CARTES & IDentification 2010 celebrates 25 years in style

CARTES & Identification is 25 years old — and younger than ever… Despite heavy snowfalls in Paris, which made access to the exhibition centre more difficult, CARTES & IDentification was in fine form, positioning itself as the sector's key global event. The trade show, which was organised by Comexposium, took place in the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre from 7 to 9 December 2010.

The influence of the trade show was confirmed by the figures recorded for the 2010 event: 432 exhibitors (against 427 in 2009), 79% of whom came from outside France; 18,770 visitors, 72% of whom were international (against 68% in 2009); and 142 countries represented.

Despite a slight dip in the number of French visitors, due to the bad weather (18,770 in total, as compared to 19,885 in 2009), the 2010 event once again lived up to the expectations of industry professionals.

The Comexposium team is already looking forward to the next trade show, to be held from 15 to 17 November 2011; Turkey will be the trade event’s guest-of-honour nation.

Over the three days that the 2010 trade show lasted, more than 1,250 participants (against 1,230 in 2009) attended 18 conferences. Among the participants, 83% came from outside France — from 57 countries to be precise.

Topical issues were discussed in depth, in particular during the conferences dedicated to new payment solutions in emerging countries; to the Internet of Things; and to the evolution of prepaid cards and point-of-sale transactions. ‘Classics’ were not neglected either, such as non-contact payments, New Field Communication (NFC), multi-applications, the security of cards and data, as well as citizens’ identification.

As in earlier years, the high point of the Congress was the inaugural conference of the World Card Summit, during which sector leaders analysed major market trends and presented their strategic vision for the future of the industry, in front of a full house, with 500 attendees. Eurosmart took this opportunity to present a preview of its 2010 figures and the 2011 forecast for the world smart-card market. (Further information can be found on www.eurosmart.com.)

M2M & the Internet of Things, heralding a new technological era, was another key topic. By visiting the Internet of Things pavilion, visitors were able to discover a new demonstration area, in partnership with Eurosmart, where experts presented home-automation applications, opening new perspectives for the smart-technologies industry.

This technological showcase allowed visitors to become familiar with what has been dubbed the Internet of Things, whereby machines and systems increasingly communicate with each other, as opposed to people using the tools and platforms at their disposal.

The pavilion hosted over 15 companies, including industry leaders such as Gemalto, Infineon Technologies, Morpho, NXP and Oberthur Technologies. Both the dedicated area and the topic will also be featured in the 2011 trade show.

Identification was, once more, a central theme of the event. The IDentification area, dedicated to identification and authentication, hosted 62 companies, which demonstrated the dynamism of the identity-protection sector. Over the three days, it was an essential place for discovering the latest innovative technologies relating to biometrics, the security of documents and transactions, authentication, as well as physical and logical access control.

A demonstration zone dedicated to biometrics enabled the show's 19,000 visitors to gain hands-on experience of the latest authentication and identification methods.

The 2010 SESAMES trophies celebrated 15 years of innovation in the sector. The winners of the 2010 SESAMES trophies were revealed before a privileged audience of 300 attendees, during a memorable ceremony organised at the Automobile Club de France.

The list of winners for this year's trophies included the following categories and companies.

▪ Hardware Sesame award: MORPHO E-DOCUMENTS, with ConnectSIM

▪ Software Sesame award: INSIDE SECURE, with Open NFC

▪ Identification – ID Card Sesame award: IDEX ASA, with SmartFinger Film

▪ IT Security Sesame award: GEMALTO, with eGo

▪ Transport Sesame award: OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES, with Voox

▪ Banking, Retail and Loyalty Sesame award: BLACKBOARD INC, with Blackboard MF 4100 Multifunction Contactless Reader

▪ Secure Internet & Authentication Sesame award: MEDISCS, with IDéPhone

▪ Mobility Sesame award: OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES, with NFC Now for Nice NFC City

▪ E-Transactions Sesame award: GEMATIK GMBH, with Practice-fee and Receipt Service

▪ Production & Tests Sesame award: STMICROELECTRONICS, with UTAMCIC

About CARTES & IDentification

CARTES & IDentification, the international event of reference for the digital-security industry, for smart technologies, and for payment and contactless systems, took place in Paris from 7 to 9 December 2010 at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, in Paris (France). In 2010, CARTES celebrated 25 years of the trade show.

In 2011, the 26th CARTES & IDentification trade show will be held from 15 to 17 November 2011, also at the Paris Nord Villepinte facility, north of the French capital. Turkey will be the guest-of-honour nation.

CARTES & IDentification is a trade event that is organised by Comexposium, the pan-European events organiser.

For further information on Comexposium, please go to: http://en.comexposium.com/

For further information on CARTES, please go to the dedicated website, www.cartes.com, or to the blog, www.blogcartes.com.