2008 Games give RFID an Olympic Boost

The upcoming Beijing Olympics will see one of the largest, groundbreaking uses of RFID technology to date - if this technology proves successful the event will go a long way to raising RFID’s profile, both within China and overseas. According to China’s Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, August’s Games will be the first to feature RFID technology in its tickets, and will do so on a massive scale, with over 16 million RFID-enabled tickets set to be issued.

The tickets, using RFID technology developed by Tsinghua University and Beijing Tsinghua Tongfang Microelectronics Company, will be used to reduce counterfeiting and simplify the ticket checking process. The embedded RFID chips will have sufficient memory to store information such as the ticket’s date and place of purchase, as well as the ticket holder’s seat location. The Games will also employ an RFID-based food safety tracking system for the first time, with athletes’ food closely monitored from production through to delivery. Last but not the least the tickets will be eco-friendly too as they are printed on recyclable paper and use silver ink.

China has become the world’s largest market for RFID by value. This year spending on RFID in East Asia will account for US$2.8 billion, out of a global total of US$5.29 billion. The majority of this - US$1.96 billion - is just in China. This is largely due to a peak in delivery of national ID cards prior to the Olympics. About US$1.65 billion is being spent on 220 million of these cards, plus their associated systems, which are being delivered in 2008 out of a total project commitment of US$6 billion - this represents the largest ever RFID project to date. In addition, US$310 million will be spent on other RFID tags and their systems.

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