The Identity Council is made up of more than 90 individuals from 49 end user, chip vendor, systems integrator, card vendor, biometrics provider, identity system and software vendor organizations.

This past year the Identity Council was active in developing educational resources describing the benefits that smart card technology can bring to states for improved security and cost-efficiency in the delivery of state-operated programs, such as driver’s licenses that comply with the REAL ID Act.

These benefits were outlined in the white paper, “Smart Card Technology: The Right Choice for REAL ID,” published last January. Additionally, the Council reached out to state governors about the technology choices for enhanced driver’s licenses, and held a congressional briefing on the topic.

The Identity Council also reviewed the technology for border crossing identity documents and published the white paper, “The Consequences to Citizen Privacy and National Security in Adopting RFID Technology for Border Crossing Identity Documents” in October 2007.

Newly elected new officers and steering committee are: Officers: – Chair: Stephen P. Howard, Thales e-Security – Vice chair: Patrick Hearn, Oberthur Technologies – Secretary: Salvatore D’Agostino, IDmachines

Steering Committee: – Edward Clay, Sun Microsystems – Bryan Ichikawa, Unisys – John McKeon, IBM – Neville Pattinson, Gemalto – James Sheire, NXP Semiconductors – Chris Williams, SAIC