Smart card chip travels to Australia

Innovision Research and Technology has launched Jewel, its low-cost contactless smart ticketing chip for mass transit, into the Australian market.

One of the world's leading RFID designers of innovative RFID integrated circuits, Innovision Research and Technology, has launched Jewel, its low-cost contactless smart ticketing chip for mass transit, into the Australian market.

The launch coincides with a huge surge in activity by Australia's smart card industry, combined with the development and trialling of a number of smart ticketing projects in cities like Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The launch of Jewel also coincided with Innovision R and T's presence at last week's Smart Urban Transport (SUT) event in Brisbane, Queensland, where Innovision's Trevor Crotch-Harvey urged transport operators, authorities and the Australian Government to re-evaluate the business case for limited use tickets in mass transit.

"The mass transportation industry is demanding low cost limited use smartcards, but it seems very few are really prepared to step up to the mark and fully commit to it".

"This is not just the case in the Australian market, but right across the world," explained Crotch-Harvey, Innovision's smartcard expert and chair of the UK's industry working group focusing on low cost smart tickets.

"There's no doubt that cost has been a factor up until now for low value ticket types like daily or single trip passes, but the latest developments in RFID components and silicon chip manufacturing and the introduction of new products like Jewel are driving down costs significantly".

"Attitudes now need to change in line with these new developments." Industry experts believe that if limited use contactless tickets can be manufactured for as little as US $0.25 then the overall market could be huge - it is already projected to grow from 277 million units in 2006 to 8.6 billion in 2009.

Innovision R and T believes the launch of Jewel - which is already helping drive interoperability in the UK transport sector - into the Australian market will help accelerate this growth.

The company is working closely with a number of key partners - including ticket manufacturers, Giesecke and Devrient, KSW and Bemrose Booth and ticket reader manufacturers, Empresa 1, Almex and Kentkart - to educate the market and drive adoption.

In fact, G and D is one of the members of a winning consortium supplying a new smartcard system to Melbourne, and more opportunities are expected in the coming months.

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