New GlobalPlatform guide enables consistent, secure and interoperable mobile ticketing service management while reducing solution time to market

Industry association GlobalPlatform has published a technical document which details the service management process to deliver transport ticketing securely on mobile devices. Designed in collaboration with the Smart Ticketing Alliance and the GSMA, the document brings the transport ticketing and mobile communities together to ensure interoperable mobile ticketing is brought to market efficiently and securely using an agreed framework.

The document, entitled GlobalPlatform Systems End-to-End Simplified Service Management Framework Transport v1.0.0, streamlines the management of contactless services by outlining how GlobalPlatform Specifications can be used to deliver transport ticketing services on mobile devices. The framework specifies: the workflows between the involved parties to ensure a seamless end-to-end user experience; the overall architecture to provide clarity in the data flow and implementation; and, the configurations that should be used to ensure interoperability across various interfaces and devices.

“GlobalPlatform’s Specifications provide the architecture to effectively deliver innovative and convenient mobile ticketing services, without compromising security or privacy,” explains Mike Eastham, Chief Advisor – Technology at ITSO Limited and GlobalPlatform Public Transportation Sub Task Force Chair. “This new document is a turning point for mobile ticketing services, bringing a clear and simple guide on how existing standards can be applied. Using this consistent template, the transport community can speed up the deployment of mobile ticketing solutions, optimize existing smart card acceptance infrastructures and ensure interoperability between different transport operators.”

The document will be used by public transport operators and system integrators to build the required ecosystem with mobile network operators, secure element vendors and mobile device manufacturers.

John Verity, Smart Ticketing Alliance Chairman, adds: “This technical framework allows public transport operators to deliver mobile ticketing with the same levels of security as their smart card schemes. The recommended standards emulate a smart card within a mobile device using a secure element that can communicate with NFC-enabled ticketing machines. Prior to this framework, fragmentation was widespread; different implementation and management models were created for different devices by different operators in different cities and regions. This level of industry collaboration between the transport ticketing market, the GSMA and GlobalPlatform, streamlines the deployment process and improves interoperability by outlining a basic infrastructure model that is proven and ready to implement.”

This is the second framework to be released by GlobalPlatform. The first, which focused on payments, was released in 2014. Both ‘end-to-end’ frameworks act as an entry point to GlobalPlatform for new players. Each actor selects the relevant end-to-end framework by answering a simple set of questions. The configuration selector will filter out the options enabling each actor to determine how to implement its own components for a particular deployment.