The Security Seminar, held in London in February, is the first in a series of events organized by the Silicon Trust Executive Council to address some of the biggest challenges, opportunities and issues being faced by the secure technology industry.

"We had a wide-ranging and lively debate on some of the hottest topics affecting the secure ID industry," says Detlef Houdeau, senior director business development, Infineon Technologies. "Security and privacy concerns are being addressed by the industry - and we are continuing our debate about the availability and suitability of different biometric types. Obviously, when you are talking about a significant rollout, such as in a national eID scheme, these issues have to take into account the needs of all stakeholders. Sometimes it is simply a case of making users aware of how the technology works - and why it is secure. At other times it is much more about implementing systems and processes to ensure that security is robust and that individual privacy is upheld."

The debate also covered the future of smart card-based solutions. "Multi-application schemes are the obvious next step, already well initiated in some countries' National eID projects," says Emmanuel Ventadour, director strategy & communication, Gemalto. "However, further rules need to be established to clarify how various governmental and non-governmental applications can operate alongside therefore, standards are key in this area. Significant progress has already been made at an EU level with European Citizen Card standards, projects such as the Netc@rd initiative targeted at the healthcare sector and the Large Scale Pilot eID (LSP-eID/eGov) project aimed at promoting the benefits of secure and convenient electronic identity management. The industry needs to get behind these initiatives if further progress is to be made."

"One of the hottest topics in Europe at present is the UK eID project," says Chris Shire, business development manager, Infineon Technologies, UK. "From discussions today it seems that more clarity is urgently needed in terms of what is required politically and culturally in a nation that has traditionally not used ID documents. The technology is ready - and the industry is ready to deploy the technology. We must now bridge the gap in understanding the UK's social and business drivers."

"The complexity for infrastructure on biometrics, national PKI and civil population register stimulate the government programs to prime contractors," says Jan van der Sluis, senior security architect, Unisys.

And with the introduction of various new biometric technologies, including Match-on-Card, the card can become truly personal. "It has a number of advantages as it provides a controllable and secure environment in which the card issuer can ensure the function throughout the card life and safely rely on it as a card issuer representative in any transaction throughout it's lifetime, adds Christina Behle, director regional sales Europe, Precise Biometrics.

The next Silicon Trust Security seminar will be held in the second half of 2008. This is expected to look at interoperability in more detail.