As expected (CI No 3,464), Fujitsu Ltd, along with its ICL Plc and Amdahl Corp subsidiaries, endorsed the Multos operating system for smart cards on Friday, saying they would be incorporating the system into its smart card products. The three also joined the MAOSCO industry-wide consortium, formed last May to support the software (CI No 3,162). Fujitsu’s endorsement follows last week’s formation of Proton World International, a rival venture backed by American Express and Visa International, using technology developed by the Belgian Banksys consortium. MAOSCO has the support of Mastercard International, and American Express is also a member, despite its involvement with Proton. Multos, originally developed by Mondex International, is now being positioned as an industry controlled open standard, available on a non-discriminatory, royalty free basis. Fujitsu says it will support and promote the system, and write new Multos-compliant applications and services. ICL’s SmartCity multi-application smart card and Amdahl’s Mondex Solution will both use the system. Hitachi Ltd is also a member of the consortium, and MAOSCO’s chief executive officer, Nick Hackwood, claimed that the Japanese industry is lining up behind Multos.
