Recycling can provide a selling point for cards, but reclaimed plastic often comes in less-than-pure shades of white that can drive away card-industry decision makers. “The biggest concern among card manufacturers is being able to offer a consistent color,” says T.R. Mitchell, vice president of New Wave Plastics, a Medina, Ohio-based recycler. To overcome the […]

Sustainable options are still a ways off By Ed McKinley, Contributing Editor, Avisian Publications Polyvinyl chloride–or PVC for short–dominates the nation’s plastic-card market despite efforts to find more ecologically friendly materials. Cards made of 100% PVC account for perhaps 90% of all the plastic cards made in North America, according to card-industry executives. Most of […]

Security feature may truly be tamper proof By Zack Martin, Editor, Avisian Publications Often the emphasis is on the security used to protect the data stored in a card, but what’s equally as important are the security features techniques used to protect the data printed on the card itself. Laser engraving is nothing new, but […]

Often the focus is on how information is stored and secured in a card, but just as important is how information is secured on a card. Zack Martin, editor of Regarding ID magazine, sat down with Jonathan Bowen, sales manager at Digital Identification Solutions about its desktop laser printer and laser engraving ID cards cards. […]

Dates: October 28 – 30, 2009 Location: Washington, DC Venue: Washington Convention Center URL: http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-next-conference Contact: info@smartcardalliance.org Description: Join the Year’s Largest Government Smart Card Forum: The Smart Card Alliance’s Annual Smart Cards in Government Conference continued its growth trend in 2008, reflecting the rapid expansion of government identity and security initiatives. These initiatives have […]

I have to admit, if you would have asked me about Twitter a couple of months ago I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what it was. But then I started reading more about the micro-blogging site and decided to investigate. I started twittering on March 26 (First tweet: Writing the summer cover story […]

Blackboard has released a free application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that enables students to access course information wherever and whenever they wany. Students accustomed to logging in to their institution’s Blackboard Learn platform every day can now tap in to mobile learning opportunities by receiving updates and alerts on grades, assignments, tests and […]

By Andy Williams, Associate Editor Television shows like HBO’s The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street depict Baltimore as a gritty city. While the shows are fiction, crime is a real concern and Johns Hopkins University is testing a system that detects gunshots in an effort to help keep the campus safe. The gunshot […]

Atsec explains how every end user of security technology benefits NIST, the GSA, and a series of international bodies may set the standards for ID technologies, but who ensures that the products we use are following them? Atsec information security is an independent, standards-based IT security consulting and evaluation services company with global reach. Testing […]