, and exhibitors will get a bigger venue to promote the industry’s latest technologies. A combined event will create a much grander platform to continue to expand our educational mission.”

The Smart Card Alliance is deeply involved in this year’s CTST agenda, organizing a full-day panel on identity management and cybersecurity. Vanderhoof is also moderating the “CardTech Americas Executive Summit,” a question-and-answer forum with card technology industry leaders. CTST 2007 will be held May 15th–17th, 2007 at Moscone Center West in San Francisco.

Program details and registration information are available at www.ctst.com. For more information on the alliance, visit www.smartcardalliance.org.