On behalf of Austria's largest mobile network operator mobilkom austria and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) RISE planned and implemented a next generation ticketing solution. The solution based on the German standard for the electric ticket VDV-KA and thus guaranteed interoperability across the borders of Austria. Mobile applications for customers and train crew as well as necessary chipcard based applications and backend systems were developed.

Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, Marketing Board and CEO mobilkom austria AG, Telekom Austria TA AG explains: "Customers can order the tickets as usually. Using NFC mobile phones, the tickets are not distributed via SMS, but are stored in the secure element of the NFC mobile phone and can be validated with a single touch". Mobile phones that are already equipped with NFC technology can be used for this simple and secure ticketing solution. NFC technology allows the transfer of data at close-range and speeds up the validation process of the tickets. Moreover, customers don't have to look up the tickets in the SMS inbox. "In addition tickets can't be lost and also can be validated if the battery of the phone is dead." said Mag. Gabriele Lutter, spokeswoman for the board of ÖBB- Passenger AG, with confidence that the new solution will also bring benefits to the rail way company.

"RISE again proves with this project its expertise in software technology and the reliability in the implementation and operation of a complex and highly integrated system. The developed platform has been certified by VDV - the first of its kind -- and thus reflects the innovative power of our team." Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grechenig mentioned.

Beside technical project coordination, RISE was responsible for the development of the mobile as well as backend components. RISE integrated the new system into the systems of the mobile network operator as well as into the ticketing system of the railway company. In addition, RISE is responsible for the operation of the platform. The VDV-KA (core application) is the first application of this kind that has been approved and certified by the VDV GmbH.