Smart card technology has continued to develop unobtrusively in the meantime, and a paradigm shift has occurred in parallel with this development. Technology has vanished into the background as a driver for smart card applications, and its role as a guide to the future has been taken over by the applications. User needs now occupy the focus of

attention. This is quite a normal cycle in the course of technology development, as has been seen repeatedly in this form and in similar forms. This new aspect of the situation inspired me to write this book, as the current trend is

to use smart cards on account of their positive characteristics instead of simply because they exist.