In the technology space, there are a number of different areas that rarely get attention in the headlines. One area is shipping, especially trucking. Manufacturers rely on trucks to get their products to customers, distributors and retail locations, but if these trucks lack security, their contents can easily fall into the wrong hands.

Fortunately, there is an organization working to establish standards for this industry – TAPA. To gain more insight, Erik Linask (News - Alert), TMCnet’s Group Editorial Director, sat down with Taya Tuggle, who serves on the Board of Directors for TAPA. The conversation took place at ITEXPO West 2011 in Austin, TX and was captured in this video.

TAPA is a group of industry professionals involved in the security of high risk/high value products. TAPA has member groups in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

The organization began as a security guarantor for technology, but has grown to serve pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and essentially all products whose value and risk require security standards to be in place during transport.

TAPA creates standards that are certifiable for the individual companies to incorporate into their security programs. One new standard with which TAPA is becoming involved is for trunking security standards. 

Developing M2M technology needs to be secure and TAPA is involved in certifying that the technology meets security standards. TAPA performs site visits before certifying that a business, organization or technology meets current security standards.

One concern in this area is a backup device in trucking. Certain companies might have one in the cab and another one in the back. There are also different levels of tracking, as well as data management for the information captured with the trucking devices.

TAPA is a vendor neutral organization. A TAPA member company is certified and is recommended as such. There are two different tiers of involvement with TAPA.  Some members are involved in the creation of the standards, while others are simply a certified site.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Feb. 1-3, 2012 in Miami, Fla. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.


Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell