ECCA History

In the June 2002, Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland hosted the inaugural European Campus Card Conference. The aim of this three-day event (June 23^rd to 25^th) was to promote the advancement of the rapidly developing smartcard, biometric and transaction security technologies. This conference was attended by over 200 delegates from 17 European Countries. Seminars and workshops presented by expert speakers from Europe and the US covered a wide range of issues relating to campus cards. There was also an exhibition where over 30 companies attended and displayed their products.

One of the key elements of the card conference in 2002 was the Inaugural Meeting of the European Campus Card User Group. At the plenary session of this meeting a proposal was adopted to establish a European knowledge and development centre for campus card concepts. A strong recommendation that emanated from this meeting was that a European Campus Card Association be formed to act as a forum for the exchange of information and experience and to assist the development of smart card applications on campuses. It was further agreed that the association should foster and promote campus card standards and interoperability to facilitate Student ID on a cross-border basis in Europe.

Eugene McKenna, of Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland, was requested to coordinate the establishment of a steering group to prepare the way forward in this regard and to process recommendations on a constitution and structure for the new Association. The first of three steering group meetings was held on the 13/14^th October 2002 in Bilderberg Castle Hotel, Zeist Netherlands. The Steering Group members in attendance at that meeting were:

Luis Muñoz, University of Cantabria, Spain.
Raymond Griffin Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.
Andrzej Marterka, University of Technology Lodz, Poland.
Sandor Illés, University of Miskolc, Hungary.
Steve Black, Durham University, England.
Eugene Mc Kenna, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.
Jan Van Vugt, Kwinta, Essentia B.V., Netherlands.
Tor Fridell, Linkőping University, Sweden.
Mark Denham, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Kenneth Smordal, Oslo University, Norway.
Roland Herbst, Humbolt University, Germany.

The outcome from the efforts of the steering group culminated with a proposal for a draft structure, business plan and constitution for ECCA, which was adopted at a general meeting in Amsterdam on 17^th February 2003. ECCA was launched with its mission to promote and enhance the development of campus card programmes for higher education institutions throughout the member states of the European Union and other European Countries.

From its humble beginning in 2002, ECCA has established a strong presence throughout Europe as the designated authoritative organisation for the collection and dissemination of information to support the development of Student ID credentials. The association continues to develop it resources and opportunities for its growing membership.

Founders of ECCA

Front Row L-R: Luis Muñoz, Raymond Griffin, Andrzej Marterka,
Back Row L- R: Sandor Illés, Steve Black, Eugene Mc Kenna, Jan Van Vugt, Tor Fridell, Mark Denham.
(Missing from Photo: Kenneth Smordal and Roland Herbst).