Founded by Roland Moreno, Innovatron is at the origin of the developments of the smartcard technology since 1974.

Since 1992, an extensive program of Research & Development in partnership with major transit networks, has resulted in Innovatron extending the application of the smartcard technology, enabling its use through a contactless communication interface, particularly suitable for public transport applications.

During this program, Innovatron developed proprietary technology, the subject of many patent applications protecting the investments made, and used in particular in the European remote ticketing projects, called Icare and Calypso.

The international standard ISO 14443 B and the Calypso technology directly result from the research done at Innovatron.

Innovatron favours a wide deployment of the Calypso technology and offers licenses of various kinds suiting the situations of different licensees.

Besides patents license, Innovatron also offers licenses to access the Calypso specification, masked components and know-how transfer in order to ensure the best compatibility between the products for public transport.
Only manufacturers implementing the Calypso technology need to be licensed. A Calypso product integrator or user (public transport company or authority, parking applications, etc.) do not have to take a license.

Numerous companies are already licensed and may supply contactless cards and readers.

See the current licensees