Infomatika summed up the results of the 2018 World Cup
Infomatika IT-company equipped 5 of the 12 stadiums that hosted the 2018 World Cup matches, with a ticketing system. After the end of the World Cup this heriage will remain at the disposal of clubs and fans.
David Tartakovsky, the director of Infomatika, in his interview with RBC Tatarstan journalists, told about the specifics of the work at the world-level facilities and the results of this work.
At the end of last year, the company won contracts to equip four stadiums built for the 2018 World Cup with a stationary ticket sales and access control system - in Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, and Kaliningrad. Besides, Kazan Arena needed preparing for the world championship matches.
- David Arkadiyevich, a year ago your company had in its arsenal only one World Cup 2018 stadium, today this has grown to five.Will you tell us, what was the reason for choosing you as a contractor?
- Very few companies in our country can offer a comprehensive solution for facilities of this level.It is important that, in addition to developing software, we manufacture turnstiles, control devices, emergency evacuation systems, and fencing elements in-house. Our reputation and the ability to work "on a turn-key basis", without engaging contractor services, and the wealth of experience have become the determining factors. All engineering systems were scrupulously agreed upon with the governmental customer, profile departments, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security System, the World Championship organizing committee. Apart from serious expertise, it is always difficult to coordinate contracts with general contractors.Eventually, this process was too much protracted.Thus, we were able to start work in August 2017 in Kaliningrad, in September - in Rostov-on-Don. The most challenging obstacles were in Saransk and Samara, where we were able to start work only in January. And this despite the fact that test matches were to be held in these stadiums not later than in spring. We had to squeeze into extremely short timeframes, work on several sites simultaneously, sometimes under severe weather conditions. All this required a tremendous amount of effort from us. Many of our employees literally "lived in airplanes" moving from site to site. We must give credit to their families' patience and support.
- What exactly were you to do at the stadiums?
- It is known that World Cups are served only by FIFA ticketing system, which is uniform and world-wide. The stadiums must be equipped with a stationary ticket sales and access control system for electronic ticket-based access control during and after the championship, as well as for ticket sale outside the FIFA system. It was the ticketing system deployment that our company was responsible for, carrying out the full range of work - from design through to installation and maintenance. Once again, I would like to emphasize the most important thing: Lenta ticketing system which is more than 12 years old, is a unique development of our company. Now it is a world-class product, and we continue to improve it. It should be noted that FIFA specifies very strict requirements to ticket sales and access control systems of the championship stadiums. A pre-match check is given to all the functions of the system and the operation of absolutely all control devices: each turnstile, reader, mobile terminal, all workstations connected to the system. The systems are tested both the day before the game and on the day of the event in order to ensure a level of reliability that meets the criteria of the International Federation of Association Football. Therefore, on the days of the matches, our employees attended the five stadiums and provided the system's technical support. The responsibility we bore was colossal.
- Is your ticketing system identical to that of FIFA?
- The specific feature of the FIFA system is that it focuses on complete control over ticket distribution. Besides, due to the high demand, it imposes the maximum possible requirements for counterfeit protection, for which we introduced ticket chipping, encryption key technologies. You probably know that all tickets were made exclusively in the FIFA ticket centers using special equipment. These technologies when used in the legacy mode are not applicable simply because of their costliness. At the 2018 World Cup, after buying a ticket on the Internet, you had to come to FIFA ticket center and get the original chipped ticket. While the global trend is about releasing a fan, a viewer from unnecessary movements. Now they do not even have to print out an electronic ticket purchased on the Internet, but just show it as a QR code on the smartphone screen. In a number of cities, more than half of the fans are admitted to matches in this way. Bank partner models are actively developing, when a bank contactless card is at the same time a loyalty card or a season ticket. After the 2018 World Cup, its stadiums will work in the legacy mode. The football season has already started, at the end of July the first games of the Premier League will be held. Kazan is accustomed to the excellent infrastructure and large-scale competitions, but in Rostov and Samara, the fans are eagerly awaiting when they see their club in the new stadium. The modern ticketing system installed at sports arenas will enable fans to buy tickets safely via the Internet, provide them with fast service at ticket offices and comfortable access to the facility.
- What is the main result of the 2018 World Cup for your company?
- The last world championship once again convinced us that we are offering a very high-quality modern product, which is in no way inferior to foreign analogues. In Russian market, we have the competitive edge with both Russian and international companies, so we are planning to enter the global markets. In late September, we are going to participate in the largest security system exhibition in Germany. Working at the 2018 World Cup, we had the opportunity to closely communicate and interact with colleagues from Germany, Switzerland, Spain and are looking forward to further expanding cooperation with them. We greatly value our reputation, and I am glad that we managed to strengthen it. Our company is first of all our team: engineers, developers, installation fitters, everyone. We feel like the winners of this championship. This gives us an incredible energy boost. For us, this is the main result of the last World Cup.
