If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I was at the CI spring conference last week representing Zeus, a group of companies (see footnotes) working hard to keep contactless technologies on the 2012 Olympics roadmap. LOGOC’s Paul Williamson was also there and brought a healthy chunk of realism to the conversation. He kept us focussed with a reminder that the Olympic Games is a sporting event designed to entertain people. It lasts just two weeks and there’s little point in putting expensive infrastructure in place for core applications – like ticketing – when there are highly cost effective lower tech solutions that are fit for purpose.
We support this practical approach and it came as no surprise, despite Lord Davies’s positive words at the Mobile World Congress in February promoting the use of mobile phones for payment and ticketing:
Lord Davies revealed that the use of mobiles for ticketing and cashless Payments is already being explored “I see huge opportunities for us around the Olympics” he said.
There were some highly positive interpretations of what he said but Zeus members have been working with these technologies long enough to err on the side of caution.
This does not spell the end of technical innovation for contactless at the Olympics though – which is what Zeus is all about. Our message is simple and it was well received at Contactless Intelligence. Contactless technology is slowly and very surely taking a hold in London. By 2012 there will be tried and tested infrastructure for payments, transportation and access control. While the official Olympic applications are unlikely to make use of this infrastructure – its sponsors certainly could. A simple example – you could imagine Coca-Cola issuing a bottle shaped key fob or sticky label with Olympic branding. The branded tag could be used as an e-purse and for loyalty/rewards at a number of outlets both inside and outside the immediate Olympic locations, giving Coca-Cola additional and measurable benefit for their sponsorship dollars.
Zeus is all about bringing contactless applications to market. If you have something to add to the mix – get in touch!
