Wireless - mobileCommerce
If even the most conservative forecasts are to be believed, any communications professional involved in developing customer-facing applications should take the business imperative of mCommerce seriously. Consider this basic fact: mobile technology enables a unique customer communications channel and nowhere is the impetus stronger than among the mobile network operators for whom mCommerce and the power of predictive CRM presents a real opportunity to counter the ongoing effects of customer churn and focus on boosting ARPU (average revenue per user). In 2001 credit card companies Visa, MasterCard and American Express joined forces in an unprecedented way to create the Mobile Payment Forum to create technical standards for mCommerce to authenticate cardholder identities and provide a secure mobile purchasing medium for their customers; and in June 2002, smart card solutions vendor Gemplus signed a strategic alliance with iPIN, the EPP (enterprise payment platform) to provide new payment capability for the prepay mobile market.

Smart Card - Smart commerce
Thanks to its role in the rise of consumer-driven mobile telephony--the SIM (subscriber identity module) card which identifies the subscriber to the network operator is a practically universal handset component--the smart card is a keystone of the mCommerce industry, particularly with its capacity to deliver more data-intensive wireless applications as data speeds ramp up through GPRS and on to 3G. The advent of Bluetooth, the short range ITS band wireless data protocol, has endorsed the smart card's position in localized mCommerce applications, facilitating kiosk and close proximity transactions like transport ticket purchases. Even the arrival of WAP technology allowing mobile devices to access the web and Internet- based services has kept the smart card at the heart of mCommerce evolution; its WIM (WAP Identity Module) specification requires smart card-based authentication and digital signature technology to protect the user's security. The evolution of STK (SIM application toolkit) technology has helped to establish the basic principles of mCommerce, allowing operators to update or distribute applications securely across their networks, and the financial sector to develop secure mobile banking applications. The strength of the smart card has always been its ability to allow the user to keep their identity self-contained and separate from the device itself. Above all else, the future of mCommerce depends on the industry's success in persuading customers that they can purchase and communicate in a secure and private environment.

Smart cards enable the generation and encryption of digital signatures which, combined with PKI (public key infrastructure) technology, provide the basis for a secure trading channel. With the added protection of PIN-codes deployed both for SIM card-based transactions and for the smart card-enabled credit card transactions, enabled by dual-slot mobile devices there is a solid foundation on which to build trusted customer relationships. The higher data capacities of the latest smart cards, combined with high-speed wireless networks, mean that these traditionally bandwidth-consuming digital security technologies, already established on the Internet, can now be properly exploited by the mCommerce industry. Rather than just containing the user's identity, the SIM card will become a two-way customer communication channel, allowing network operators and service providers to get closer to their customers than ever before.

What and how strategies do in mCommerce?
• m-Integration, including development and implementation capabilities.
• expertise in the industry-leading vendor products and those of emerging technology leaders.
• Bridges, EJBs, containers and interfaces that tie together middleware and applications.
• mCommerce automation methodology, project planning and management, embracing the entire process.
• Experienced consultants delivering proven m-Solutions.
• Delivering the world of mCommerce ... from startup to finish