GlobalPlatform and NFC

The GlobalPlatform is a non-profit association. It was launched in October 1999, and the first 'all-member' meeting was held in November 1999. It identifies, develops and publishes specifications which facilitate the secure and interoperable deployment and management of multiple embedded applications using secure chip technology.

GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2.1, published in January 2011, is the most recent UICC card specification. Amendment A is about Confidential Card Content Management. GlobalPlatform System Messaging Specification for Management of Mobile-NFC Services v1.1, published in May 2012, specifies the GlobalPlatform Messages allowing for provisioning and managing mobile NFC services using a Trusted Service Manager (TSM). Device specifications relates to the deployment and management of multiple embedded applications on secure chip devices.

The association published a white paper "GlobalPlatform's Requirements for NFC Mobile: Management of Multiple Secure Elements" [dated February 2010] to describe the requirements for managing multiple GlobalPlatform Secure Elements.

Many of the potential NFC services require one or more Secure Elements to store keys and applications. With the use of appropriate standards to manage Secure Element contents; it will be possible to achieve consistency, reliability and interoperability in the NFC mobile ecosystem.

The white paper "The GlobalPlatform Value Proposition for the Trusted Execution Environment – February 2011" provides an overview of the technology and explains how the TEE works independently in a separate environment – alongside a rich operating system such as Android, Windows Phone 7, LiMo, iOS and webOS – to provide high level security services for corporate environments, content management, mobile payments and service deployment.The paper will be of interest to all those operating within the mobile services sector including service providers, mobile network operators, operating system and application developers and device manufacturers.