RACE RESULT tracing system TAVI successfully used at Swiss Economic Forum

September 3, 2020

RACE RESULT, global innovation leader in sports timing technology, celebrates a major success with its new TAVI solution. The system for contactless visitor management and contact tracing is being used this week at the Swiss Economic Forum, the leading business conference in Montreaux, Switzerland. With the help of RFID transponders, visitor flows are monitored and compliance with the corona requirements is ensured. In the event of an infection, the contact tracing system can quickly provide detailed and reliable data for health protection. TAVI (Transponder Assisted Visitor Information) enabled the organizers to safely hold the event with more than 1,700 participants and employees despite Covid-19.

Contactless technology – maximum security

Nikias Klohr, Head of R&D at RACE RESULT, helped develop the system and received a lot of positive feedback in Montreux on the first day: “Complete traceability of contacts is a basic requirement for events like the Swiss Economic Forum these days. TAVI is an essential part of the safety concept that convinced the local authorities to allow the event to happen. The organizer is happy because the system was installed with little effort and works autonomously. The participants also have noticed the small RACE RESULT transponders on their badges and are very curious to see how TAVI works.”

Easy and scaleable solution

TAVI consists of three components: Participants and employees wear lightweight 1.5 mm thin RFID transponders on their badges or tickets. The transponder signals are received by Track Boxes. The boxes are installed at strategic measuring points and are operating autonomously. They automatically receive all transponder signals within a radius of up to ten meters and forward the data to a secure server via the cellular network. The specially developed TAVI software then enables a targeted evaluation of the data, separated according to different rooms or areas.

Focus on data protection

The organizer can use the data to analyze how many people are in a conference room or which areas of an exhibition hall are hot spots. If necessary, regulatory action can be taken, for example via traffic light systems. For this purpose, TAVI only analyzes and saves anonymized transponder codes. In the event of an infection, the organizer can automatically query who has been in the same room with the infected person for a longer period of time. The assignment of transponder codes to visitors is the sole responsibility of the organizer, RACE RESULT has no access to personal data.

Wide range of uses

Health safety concepts and requirements are easy to implement even at larger events, as TAVI demonstrated at the Swiss Economic Forum.

“A valuable safety concept makes it as comfortable as possible for the participant, in this case the event visitor. We therefore deliberately do not rely on a smartphone-based solution. Our experience from major sporting events shows that there are too many uncertainties. With TAVI it’s very simple: If visitors wear their badge around their neck, they have already done everything right – and the organizer is sure to have all the data they need” explains Nikias Klohr.

A particular advantage of TAVI is the inexpensive disposable transponders. They make TAVI an economical solution for large trade shows and conventions. Other possible applications go much further. TAVI can also help to implement safety concepts quickly and effectively in museums, facilities or companies.

“Larger gatherings of people in public spaces are prohibited during the corona pandemic because chains of infection can’t be traced in the event of an infection. TAVI, however, makes contacts traceable. It can make official restrictions obsolete. This applies to so many areas of our lives,” adds Klohr.

This whitepaper describes the advantages, areas of application, and components of the RACE RESULT tracing solution in detail: https://www.raceresult.com/de-de/documents/RR_TAVI_for_Conventions_and_Exhibitions.pdf

About RACE RESULT

Founded in 2009, RACE RESULT has developed into one of the world’s leading suppliers of timekeeping technology. Known as the biggest innovator in the industry, RACE RESULT inspires its customers with outstanding quality Made in Germany. Worldwide, the company is recording rapidly growing numbers of users. From online registration via the personalized start number to the timekeeping system: RACE RESULT offers a complete package of hardware and software for sporting events of all sizes.