Identive Expands Mobility and NFC Solutions Group

Identive Group, Inc. announced that Mathew Smith has joined the company’s Mobility & NFC Solutions group as vice president, product and technology management.

In this new role, Smith will manage Identive’s product development activities to help leverage and strengthen the company’s early leadership position in the emergent near field communications (NFC) market. Smith brings significant experience in the areas of NFC, mobile software and payment technologies, all of which are expected to be major drivers of market growth over the next few years.

“I am pleased to welcome Mathew to the Identive NFC team. His business insight and acumen coupled with his substantial background in the security industry and web-based services give him a unique ability to understand and envision NFC use cases, markets and how to make it all work,” said Ayman S. Ashour, CEO and chairman of Identive. “Identive’s product successes to date with early NFC adopters are the result of a strategy to make it easy for customers to employ NFC to achieve desired results. Mathew will provide significant support for our ongoing efforts as we expand our offerings of full NFC solutions.”

Prior to joining Identive, Smith served as director of TSM operations for Gemalto NV, a digital security company, where he defined and drove the global operational and deployment strategy for the company’s Trusted Services Management (TSM) business, which manages mobile payment credentials between banks and mobile network operators. Smith previously had been chief architect and director of an NFC business services initiative that originally developed the TSM business while part of an innovation incubator group at NXP Semiconductors. This TSM business was later sold to Gemalto.

Prior to this, he defined the product and sales strategy for NXP’s Java software product line for mobile handsets, where he gained significant experience working with mobile handset businesses and markets in Europe, China, Taiwan and Korea. Before joining NXP, Smith developed a product strategy and corporate business plan for Smart Fusion, a wireless software start-up in France that subsequently was sold. Smith holds an MBA in innovation and strategy from the Theseus Institute (now EDHEC) in France, an MS in business systems analysis and design from City University in London and a BS in chemical physics from the University of Kent in Canterbury.

“I have been impressed at Identive’s ability to carve out a position as an early leader in NFC with projects such as smartphone application tags and smart poster campaigns,” said Smith. “So much of what is talked about in the market today is based on expectations, rather than results. Identive is proving over and over again that it can bring real solutions to add real value. The company’s strong technology foundation in RFID and secure identity management along with the significant breadth and depth of experience of its people, are what’s required to help make NFC a reality for consumers and businesses. I am excited to join Identive and be a part of the paradigm shift to NFC.”