USB Trade Group Changes Mission

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — The USB Flash Drive Alliance (UFDA), the marketing association dedicated to advancing the fortunes of the USB drive, announced that it would reorient itself from its original marketing mission in favor of developing a set of open standards to drive further category growth.

The transformation into a technical standards body was driven by the example of the computer industry which the Alliance claimed was successful “due in part to recognized standards affording the consumers the assurance of ubiquity and interoperability.”

The UFDA will seek to develop open, royalty-free standards on three areas: the mechanical form factors of the drive; the environment conditions under which they can operate; and the establishment of Application Program Interfaces (API) that will help drive software applications on the drive, particularly security.

The USB Flash Drive Alliance is composed of Lexar, Samsung, Kingston, PNY, SimpleTech and Microsoft among others.