Java Card Forum

The Java Card Forum is an industry association of companies from the smart card, secure operating system and secure silicon industry, working together to promote and develop Java as the preferred programming language for multi-application smart cards, secure devices and other execution environments.

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Reporting the evolution of Java Card technology over the years

Twenty years is a long time in the technology industry – trends come and go, products appear then disappear and even major shows and publications change their focus…The Java Card Forum has seen many changes over the years – not least in the Java Card platform itself, and some of those milestones have been documented in the press.

Publications

ct-front-pageRemember Card Technology magazine? It was THE publication for the smart card industry with journalists like Dan Balaban and Thad Rueter digging for the truth. There was certainly a lot of coverage concerning Java Card over the years, and even a cover story featuring Bertrand du Castel (first Technical Committee Chairman) as “Visionary of the Year”.

We have the text from one of Dan Balaban’s articles entitled “Java Card and the new era for smart cards”, published in Card Technology Issue November 2004, Volume 9, number 12, where he discusses how the Java Card platform is set to revolutionise the usage of smart cards in the future.
Download the article here (reprinted with kind permission by the author)

The JCF also received coverage in Card Technology Today and CardsNow!Asia about the enhancements to the Java Card specification with the 3.x release. There was a real sense of excitement with the new release, as the platform could move beyond the standard smart card environment to a variety of different form factors.

Personal blogs/articles

Those involved in the Forum have also documented their personal opinions about the technology, the companies involved and the industry.

Bertrand du Castel, one of the “founding fathers” of the Java Card Forum has written a very personal history of his involvement with the production of the first Java Card and the subsequent formation of the Java Card Forum, which can be downloaded here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259361072_Personal_History_of_the_Java_Card(Distributed with kind permission by the author)

Eric Vétillard, who took over the post of Technical Chair from Bertrand, has been writing a blog for many years now, entitled “On the road to Bandol”: http://javacard.vetilles.com (Bandol being the internal name that was given to Java Card version 3.0 within Sun – as well as a French town). Here he shares his personal views on Java Card technology and now more recently, the IoT market. He has also provided some Java Card tutorials: http://javacard.vetilles.com/tutorial/.

Company Press Releases

We’ve even dug into company archives to find some of the Press Releases from the early days, including the very first Press Release about the formation of the JCF.


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The Impact of Java Card Technology Yesterday and Tomorrow

Safran Identity & Security celebrates 20 years with the Java Card Forum

As a long-standing member, Safran Identity & Security takes part in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Java Card Forum, an industry organization dedicated to promoting and developing interoperable Java Card technology products. Until today, 20 billion Java Cards have been sold, and Java is the most common IT platform worldwide.

“Over the years, we have been very active in the Java Card Forum, as we consider its contribution to be a major building block for the telecommunications market,” said Yves Portalier, Vice President and General Manager of the Telecom Business Unit at Safran Identity & Security.

In the early days of Java Card, the interoperability between the different Java Card platforms was an issue and raised concerns on the part of some major customers. Together with all other Java Card Forum members, Safran Identity & Security managed to smooth the adoption of Java Card technology and developed interoperability guidelines to help market adoption. This enabled the development and deployment of portable trusted identity services for individuals and personal devices.

“We view the joint work in the Java Card Forum as very relevant for the future too, as the next challenge is already in sight. Today we are working in the Java Card Forum on the definition of the next Java Card version, which is aimed at fulfilling the upcoming requirements of new markets, especially in the Internet of Things. We are convinced that Java technology will play a major role in the IoT. It offers a huge and established ecosystem and for the remote management of devices, its stability and maturity is clearly an advantage. The Java Card Forum will make a major contribution to unlocking the potential of the IoT.” Yves Portalier, Vice President and General Manager of the Telecom Business Unit at Safran Identity & Security

This Press Release was issued by Safran Identity & Security on 2nd March 2017: http://www.morpho.com/en/media/impact-java-card-technology-yesterday-and-tomorrow-safran-identity-security-celebrates-20-years-java-card-forum-20170302


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The Continuing Journey of the Java Card Forum (Press Release)

THE JAVA CARD FORUM CELEBRATES ITS 20 YEARS ANNIVERSARY
The continuing journey of the Java Card Forum

Berlin, 6th February 2017 – The Java Card Forum (JCF) is proud to announce that it is celebrating its 20 year Anniversary in 2017. Back in 1997 a small group of smart card companies came together to form the Java Card Forum, to provide recommendations for the Java Card specification to Sun Microsystems – enhancing the platform to meet the needs of the smart security industry. This led to the publication by Sun (and later Oracle) of several releases of the Java Card specification over the years, effectively delivering Java Card technology’s promise of interoperability, security and multi-application support to the telecoms, IT security and financial services industries. With around 20 billion Java technology based smart cards deployed so far, the Java Card platform can be considered as a tremendous success and is today the most used IT platform in the world. And after 20 years, its work remains as relevant today as it did back in the 90s; now looking to support new markets such as the Internet of Things.

The close collaboration of the original members is testament to their belief in the possibilities of this new platform and with the focus firmly on the telecoms market, the standardization of a SIM toolkit soon led to mass deployment of the technology. Other markets soon beckoned, and the JCF continued to work with Oracle on developing and enhancing the specification, with the release of Java Card version 3.0 in 2008 as a response to the growing importance of smart, secure, and portable devices in a convergent world. Java Card technology was seen as a key building block for the next wave of secure digital services such as Mobile payment, Identity, ticketing, M2M applications and many others. And with the emergence of secure elements, the Java Card platform could move beyond the standard smart card environment to a variety of different form factors.

“Java Card technology has always been a highly secure execution platform for innovative services: be it for SIM based services in the telecommunications area, smart payment services in the banking and financial service area or providing a secure environment for identity use cases such as passports, identity and health documents. This still holds true for today’s scenarios. There are a variety of use-cases for the platform and not all of them are card based,” explains Volker Gerstenberger the current President of the Java Card Forum.

“What is important to understand though, is how relevant Java Card technology remains today,” continues Volker. “With the advent of the age of the Internet of Things we are seeing more and more connected endpoint devices that need to be secured. We see additional new networks (such as Narrow-Band IoT, for example) that have to be protected and we are seeing the emergence of a variety of completely new and unforeseen services that need to be enabled from both a user experience perspective and more importantly, from a security perspective.”

“We are now working on the next version of the Java Card specification with the clear objective to address the Internet of Things security challenges. By this I mean new features supporting integration into IoT devices and new types of communication protocols and therefore becoming the new security powerhouse for IoT.”

The JCF plans to celebrate its 20 years with a number of different activities across the year – sign up to receive email updates (see side bar).

Trademarks:
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.


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Remaining relevant after 20 years; The Java Card Forum

By Volker Gerstenberger, President of the Java Card Forum

Volker_G h&s

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Java Card Forum. At first glance one could look at the Java Card Forum as just another industry association but I think it is so much more. Of course, just like any industrial initiative, it was set up to lay down technical groundwork – but it was also there to promote Java Card technology as a whole concept and platform.

Already in the very early days, the commitment to co-operation was quite unique – with several companies coming together to lay down the technical requirements of the first Java Card specification and passing these specifications to a third party who took on the responsibility to drive, test and make ready for market use. This kind of technological breakthrough was based on successful international co-operative standardization, perhaps only surpassed by the success story of GSM and similarly, as GSM has evolved, so has Java Card technology. Both have a similar commitment to succeed with close co-operation

I wasn’t there in the early days, but I think that one of the highlights of Java Card technology was the initial establishment of the first joint specification – when the ‘baby was born’, so to speak. To my mind that must have been a very rewarding situation for the people involved in the standardization process or being active in driving this technology forward. The actual first shipment to a customer must also have been very exciting for the people behind JCF at the time. And then to witness Java Card technology soaring to new heights with respect to deployment – the ultimate proof of market acceptance.

All of this success was, in the early days, mainly driven out of the telecommunication sector. By far the most successful implementation of Java Card is on the SIM card where Java Card is now contributing to the majority of SIMs delivered since 2005. We are talking about numbers close to 20 Billion being shipped over the last 20 years. Payment and Identification implementations have also been realized from the very beginning, but in terms of volumes could not keep the pace of the telecommunication sector. In the past few years however, the Financial sector is growing rapidly in terms of Java Card deployments. Today we are seeing it expand into new areas, such as the developing area of the Internet of Things.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Java Card is to assume that the technology is only applicable to cards. Yes, it’s all in the name and therefore no one other than us marketing guys are to blame for this naming misconception! But who knew back in 1997 (when the Forum was formed) that we would one day have machines talking to each other – extensively. Even the science fiction movie ‘Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines’ didn’t appear until 2003.

Java Card technology has always been a highly secure execution platform for innovative services: be it for SIM based services in the telecommunications area, be it for smart payment services in the banking and financial service area or for providing a secure home for identity use cases such as passports or identity and health documents. This still holds true for today’s scenarios. There are a variety of use-cases for the platform and not all of them are card based.

What is important to understand though, is how relevant Java Card technology remains today. With the advent of the age of the Internet of Things we are seeing more and more connected endpoint devices that need to be secured. We see additional new networks (such as Narrow-Band IoT, for example) that have be protected and we are seeing the emergence of a variety of completely new and unforeseen services that need to be enabled from both a user experience perspective and, more importantly, from a security perspective.

With these scenarios in mind I (and the other members of the Forum) believe the Java Card technology still has a lot to offer and we are committed to working together with our partner Oracle to ensure that the Java Card platform meets these challenges.

 Without stealing all the thunder for our anniversary year, I can report that we are now working on the next version of the Java Card specification with the clear objective to address the main Internet of Things challenges. By this I mean being able to be integrated into new devices and adapting to new types of communication protocols and therefore become the new security powerhouse for IoT.

In preparation for the 20th Anniversary celebrations I was asked what my personal feelings in regard to 20 years of JCF were. It’s a tough one to answer, but I think that I would be honoured if 20 years from now I could tell my grandchildren that it was us who brought Java Card technology into the 21st Century.

I am convinced that Java Card technology still has an important role to play and there is an increasing necessity in it providing security for the coming Internet of Things. Having said that – here’s to another 20 years!


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Oracle and the Java Card Forum will be hosting a Java Card Open Day in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 10th December 2013.
If you would be interested in attending such an event, take a look at the Agenda and contact us to register.


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A new Look for the Java Card Forum

The Java Card Forum launches its new Look and Feel to reflect its continued collaboration and innovation

Berlin, Germany and Paris, France, 18th November 2013 – Leading industry organization the Java Card Forum (JCF), dedicated to promoting and developing interoperable Java Card™ technology products, has today unveiled its new visual identity; providing a stronger industry presence and a clearer image for the organization going forward.

“After reaching our 15 year milestone last year, it was the perfect time to evaluate our visual identity to ensure it reflected today’s organization and where we are going in the future,” says Bruno Basquin, President of the Java Card Forum and Chairman of the Business Committee. “The logo and colour scheme modernize the JCF’s appearance and will enable clear recognition across all media, including social and broadcast media, as well as on smaller devices such as smart phones and tablets,” he continues.

The new logo symbolizes the organization’s long history of collaboration within the industry and its continued commitment to drive innovation for multi-application secure solutions. The JCF members worked closely with Krowne Communications GmbH in defining the new image, which includes a new website and documentation layout.

The Java Card Forum will continue to travel to different regions to promote Java Card technology and will hold its first Open Day in Latin America on 10th December in Sao Paulo with the new Look and Feel.