GlobalPlatform has launched a Secure Element Mobile Services Kit to support rapid and widespread growth of secure Android mobile services.
The GlobalPlatform for Developers: Secure Element Mobile Services Kit aims to provide application developers with all the tools they need to create a secure mobile application utilising a secure element (SE).
The kit is the third installment of a new ‘GlobalPlatform for Developers’ initiative. The initiative reflects a commitment from the organisation to provide the developer community with tools, training, support and resources which will enhance understanding, familiarity and access to GlobalPlatform technologies.
A key driver behind the launch of this particular kit is the increasing integration of SEs within more and more devices globally. This has generated new demand from the developer community to utilise SEs and the corresponding knowledge and tools to enable them to do so.
The kit includes directions and tools to create a development environment that enables developers to build, load and manage their customised applications. Developers only need a NFC-enabled smartphone and computer to compile and run the applications.
The kit comprises the following key components:
- A SE utility tool which provides a secure channel from the development environment to the SE and access to perform card content management.
- Source code for the three typical elements of a mobile service:
- A SE application, in the form of a Java Card application, which protects, securely stores and remotely tops up credit, that is used to perform secure transactions.
- A mobile application, in the form of an Android wallet, which provides developers with a template to aid their understanding of how to make a secure connection to the SE application.
- A remote server application script which allows the SE application to be remotely updated.
- A point of sale simulator used to test that applications built from the source code (above) works as intended.
Developers can also purchase accessories including a contact and contactless reader to connect the SE to the development environment, and sample SEs for development and testing purposes.
Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform’s technical director, commented: “This is a very exciting announcement for both GlobalPlatform and the global application development community. The pace at which mobile services are being launched worldwide is rising exponentially and as a consequence, the need for greater security within the mobile environment is higher than ever before.
“GlobalPlatform recognises the value in ensuring that application developers are aware of the security, interoperability and usability advantages that GlobalPlatform technologies deliver. To ensure a future where innovative, mass market secure mobile services can be fully realised, it is essential that as an organisation we promote, and offer easy accessibility to, our standardised infrastructure.
The launch of the Secure Element Mobile Services Kit will give developers everything they need to become experts in writing mobile applications which can be secured by a SE. This is the first step in a much broader initiative by GlobalPlatform to engage the global development community directly.
We look forward to continuing our work with this important audience and bringing forward new tools and resources in the near term which will continue to boost familiarity with, and accessibility to, GlobalPlatform technologies.”
Future installments of the ‘GlobalPlatform for Developers’ initiative focused on SEs will be the launch of an online developers’ forum, developer training initiatives and hackathons to drive developer innovation. Separately, the ‘GlobalPlatform for Developers’ initiative has already delivered a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) developer workshop and a TEE Hackathon.
For more information on the GlobalPlatform for Developers: Secure Element Mobile Services Kit, see:
- Secure Element Mobile Services Kit details.
- Information on Secure Element Mobile Services training, June 19-20 in Paris.
- A video on GlobalPlatform’s Developers’ Initiative.
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