Pan American Games Attendees, Competitors and Venue Workers Tracked Via RFID Badges

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology was purchased by the Brazilian government and used in this year's Pan American Games to provide security and access control for event attendees, venue workers and the 5,662 athletes that competed at the Rio de Janeiro-based event.

All event competitors, workers and attendees were required to wear a badge with a bar code and an RFID tag containing identifying information such as name, country of origin and a venue access matrix. Twenty-one onsite security offices operated throughout the games to monitor the information, ensuring safety by providing efficient access control during all events.

The Pan American Games is the first Latin American event to employ RFID technology for access control, according to a release by Intermec, the company providing the RFID technology.

"The government of Brazil selected Intermec RFID equipment over its competitors because of its advanced RFID technology, partner loyalty and superior service," said Chief of Identification Luiz Carlos Machado. "The government also purchased a service-level agreement whereby an Intermec professional service team was onsite during the games to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently."

The RFID solution selected by the Brazilian government includes Intermec IF5 RFID fixed readers, IP4 portable RFID readers, 751 mobile computers and RFID tags, as well as Cisco AP 1231 access points. The hardware was integrated with the Atos Origin Games Management System.