Sitting down with an SDM Magazine editor at the annual GE conference for systems integrators, Provoost focused on the company’s Open Protocol Exchange Network (OPEN) project – really a security industry-wide network to establish and promote openness. “No one should doubt,†he said, “we are all about action-oriented results†with a program that aims at physical and logical security while also involving biometrics and smart cards.
Provoost, marketing manager for credentials and readers with GE Infrastructure – Security, realizes that his effort is not “go-it-alone.†Within the OPEN program, XceedID Corp. of Golden, Colo., is already working with GE to create next-generation contactless smart card and readers with an open protocol. “In going forward, the industry should expect others joining OPEN,†he said. In the case of XceedID and its expertise in advanced contactless radio frequency identification products, GE intends to market and sell what comes out of the relationship through its traditional channels while XceedID will market and sell the new products through other traditional access control manufacturers and similar companies serving vertical markets.