 | Monday, February 28, 2005
Issue 75 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
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Marks & Spencer RFID Expansion Tackles Privacy Issue
U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer is expanding the current item-level RFID tagging trial taking place at nine of its stores to include 44 more locations. Beginning early next year, men's suits, bras, and other merchandise sold in complex sizes will be tagged at a total of 53 Marks & Spencer stores. Under the current trial, the tags are embedded in disposable paper labels; after the expansion, the tags will be integrated with existing bar code tags, thereby consolidating all identification information within one label. Telecommunications giant BT will work alongside RFID solutions provider Intellident to deploy the expansion.
This news is not only good as an implicit statement of Mark & Spencer's satisfaction with the first RFID trial. It is also fantastic for the manner in which the retailer is addressing privacy concerns. First, every label will say "Intelligent Label for stock control use." Second, the information stored in the RFID tags will not be scanned at checkout, assuaging a common worry of RFID opponents that product details can be associated with the purchaser. Also, the label will be removable, so that the new owner need not worry about walking around "tagged." But perhaps the most impressive component of the Marks & Spencer RFID trial expansion is the forthcoming approach it will take with customers: leaflets explaining RFID technology and Marks & Spencer's use thereof will be available at all 53 stores.
Folks, take note. This is how it should be done. Marks & Spencer has taken into account and balanced its own interests with those of consumer privacy groups, and it has crafted a program that respects the customer while reaping the benefits of item-level RFID tagging.
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US Federal RFID Spending to Balloon 120% Through 2009
Market intelligence specialist INPUT published a report this week predicting fantastic years ahead for U.S. government adoption of RFID. Entitled simply "Radio Frequency Identification," the report projects 120% growth in RFID spending by the U.S. federal government through 2009. Despite the aggressive Defense Department initiatives, RFID use among civilian agencies will not pick up until 2007, when non-supply chain applications of the technology emerge. Management of the anticipated flood of data and security of that data are cited as two obstacles to more rapid adoption by the government. The report also predicts that eventually larger consulting and integration firms will win the government RFID contracts, taking over from the smaller niche supply chain pure-plays that have heretofore ruled. Contracts will increase in size, from program-level to agency-wide, thus requiring firms that can offer comprehensive design, integration, and training RFID services for an entire agency.
| The report's press release available here |
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Visa Launches RFID Contactless Payment Card
After two years of development, Visa has finally launched its contactless payment credit card. Using embedded RFID, the new card allows customers to make small-ticket purchases like fast food and convenience store items by simply swiping the card within a few inches of the merchant's card reader. The company's VisaNet network, over which payment authorization and settlement occurs, has been upgraded to accommodate transactions generated from the new cards so that issuing banks recognize contactless purchases as such. Unlike rival MasterCard, who calls its very similar contactless card PayPass, Visa will not be branding its new product.
This news perfectly bolsters ABI Research's report released just last week that predicts 2005 will be a transition year in the area of contactless payments. Whereas before contactless payment schemes were proprietary systems (the classic example being Exxon's SpeedPass), this year, according to ABI, will see an opening up and expansion of the technology, with banks, financial institutions, and credit card companies participating as major players. Such companies have historically been eager to tap into the "cash economy" of low-ticket items, so RFID-enabled contactless purchasing represents a welcome solution.
For those who might be wondering, Visa's contactless card employs a stronger encryption -- 128 bit -- than that used in the vehicle immobilizer technology that was cracked to much fanfare last month by a group of Johns Hopkins University Researchers.
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UK's Royal Mail to Improve with £2m RFID Spend
silicon.com reports that the UK's postal service, Royal Mail, will be moving forward with an RFID initiative to improve the flow of goods through its system. The British telecommunications giant BT has been tapped as the technology partner. Royal Mail's performance is monitored by a third party called PostWatch, which, according to its website, "acts as the 'voice of the consumer' in all postal matters to ensure customers get the best possible service." This includes levying hefty penalties against the postal service if it doesn't fulfill certain criteria. Indeed, there is £70m at stake if the Royal Mail doesn't clean up its act. The two to three million pound cost of the RFID system doesn't seem so steep in comparison with that. Talk about achieving your ROI.
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AIM Global Drafts RFID Cow-Tracking Standard
In an effort to combat the threat of bio-terrorism and diseases like mad cow and hoof-and-mouth, the automatic identification and mobility trade association AIM Global has drafted a standard for the RFID tagging of cattle. The standard, which will be submitted to ANSI after internal review by the AIM Global Standards Advisory Group, takes advantage of recent advances in RFID technology to improve the existing methods of animal tracking. Whereas currently animal tracking information is stored in a central repository, RFID capabilities will allow that same information to be encoded on the tag worn by the animal itself, thus providing far quicker access to pertinent information in the event of a crisis.
RFID has long been viewed as the best means of achieving total traceability of animals used for consumption. As the situation has become graver (the devastating mad cow disease epidemic in the mid-nineties from which Britain's cattle industry still hasn't fully recovered, recent and periodic cow disease scares, growing concern over food supply-targeted terrorism), RFID's role in the cattle industry has only increased. With the EU now requiring total traceability and other governments enacting similarly strict regulations, expect that trend to continue.
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| Upcoming RFID Events | Pharma Supply Chain Summit, June 6-8, 2005, Philadelphia, PA
The Only Supply Chain Event to Focus on Integrity, Efficiency & Security Progressing from Theory to Implementation. Increase the efficiency of your inventory management, avoid redundancy and maximize material velocity to increase productivity. Learn from retail pharmacy chains, RFID case studies, 65 industry experts and networking opportunities. Email register@iirusa.com, call 888.670.8200, or visit: www.traxsummit.com | EPC Developers Conference – April 10 – Chicago, IL
An Evolution in the Making. Unlocking the Next-Generation Supply Chain with EPC. A conference for leaders capitalizing on RFID and EPC technologies, featuring breakout tracks for business and technical professionals and presentations from IDEO and EPCglobal. Register Now. | Attend RFID World March 1-3: This Week
March 1-3, Dallas, Texas. The premier industry event, featuring 32 Educational sessions, 4 breakout tracks, 125 exhibiting companies and Keynote Presentations from Wal-Mart, Kimberly-Clark, Federal Express, US Army, and more. Learn more practical realities on RFID implementation, integration and deployment at RFID World than any other event. Next week - register now! | eSmart Source - RFID Training Courses
eSmart Source training division offers RFID Made Easy in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, AZ and Portland, OR. This is a classroom style one-day course that familiarizes participants with the hardware, middleware, software and other key elements necessary for successful RFID deployment. More than 350 individuals already trained. Register Today! | RFID World Asia 2005, 27 - 29 April, Suntec Singapore
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About RFID Update - Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every Monday and Thursday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID projects. Each issue distills the impact of global RFID developments by providing an analytical summary of the news and issues most pertinent to successful RFID implementations.
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