Mobile technology for socio-religious events: A case study of NFC technology

Several million people from around the world visit Saudi Arabia each year to perform Hajj (pilgrimage). One of the largest socio-religious gatherings in the world, the Hajj poses unique challenges in terms of safety, security, crowd control, medical emergencies, transportation, and a variety of other logistical considerations. To add further complexity, these visitors come from a myriad of countries around the globe, representing a variety of diverse cultures and speaking more than 120 distinct languages. Moreover, the majority of these pilgrims are of older age, and prone to falling ill and losing money and identification documents. Several die naturally during these few days of pilgrimage every year. Billions of dollars are being spent to improve safety, security, and infrastructure, as well as to provide better services in hopes of making the event a memorable one for pilgrims. However, several challenges remain, many of which can be overcome by implementing the latest technologies to make this Holy trip easier on pilgrims and authorities alike. In this article, the benefits of employing the novel technology of Near Field Communication (NFC) to manage large socio-religious events such as Hajj are described. NFC-enabled mobile devices can expedite identity screening and store medical records of pilgrims for timely aid in the event of an emergency, be used as a transportation pass between Holy sites, and function as official documents for pilgrims so these won?t get lost. Several of these services can be provided even if a pilgrim does not have an NFC-enabled mobile phone by providing pre-programmed NFC tags at the point of arrival.