A method for replacing a current operating system stored in a persistent storage circuit of a secure element with a new operating system, the method comprising: generating a set of migration rules, wherein generating comprises: receiving operating system metadata (204, 206) for the current operating system and the new operating system, the metadata describing object type definitions; correlating, based upon the metadata, object types in the current operating system with object types in the new operating system; identifying differences between the correlated object types; generating, based upon the identified differences, a set of migration rules that specify changes to objects corresponding to the correlated object types; and broadcasting the set of migration rules and the new operating system to a plurality of secure elements; receiving the set of migration rules that specify changes to a set of data object types; identifying, based upon the set of migration rules, data objects stored in the persistent storage circuit and corresponding to the set of data object types; for each of the identified data objects: selecting a subset of the set of migration rules that correspond to a data object type that corresponds to a particular data object, and transforming, based upon the selected subset, the particular data object; and enabling the new operating system, further comprising: receiving a set of finalization rules that specify additional changes to data stored in the persistent storage circuit; and modifying, based upon the set of finalization rules, the data stored in the persistent storage circuit. receiving operating system metadata (204, 206) for the current operating system and the new operating system, the metadata describing object type definitions; correlating, based upon the metadata, object types in the current operating system with object types in the new operating system; identifying differences between the correlated object types; generating, based upon the identified differences, a set of migration rules that specify changes to objects corresponding to the correlated object types; and broadcasting the set of migration rules and the new operating system to a plurality of secure elements; receiving the set of migration rules that specify changes to a set of data object types; identifying, based upon the set of migration rules, data objects stored in the persistent storage circuit and corresponding to the set of data object types; for each of the identified data objects: selecting a subset of the set of migration rules that correspond to a data object type that corresponds to a particular data object, and transforming, based upon the selected subset, the particular data object; and selecting a subset of the set of migration rules that correspond to a data object type that corresponds to a particular data object, and transforming, based upon the selected subset, the particular data object; and enabling the new operating system, further comprising: receiving a set of finalization rules that specify additional changes to data stored in the persistent storage circuit; and modifying, based upon the set of finalization rules, the data stored in the persistent storage circuit. receiving a set of finalization rules that specify additional changes to data stored in the persistent storage circuit; and modifying, based upon the set of finalization rules, the data stored in the persistent storage circuit.