Any sporting event which attracts a large amount of fans, like the recent Winter Olympics in Canada or the summer 2010 World Cup in South Africa will undoubtedly pose a huge challenge for organisers in terms of security, Ian Compton, Director of access control manufacturer HID writes.
During the next Olympic Games for example, organisers will have to safeguard the personal security of 14,000 athletes, 600 coaches and officials, and 20,000 media representatives. However, on top of this, they’ll need to make sure that everyone gets speedy and convenient access to the relevant events.
An organisational challenge on this scale needs robust and reliable IT security infrastructure. Contactless smart card technology, not dissimilar to the Oyster card used in London, has already been successfully used at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, with many believing that it will form the basis of the first cashless and paperless large-scale Olympics. This technology is also being used at stadia like Wembley and other Football and Rugby stadia throughout the UK; so it is working well, but how would this work for large scale events?
One option is that spectators would buy their tickets online, then take them to a kiosk at the venue where they would be identified based on at least two factors; for example, facial recognition and fingerprinting. The smart cards could also carry biometric data.
This data would be incorporated into an integrated contactless payment card (or ticket), which the spectator could also use to purchase transport tokens and to fund the card for purchases at the venue. Essentially, this means that no one could use another person’s card and the absence of cash should cut down on time spent queuing for food or beverages.
Spectators are used to the traditional paper ticket, but in order to make big sporting events secure and run smoothly it’s vital that the traditional ticket adapts with the times. This type of ticket would also be much harder to forge or tamper with, which has been a huge issue at almost every football World Cup in recent times. A smart card ticket can also incorporate additional ID features such as a photo of the owner to combat ticket touts.
But it’s not just about the darker side of ticketing; we can forget or misplace a ticket. With a smart card ticket it can be cancelled and reissued to the owner at the event, in real time. Fans also often keep tickets as a piece of memorabilia, due to the makeup of a smart ticket, they will be much more durable – meaning no more dogged eared tickets in the scrap book!
The more we rely on technology, the greater the potential for it to be misused. Paradoxically, the answer to these challenges lies in the technology itself: smart cards have the flexibility to deal with the wide array of information security and access control risks that could arise at any sporting occasion. They are also presenting organizers with a valuable chance to enhance the visitor experience for spectators, manage cash flow and monitor security and identification issues.
