SMRT.L Regulatory News (SMRT)

28 Jul 2006 10:21

Advanced Smartcard Technologies plc28 July 2006 ADVANCED SMARTCARD TECHNOLOGIES MAKES FURTHER PROGRESS IN ANTI-COUNTERFEITING PROJECT Advanced Smartcard Technologies (RIC: SMRT/L), ("AST") the Scottish basedsoftware group specialising in smartcard technology, through its wholly ownedsubsidiary Ecebs Limited, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreementwith ITI Scotland Ltd. to participate in a multi-million pound Research andDevelopment programme, that will drive the development of new technology toprovide an essential tool in tackling growing international counterfeitingactivity. This marks a significant milestone in the process by which theadvanced technological research and development so far undertaken will becommercialized to develop products and services for the marketplace. . The Participation Agreement signed with the ITI provides the basis wherebycompanies with complementary skills and capabilities have the opportunity tocommercialise elements of the ITI R&D programme in Machine-readable SecurityTagging, a technology platform offering an end-to-end solution for brandprotection. Ecebs' advanced technology has been utilised within the R&Dprogramme to provide part of the core platform. ITI Techmedia research has shown that counterfeiting is a multi-billion dollarglobal industry with highly destructive effects. The level of counterfeit tradeis estimated to have reached US$700 billion worldwide and shows no sign ofdecline. ITI Techmedia initiated the machine-readable security tagging R&Dprogramme to create a system solution for brand protection and has recruitedmore than a dozen R&D providers to work on this complex multi-disciplinaryprogramme. David Braddock, Managing Director of AST commented, " Our contribution thus far has been very much on a technology level, ondefining and then designing core elements of the IT systems architecture thatshould bring unique business benefits to the market. This has involved closeinteraction with a core team with complementary skill sets - from physics andchemistry, to computer hardware design to strategic marketing and businessprocess analysis. Now with the Participation Agreement in place, we canconcentrate on bringing an exciting solution to a market urgently requiring suchproducts." -ends- Date: 28 July 2006For further information contact: Advanced Smartcard Technologies plc 01355-268521David Braddock, Managing DirectorStephen Naylor, Finance Director SVS Securities plc 020 7638 5600Ian CallawayPeter Manfield ARM Corporate Finance Limited 020 7512 0191Nick Harriss cityPROFILE 020 7448 3244Simon Courtenay NOTES TO EDITORS - About Advanced Smartcard Technologies plc Advanced Smartcard Technologies plc, through its wholly owned subsidiary EcebsLimited, is a profit making, software company operating in the dynamic andexpanding smartcard arena. SMRT listed on AIM in December 2005. The Companyprovides smartcard technology to a wide range of user markets includingtransport, ID, healthcare, finance and local and national government departmentsand blue-chip companies. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange