The NFC Forum announced that Koichi Tagawa, forum chairman, and Mohamed Awad, forum vice chairman, will both deliver keynote speeches on May 15 at the NFC Solutions Summit that will be held in San Francisco. The NFC Forum is partnering with the Smart Card Alliance to co-sponsor the event.
Tagawa will present the opening keynote," The Worldview of NFC," concerning the current state of NFC. He will discuss the maturing of the NFC ecosystem and the development of the NFC Forum Special Interest Groups (SIGs). He will also address the growth in the number of NFC-enabled devices and how the conversation has moved from device availability to education of consumers and implementation of NFC systems. Later in the day, vice chairman Awad's keynote address will cover the marketing of NFC devices, the use cases implemented today, and how NFC hardware and software providers are creating awareness of NFC's capabilities.
"NFC technology is reaching new vertical markets and industries, with nearly 300 million NFC-enabled devices expected to ship this year, and this intense level of growth mandates increased education, guidance, and support for market implementation," Tagawa said. "The NFC Solutions Summit provides an excellent opportunity for industry participants to learn about the most important NFC developments in both the business and technical arenas. We're pleased to join with the Smart Card Alliance in supporting this important conference."
"The NFC Solutions Summit provides a unique, focused venue for stakeholders of all levels to meet and discuss the business issues, implementation milestones, and technology advancements happening in NFC markets," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "For this year’s Summit, with the support of the NFC Forum, we have built a comprehensive and educational agenda that explores the promising growth of the NFC ecosystem over the past year, and the opportunities for new and exciting payment and non-payment applications for the future."
The NFC Forum is also an exhibitor in Booth 104, where it will feature NFC Forum smart posters and share details on opportunities to participate in the SIG Working Groups and other NFC Forum member programs.
The NFC Solutions Summit has grown to be a leading American showcase for NFC technology, with more than 50 speakers covering the state of the technology, developments in new NFC devices and innovative add-ons, the status of the growing NFC ecosystem, the promise of NFC-enabled payments and other applications, and American and international market forecasts. Leaders from every relevant sector across the NFC value chain are expected to attend, including financial services, applications development, payments processing, technology, retail services, and industry analysts.
Any organization with an interest in furthering the development and adoption of NFC technology is encouraged to apply for NFC Forum membership. In addition to its ongoing work via conference calls and online meetings, the NFC Forum holds face-to-face all-members meetings three times a year (Asia, Europe, USA) to advance NFC initiatives including technical specifications, SIG programs, and other projects under development. The next all-members meeting will take place June 10-14 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
