(This article originally appeared in a 2005 issue of RFIDOperations)

by Rhea Wessel, Contributing Editor, RFIDOperations

COLOGNE, Germany—The world’s most popular sporting event will be RFID-enabled. The 2006 World Cup soccer tournament will feature RFID-based electronic admission tickets at the games’ 12 German venues.

World Cup organizers announced last year that they wanted to install the admission control system by the end of 2004. It’s not in place yet, so while the initiative appears to be behind schedule, at least one of the 12 stadiums in the tournament—Cologne’s 1. FC Köln Rhein Energie Stadion—has taken matters into its own hands to be ready for the start of play. ▸

Need a job in the smart card industry? The Smart Card Alliance might have the solution for you job searchers. It recently announced creation of an online career center designed to help companies recruit qualified people and to assist those currently looking for jobs. ▸

The United States’ General Services Administration has added smart card provider SuperCom to the agency’s Federal Supply Schedule, which means federal and state agencies have access to SuperCom products at a previously agreed-to price. Included in this GSA agreement are SuperCom’s Homeland Security and First Responder products. ▸

SKIDATA, which specializes in access and ticketing systems designed to control access of people and vehicles to sites and events, and smart card manufacturer LEGIC Identsystems, have joined forces to create a contactless card that combines access capabilities with payment and door-locking functions. ▸

Near field communication technology continues to gain traction. The latest announcement is that INSIDE Contactless’ NFC-enabled chipsets will be combined with Esmertec’s Java software and Trusted Logic’s secure middleware to enable the three companies to enter the cell-phone-as-payment arena. ▸

Electronic payment technology provider MagTek, addressing the need for contactless support, has released its newest hybrid mag stripe/contactless/smart card reader designed for kiosks, vending machines and fuel pumps. ▸

SanDisk is working with Philips to embed its SmartMX chip into SanDisk TrustedFlash cards that will allow NFC-enabled phones to double as bus or train tickets and handle other contactless payment types. And for the millions of existing handsets that are not NFC-enabled, SanDisk and Wireless Dynamics are partnering to offer NFC SDiD Adapters, plug-and-play SD and miniSD NFC adapters integrating the TrustedFlash cards with SmartMX. ▸