PRESS RELEASE, DECEMBER 17TH, 2012

On November 28th, of 2012, Fraunhofer FOKUS InnoCityparticipated in the first technical workshop involving NearField Communication Technology (NFC) in Chile,organized by Pais Digital Foundation and all the relevantplayers in the field of transport and telecommunications.

Near Field Communication is a short range wireless communication technology

that allows data exchange between devices, making life simpler and more

convenient for consumers around the world, by simplifying transactions, the

exchange of digital content and the connection of electronic devices with a touch.

With the objective of getting to know the development of the NFC technology

worldwide and the possibility of implementing this in Chile, Pais Digital organized a

workshop on November 2012. Mobile operators, Transantiago, the Subsecretariat

of Transport, GSMA group, Secretariat of Digital Development and the Ministry of

Economy were present at the meeting. They concluded that there was a need to

establish a technical work group, in order to study in greater detail the application

of this technology in the public transport, with the aim of implementing a pilot in

Transantiago or Metro during the first semester of 2013.

The project looks forward to use mobile devices with NFC capability as an

alternative to the BIP! transport card, integrating the attributes that this technology

enables. The pilot, on its first stage, will use mobile phones as a payment method,

maintaining the roles of the current transportation system.

In this first approach the implementation of NFC pursues:

i) Promotion of this technology and its application.ii) User evaluation of the impact of its use and feedback about other possible

applications.iii) Evaluation of possible adjustments in the roles and macroprocesses of the

Contact: Alejandra Labarca | Project Coordinator | Fraunhofer Chile Research | Phone +56­2­23781658 | alejandra.labarca@fraunhofer.cl | www.fraunhofer.cl

Editor: Rodrigo Yáñez | Project Assistant | Fraunhofer Chile Research | Phone +56­2­23781666 | rodrigo.yanez@fraunhofer.cl

Press Release

December 17th, 2012 |

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transportation system, incorporating top­up of the prepayment card.

The technical work group also discussed the importance of involving the banking

sector, due to its potential role as a promoter to spread electronic payment

technologies in the country.

Fraunhofer­Gesellschaft is the leading organization for applied research in Europe. Its researchactivities are conducted by 66 Fraunhofer Institutes at over 40 different locations throughout Germany.The Fraunhofer­Gesellschaft employs staff of around 22,000, who work with an annual research budgettotalling 2.0 billion euros. Roughly two thirds of this sum is generated through contract research onbehalf of industry and publicly funded research projects. Branches in Europe, USA, Latin America andAsia serve to promote international cooperation.

Fraunhofer Chile Research Foundation (FCR) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the FraunhoferGesellschaft of Germany. Its aim is to improve industrial competitiveness through applied research.Fokus Innocity will address important regional challenges in society including seamless access toinformation, economic and sustainable use of resources, smart mobility, interoperability, and opengovernment. Beyond that, Innocity will become a reliable partner for companies, connectivities andadministrations in the region.