nanoCrypt AG is specialised on mobile ticketing and combines marketing tools, couponing activities and mobile payment solutions. The company was founded in 2004 as a spin-off of scientists of the universities Marburg, Stuttgart-Hohenheim and Max-Planck-Research-School for Advanced Materials in Stuttgart. The original core product idea ? transmit cryptographically secured information via cellular phone network and display it as 2D or 3D barcode on LCD displays of cellular phones ? is based on scientific research and knowledge in physical chemistry including liquid crystal research, information technology and economics, including industrial economics and business economics.
Research in physical chemistry
Since the early 2000s, the founders of nanoCrypt conducted extensive research on the of liquid crystals and of liquid crystal display systems. First, the work aimed to investigate the basic suitability of liquid crystal display systems for easier reading 2D barcodes using scanning units. In 2004, nanoCrypt was the first vendor in the market that could provide a functional ticketing system with commercially available and thus cheap scanning units. The state of development is now so advanced that the LCD readout of the information can be made by simple cell phone cameras.
Research in economics
In the field of economics, nanoCrypt co-founder and CEO Prof. Dr. Michael Stephan, operates research on the development of mobile commerce market at the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management for several years. M-ticketing, m-couponing and m-payment are the core segments of the relatively young market for mobile data services. The market is still in an early life cycle phase, it has become no clear value chain structure and not yet a dominant design in the products. On one hand, this holds enormous potential market for suppliers, on the other hand there is also great uncertainty in terms of potential demand and customer preferences. Professor Stephan has written numerous books, articles and studies on the topic of market development in mobile data services (especially to the success and failure factors), inter alia, the two scientific books "Innovation management in the services sector" and "Mobile Payment: Market Take-off in Systemic Industries?. For the major market research report on the global industry in the area of mobile data services ("Digital Content White Paper"), which is published annually by the prestigious Digital Content Association of Japan, Professor Stephan is responsible for analyzing the development in Germany. The report includes the only available and reliable figures on the German market for mobile data services. In addition to these own publications, in the last few years a total of over 40 seminars, diploma, bachelor's and master around the theme of development and success in the market for mobile data services were developed at the institute of Professor Stephan. For nanoCrypt themselves the scientific work and the knowledge flowing from it form the essential basis for the optimal configuration of nanoCrypt products. Especially in markets that are still in the early lifecycle phases, an integrated product offering is of the utmost strategic importance to promote the acceptance of the demand-side - not only with superior technology but also from customer-friendly and secure software solutions.
Research and development in IT software
Based on this comprehensive market knowledge, in recent years the computer scientists from nanoCrypt have developed a comprehensive software system as an innovative core of nanoTicket or nanoCoupon solutions. This system consists of several components, which can be used in varying degrees. The system can be used both as a pure ticket system and as a coupon solution.
The technical procedures for use of the product is identical in both versions. The end user registers, buys a ticket or purchases a coupon and then gets an e-mail to print it ("Print at Home") and / or receives a multimedia message (MMS) on his mobile phone. Regardless of the chosen medium (MMS / E-mail) the ticket or coupon is always a 2D barcode. Furthermore, it contains data on the coupon or the event. Organizers and campaigners can automatically add graphics or text for advertising purposes. The verification / redemption is accomplished by scanning the bar code and the review of data in real time. The transmission medium can be any type of internet connection. In any case, nanoTickets or nanoCoupons are absolutely tamper-proof. The system generally grants a high level of data security. The modular design of the software architecture allows business customers to offer a software solution tailored to their individual needs, which includes in addition to the pure ticketing and couponing solutions also a customer relationship management system. The possible applications of the system are manifold: Across industries, it can be used for a variety of occasions for both small and large business customers. Despite the customization options, the modular architecture allows a very cost-effective implementation. With this architectural innovation, nanoCrypt pursues classical mass customization strategy (both cost leadership and customized solutions).
The future
The current research efforts are directed towards the development of 2D barcodes 3D barcodes (nanoMorse). Thus, the data can either be increased or the information transmission capacity can be increased substantially - over the fast time-clocking of various 2D barcodes. This opens up entirely new market opportunities beyond the future of ticketing and couponing systems, e.g. for a sensitive form or document traffic or secure payment transactions on the mobile Internet.
