Gilles de Chantérac - Articles and news items

Calypso specifications to facilitate secure interoperability

Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 15 February 2008 / Gilles de Chantérac, Chairman, Calypso Networks Association

Currently, only 10% of transport cards are micro-processor cards. However, this proportion has started to grow and will continue to increase if the transport market wants to provide the most secure solutions for fare management.

Calypso cards account for 85% of those used today – outside the SONY FELICA non-standard proprietary card used in Japan. At the moment they are used in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland and also in many other places outside of Europe. In the UK they are compliant with ITSO specifications (see Figure 1 on page 38) which makes them best suited for the first level of any interoperable fare management system that is oriented to benefit from the top security level. As the necessity to increase security becomes more apparent, they offer an open solution, with multiple vendors, with the possibility to follow the progress of silicon technologies and those of multi-application platforms, whatever the fare policies and business rules between stakeholders.

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