The logistics of handling people en mass predates almost all other logistics. There is no evidence as to who invented the waiting line (possibly no one wants credit). But gates have been familiar facilities at entrance to cities and arenas for thousands of years.
When over 3 million people attend this year's World Cup--consisting of 32 teams playing in 12 venues throughout Germany--the opportunity for missed seating, illegal trading and counterfeit ticketing is easy to imagine. The difficult of security (post Sept. 11, 2001) and crowd control (given the heated nature of the fans) add a ripe mixture of possible chaos.
Europe in general and Philips Semiconductors in particular appear well ahead of the U.S. in the application of smart-card technology to such problems. Technology from Royal Philips Electronicsis already being used in China, including for access to the Great Wall.
Philips has partnered with the FIFA World Cup to provide stadium management and a host of other useful functions.
"Philips is very much present at sports events like the World Cup," says Christophe Duverne, general manager of the identification line at Philips Semiconductors. "We are the official sponsors of the World Cup. In addition to RFID [radio frequency identification] tagging, we are into the special lighting of the stadiums as well as high-definition television and broadcasting."
Duverne says the company has two key messages, "sense and simplicity." He explains, "We want user friendly systems that have a clear and simple interface to the public. It is a big opportunity to position our products. The sports business has lagged until the last few years in the use of technology. They are now investing."
For World Cup games, paper tickets with embedded tags are scanned in a contactless manner at venue gates, and those with valid tickets pass through to the stadium. Ticket holders that don't have smart-card technology aboard their tickets are not allowed into the games.
The tickets also have added logistics value. They can be used to expedite the parking of cars, use of lockers, access to public transportation and even for the purchase of refreshments (think large quantities of beer) and merchandise. This functionality reduces lines as well as the confusion of queuing, while reducing the need for cash and, in the process, possible theft.
Philips is the major world player in smart-card technology. Its application are used at large-scale installations in places like London's public transportation system, Beijing's public transport and, most significantly, in South Korea, where Philips has scanners on 8,700 busses and has issued 20 million cards to riders. Philips' MIFARE operates in full accordance with ISO 14443 (the international standard for contactless devices).
Any technology that can take the hassle out of lines in personal transportation has to be viewed as beneficial. By removing the need to even swipe a card, the cumulative savings of time in huge-volume passenger or attendee handling can be very significant.