SMARTRAC, PROVA Group Join Forces to Enhance Product Authentification

SMARTRAC and PROVA Group have announced their cooperation to leverage NFC technology and cloud-based services to ensure collectible items and brand goods are authenticated.

Global counterfeiting and product piracy damages may reach a stunning $1.7 trillion in 2015 according to a study by the International Chamber of Commerce. The partnership between SMARTRAC and PROVA will reduce that amount by enabling consumers and companies to use NFC tags embedded in brand items to verify their originality with a smartphone app.

The same technology will allow collectors to tap a smartphone onto the NFC tagged item to instantly access a rich set of information stored in the cloud.

“We are proud to be able to contribute industry leading NFC expertise in order to ensure our tags and technologies fit seamlessly into collectible items,” said Corey Wilson, senior director of global business development at SMARTRAC. “With Apple obviously starting to support NFC technology, it’s the perfect time for our partnership, as NFC enhanced brand items will influence the whole consumer ecosystem.”

PROVA’s solution addresses the needs of four key brand areas: sports collectibles, sports merchandise, luxury and consumer goods. Within these areas, PROVA’s proprietary technology delivers the confidence buyers and collectors deserve with an experience no other solution provides. SMARTRAC is supplying the NFC tags that will be embedded into brand items, ensuring the tags provide a superior read-out quality over the product’s lifetime.

An example of PROVA’s solution is the Big Game USA football, which is equipped with an embedded NFC-based gametag and can provide a complete historical timeline of each football. All gametag balls have a story of their own and include product authenticity and history. All information is stored securely in the cloud from the moment it leaves the factory and can be accessed via the gametag app.

“Gametag is cutting-edge technology that immediately changes the way game balls are authenticated, while also improving quality control of official college footballs we produce,” said Chris Calandro, founder of Big Game USA. “We love the idea that the life of our footballs can now be tracked and preserved alongside the history of the game.”

PROVA’s patented process connects smartphone apps to a secure cloud database enabling users to access each football’s history, including manufacture date and location, whether the football was used in practice or a collegiate game, big plays and much more. PROVA will release the app for free download in the Google Play store for Android users this fall.

“The days of marking footballs with ankle tape and Sharpies are numbered,” said Haroon Alvi, CEO of PROVA. “The concept of smart chipping footballs leaves no room for error and is a game-changer for football, its fans and sports memorabilia collectors.”

Emmitt Smith, PROVA founder and chairman and football Hall of Fame running back, will join a Sports Roundtable at CTIA Super Mobility Week on September 11, from 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. PT) to speak about ways mobile and web technology will deliver game-changing solutions to engage fans and consumers in new ways, while protecting them from counterfeit goods.