Tuesday, 17 April 2007

China deploys RFID in Olympics Tickets

As the mad scramble for the 2008 Beijing Olympics tickets beings, organisers have announced that high tech methods will be employed to tighten security and fight fraud.

Reports state that each of the seven million tickets available for sale will be embedded with a wireless radio frequency identification or RFID memory chip to help combat pirated tickets whilst speeding up entry into venues.

China is expecting 800,000 visitors during the 17-day event.

The core of RFID is a highly secure integrated circuit chip, whose security design and production process determine the high threshold of RFID technology. It is too hard to replicate.

The electronic tag has a unique ID number or UID which is fixed in the chip and is impossible to be modified or counterfeited. It also prevents mechanical wear and tear.

Besides key protection of the electronic tag, data security can be managed through encryption.

Electronic ticketing can distinctly improve ticket check efficiency.

In cases of huge events or shows that require large volumes of tickets such as the looming Olympics sports event, adoption of a ticket anti-counterfeiting solution such as the RFID technology translates to the elimination of manual identification resulting in quick and continuous traffic of people.

The tickets can also identify if it has been reused and in some cases can even monitor if the ticket holder has been at the appointed position.

"Fake tickets are bound to surface during every Olympic Games,'' Rong Jun, director of ticketing sales at the Beijing Organizing Committee, said at a briefing in the Chinese capital on Sunday as reported by China Daily. ”We want to use the most advanced technology to stop fake tickets."

Tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies- the two most momentous events in the history of any Olympic games- will carry a digital picture and ID information of the holder.

It is believed that those requesting tickets will be asked to provide a wealth of personal data, such as name, address, nationality, date of birth and ID card or passport number.

This is not the first time high-demand sports events have incorporated high tech capabilities to avoid forgers.

The 2006 FIFA Soccer World Cup employed similar RFID technology for ticket issuing as well.