Contactless ticketing chip is ITSO approved

Jewel, the world's smallest, low-cost contactless ticketing chip from Innovision Research and Technology, has become one of the first ITSO approved Limited Use media in the UK.

Jewel, the world's smallest, low-cost contactless ticketing chip from RFID design services specialist Innovision Research and Technology, has become one of the first ITSO approved Limited Use media in the UK.

The announcement means that the UK transportation sector now has access to fully approved ITSO Limited Use media for the first time, enabling operators, authorities and systems integrators to roll out fully contactless ITSO approved ticketing systems across all fare structures and media.

"This seal of approval for Jewel really opens up the UK contactless ticketing market", explained Trevor Crotch-Harvey, Sales Director at Innovision R and T, and Chair of Working Group 8, the UK's industry working group focusing on Low Cost Smart Tickets.

"As the supplier of the UK's lowest cost Limited Use ticketing medium, we are excited about the future opportunities, and we are already working with the industry to roll out Jewel as quickly and efficiently as possible".

ITSO , which evolved in 1998 out of an initiative by UK passenger transport executives, focuses on developing specifications that enable the use of interoperable contactless smartcards in public transport.

All parts of an ITSO scheme are subject to the most vigorous testing, and as part of the Jewel approval process, twenty tickets were fitted with the chip and tested against the ITSO customer media check list v1.6.

This ensures that the tag can be configured and used according to the ITSO Limited Use transport ticket requirements, including: the ITSO compact shell can be applied to the Jewel ticket; the Jewel memory architecture is correct; the 8byte user ID (UID) on the Jewel tickets at manufacture cannot be erased; and Jewel supports anti-tear properties.

Jewel will appear on ITSO's list of approved ticketing media.

Any manufacturer using Jewel in its ticketing media will have to submit its media for full certification before it can be used.

According to Innovision R and T's Crotch-Harvey, up until now, the widespread deployment of Limited Use contactless smart ticketing in the UK transportation sector has been held back by the relatively high costs involved.

He believes this is about to change, especially with companies like Innovision R and T working hard to change this perception and making significant reductions to the cost of their chip technology.

"At Innovision, we have been actively working with partners, like Gesiecke and Devrient, KSW and Bemrose Booth, to bring the cost of the ticket down, and we are currently in advanced discussions with other potential licensees around the world to provide competitive pricing and global coverage".

"Now it's the turn of the ticket manufacturers and the rest of the industry to move forward and make this happen".

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