Cards Australia 2003

September 2-4, 2003
by Warwick Bone.

There can be no doubt that the heady days of the 90's are over when it comes to the Smart Card industry and how it is promoted.

Lavish displays and flashy machines to produce the carnival atmosphere were part and parcel of the early exhibitions at a time when the fledgling industry certainly needed a boost. But, as with all things, times change and we must move on. Whereas the nineties were the fun of getting started, the very early 2000's were the time of stabilisation and introspection. Those who decided this industry was not for them moved on, and those who decided to stay in for the long haul took up the slack created by those leaving. So, the question for events organisers then becomes "how to present and promote an industry that is now in the stage of consolidation?"

The 2003 event saw Terrapinn take two steps towards make the exhibition a success. The first was to combine the Cards exhibition with simultaneous exhibitions covering Information Security and Mobile Commerce, a practice not uncommon in the cards exhibition world. The second was to theme the Conference around current issues surrounding the use of cards including fraud and security, the changing RBA regulations, payment issues and EMV on the first two days, with case studies in applications and loyalty programs on the third day.

As always, the quality of the conference speakers was up to the high standard we have come to expect from Terrapinn. Information was clearly presented with ample opportunity for questions and discussion. And it was kind of fun to watch the friendly sparring between the Retail and Banking industries on subject that is really worth millions of dollars to those concerned.

Of particular interest to me on Day Three was the presentation by Alan Wong, Director of Information Technology, Hong Kong Government, regarding the development of the multi-application smart ID card currently used in Hong Kong. Having lived in Hong Kong and experienced first hand the "sardine" effect of trying to cross the border into China at peak hour, I can fully understand the need for a centralised ID system that allows for the fast transfer of people from one region to another. The "Australia Card" has been mooted here many times, and I, like many others, am not so sure of the need for it here with an isolated country. But the hurdles that needed to be overcome to produce a system in Hong Kong able to handle as many border crossings in a day as we would probably see in a week or month are certainly are impressive and worthy of investigation for anyone setting up similar systems.

Moving to the exhibition floor found many of the "old crowd" plus a few new ones. I have often wondered how long an industry with such a relatively small number of players could support an annual conference. Let's face it, we simply don't have the population to support the large exhibitions that are found in the America and Europe. But it seems the industry is prepared to support the event with exhibitors from Australia and Overseas presenting their wares, even if a few of them were present simply to avoid the question "why weren't you there?"

All in all the Conference/Exhibition was a great success. Terrapinn have always gone to great effort to make sure the exhibition was well attended. It is good to see the effort is still being made to continue an exhibition that has a limited market and where, basically, everyone already knows everyone else. I doff my hat to the organisers.