NFC framework was finalized with the establishment of NFC IP-2 (ISO/IEC 21481). However, more detailed specifications are still underway. The preparation of these specifications is done by the NFC Forum. The NFC Forum was established by the three companies, Sony, Philips (now NXP Semiconductors) and Nokia in March of 2004. The forum, in its desire not to limit NFC to information processing devices alone has extended invitation to manufacturers of other devices such as computers, communication devices and semiconductors to expand the use of NFC to these devices. The invitation is also extended to other fields of endeavors like entertainment and service providers for credit card, contents, accounting and more. As a result, more than 100 companies and organizations from various fields take part in the forum activities by May of 2005. The principal members are as follows:
| Membership | Company / Organization |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Member | Sony, NXP, Nokia, HP, Microsoft, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, MasterCard, Renesas Technology, Visa International, NTT docomo, Innovision, STMicroelectronics, inside |
| Principal Member | TOPPAN FORMS, American Express, Qualcomm, Motorola, and other companies |
| Associate Member | JCB, SoftBank, TOSHIBA, NTT DATA, SanDisk, brother, and other companies |
| Nonprofit member | Electric Technology Center, GSM Association, and other organizations |
- Develop Near Field Communication specifications that define a modular architecture and interoperability parameters for NFC devices and protocols
- Encourage the development of products using NFC Forum specifications
- Work to ensure that products claiming NFC capabilities comply with NFC Forum specifications
- Educate consumers and enterprises globally over NFC
