The LEAF Community, known for its open, vendor-neutral standard facilitating interoperability in physical access control credentials, has initiated its End User Committee. This formation aims to assist large enterprises in refining their security strategies without encountering friction and provides them with a defined platform to influence the future of the standard.
Chaired by Michael Franke from Bank of America, the committee unites security leaders from entities like Anduril, DTCC, IBM, and Red Hat. This collaboration seeks to identify common challenges and leverage real-world deployment experiences to guide the development of the LEAF standard. The initiative ensures the evolving standard addresses the practical needs of its users instead of focusing on the objectives of individual vendors.
Building credential initiative
This launch coincides with the expanding momentum of the LEAF Community, which now counts over 40 member organisations. Simultaneously, progress continues in its Marketing Committee and on the base building credential initiative, driven by the Product Committee.
"Physical security leaders are often solving the same problems independently," noted Matthew Netardus, senior manager, technical security architecture at Anduril. "A peer committee like this one provides a structured mechanism to jointly address those challenges, applying collective experience to real decisions, and ensuring the technology's direction aligns with the deployment requirements of organisations. Such a feedback loop is rare and valuable," he added.
Recruiting member companies
The LEAF End User Committee is set to host its inaugural in-person event during the GSX in Atlanta, Georgia
The LEAF End User Committee is set to host its inaugural in-person event during the GSX in Atlanta, Georgia. This vendor-free session, led by Michael Franke of Bank of America, offers end users an opportunity to learn about the LEAF Community and the activities of its End User Committee.
The event is scheduled for September 15 at the Glenn Hotel - SkyLounge in Atlanta, from 8 am to 9 am ET. The session is open to all end users, and registration is required.
"None of us are solving these problems in a vacuum — every large enterprise security team faces similar vendor lock-in and integration issues," stated Michael Franke, the security technology executive at Bank of America and chair of the LEAF End User Committee. "Having a seat on the End User Committee enables us to compare insights with our peers rather than discovering solutions independently." He emphasised the benefits of collaborative problem-solving within the committee.
The LEAF Community is actively seeking member companies from various levels, including manufacturers, integrators, consultants, and enterprises. Notably, end user membership is offered free of charge.
