FIME is pleased to announce that Prakash Sambandam has been named as the Director of FIME India, located in Bangalore.

FIME is both an independent society offering expertise and consulting, and a worldwide provider of test solutions in the smart card, RFID and NFC domains. The group is therefore present on several specialised markets such as electronic payment, health, transport, logistics, telecommunications and e-Identity.

FIME currently has nearly 200 employees speaking English, French, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish on a daily basis, spread throughout 4 branches worldwide: FIME Europe, FIME Asia, FIME America and now, FIME India.

“The naming of Prakash Sambandam in this position reinforces our presence in India, where we have already been selling our services and solutions for two years. Prakash will take the lead of this new branch in order to continue working on and consolidating our development in this region which has great potential. This new structure will actively contribute to the enrichment of our expertise at a global level as well as to our international development,” explained Pascal Le Ray, CEO of FIME.

Prakash has evolved in the IT domain over many years, in a variety of sectors such as EDP, training, software development and management. He created an IT services centre in India and managed a team of 45 people in the software engineering and smart card domain for 6 years. By taking on the role of Director of FIME India he brings to FIME over 16 years experience as well as creating a cultural fusion between Europe and Asia. This will enable FIME to better understand the expectations and specific needs of Indian clients in order to better serve them.

“The creation of the FIME India branch is the logical next step in the ongoing development that FIME has undertaken since it was created. Proximity and assimilation are some of our major concerns since this is what will allow us to provide Indian companies with the expertise of a large group adapted to their specific local needs,” said Prakash.

The smart card sector in India is constantly growing, with many projects going on in the SIM card, NFC and contactless technologies domains. The majority of these projects come from government initiatives (the development of e-Passports, digital identity cards and drivers’ licenses, etc.), PDS (public distribution system), the NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), and the private sector, in particular for the development of banking applications and micro-finance.

With over 1 billion inhabitants and a growing average income, these services are becoming increasingly sought after by integrators, application developers, certification bodies and manufacturers. The Asia Pacific region is projected, by 2013, to contribute around 40% of the global smart card market. The Indian smart card activity is expected to cross US$6 billion in the next few years.

FIME has already been present in India for 6 years through the offshore platform of the Orange Business Services group, which FIME belongs to. FIME will be adding the launching of test tool solutions as well as consulting and accompaniment to its local offer of support for TIP products and R&D. Thus proving its position as a global test solutions provider.

FIME now covers all geographic zones where systems are migrating to the use of smart cards.

One of FIME’s goals is to expand its global coverage and develop its existing branches, particularly in North America, China and India.