 | Monday, July 14, 2008
Issue 871 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
|
|
Editor's Note: Today's top story is the initiative by a financial services industry association to develop standards so industry companies can use RFID more easily. The Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) will first focus on IT asset management, file tracking and courier operations, and hopes to develop its first draft standard by year end.
RFID reader manufacturer ThingMagic has announced the closing of a $9.5-million round of funding. The money was provided by existing investors Tudor Ventures, The Exxel Group, Morningside Technology Ventures, and .406 Ventures.
Lastly, the second annual RFID Excellence in Business Awards will occur at this year's RFID World 2008 in Las Vegas. Six different award categories aim to showcase a wide variety of successful, innovative, and unique RFID applications. A new "green" category has been added this year to highlight RFID's positive impact on environmental sustainability. Both RFID vendors and end users are encouraged to apply for an award. Note: the application deadline is midnight July 31, two and a half weeks from today. Application and other details available on the awards site. |
|
Banking Interest Climbs for RFID, Spurs Standards
By John Burnell
RFID interest is rising in the financial industry, which recently launched an initiative to develop standards to facilitate adoption. The Financial Services Technology Consortium, an association headquartered on Wall Street that evaluates technology and develops standards for banks, investment firms, credit card companies and other organizations in the industry, announced the RFID initiative last week. The FSTC set a goal of completing a draft standard by the end of the year.
"We were approached by several of the largest banks in the country, who stated a need to standardize how RFID could be implemented so they could avoid some of the pitfalls and obstacles," FSTC chief of staff John Fricke told RFID Update. "There are three or four institutions that are struggling to implement RFID right now, and there are eight or nine others who are considering it. If you're going to develop a standard, the time is now."
The initiative will focus on three RFID use cases: managing IT assets, tracking courier bags used to transfer important documents from branches to central processing locations, and document management. Other applications and processes will also be considered.
"They [the FSTC members who started the initiative] reviewed some of the standards that are out there and found it would take changes to these standards to produce the results the banks wanted," Fricke said.
Financial institutions want to develop technology and process standards so RFID will be easier to implement, according to Fricke. For example, although IT asset management is an internal process, standards would be beneficial so institutions would not have to accommodate a variety of different frequencies, tag locations and data structures from equipment vendors. Hewlett-Packard recently announced it could RFID-enable new servers shipped to customers to support automated asset management, but the company pre-encodes the tags and offers limited data content options (see HP Launches RFID Service for IT Assets).
"Some of our member institutions started using bar codes to inventory assets in their data centers. They found that RFID could reduce the time and improve accuracy by 80 or 90 percent. The banks are asking us to come together as a financial community to speak to suppliers so that equipment comes with a tag already on it in a standardized place," Fricke said. "If any individual institution went to IBM, Dell or Sun, the probability of getting them to make a change for the entire industry is not very high. But if we go to suppliers as an industry, they can't ignore it. The opportunity and the market are too big to ignore."
The project team has been holding weekly conference calls and is planning its first in-person meeting, which will take place in Maryland. Several technology vendors and standards associations have been invited, and the FSTC is hopeful that more organizations from the technology and financial services industries will become involved in the effort. Interested parties should contact Fricke through the FSTC.
"We believe in working together to solve problems," he said. "I'd hate for a really good idea to be out there and not be shared."
Forward this to a colleague | Request reprints: reprints at rfidupdate dot com |
|
|
|
|
| Products & Services | Real-Time WIP Visibility Appliance from Omnitrol Networks
Meet the industry's most innovative award winning RFID solution that enables complete work-order traceability in manufacturing. Real-time web-based dashboards and multi-site monitoring for work-order pedigree and traceability, including proactive bottleneck management and real-time performance analytics optimizing shop-floor efficiency. All at the lowest TCO in the marketplace. www.omnitrol.com/WIP. | Employees steal over $1 billion per week from employers
the American Management Association reports. 95% of businesses are victimized by employee theft. Managers are reluctant to ask questions, because trusted employees may feel offended, leaving business owners in a difficult situation. What can you do? Nox: Intelligent Perimeter Defense from Simply RFID provides advanced security and protection for business assets. | | | Upcoming Events | RFID World | Sept 8-10, 2008 | MGM Grand | Las Vegas, NV
Now in its 6th year, this industry leading event is recognized as the gathering place for the builders, buyers and sellers of RFID and other Auto-ID technologies. Registration now open! Special Early Bird Savings: Save $300 off registration. Offer ends July 31st. Don't miss out! | AWA PABS08 N. America Conference, Sept 11-12, Chicago, IL
AWA is organizing the Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008 on September 11-12 in Chicago, IL. The event includes presentations and panel discussions with brand owners, legal authorities, associations, converters and suppliers; also networking sessions, a supplier forum, a social program and more. Find more on the program here. | AWA PABS08 Asia Conference, Dec 4-5 - Hong Kong, China
AWA presents the Asian Product Authentication & Brand Security Conference 2008, to be held on 4 & 5 December in Hong Kong, China. PABS08 Asia focuses on the threats specific to the Asia Pacific region, various elements of IP Theft, and leading-edge solutions. Find more on the program here. | | | RFID Tags & Labels | Ferroxtag HF tags: Smart on Metal!
Ferroxtag is a new family of HF RFID tags suitable for operation on metallic surfaces. Ferroxtag's special ferrite antenna was developed using Ferroxcube's years of experience in ferrite technology. The high performance antenna means longer read range with a smaller tag. Visit www.ferroxtag.com | | | RTLS & Active RFID | Locate it now. How? Ekahau. That's how!
Ekahau RTLS (Real-Time Location System) automatically tracks assets and people via your existing Wi-Fi network. Control costs and improve asset management with Ekahau. For more information, visit us at www.ekahau.com. | | | Employment | RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting
Whether your company is looking for the best RFID talent or you have the best RFID talent and are looking for the best RFID employer, RFID Recruiters offers the most focused approach to your objective. To learn how the RFID industry and the RFID job market are evolving, visit www.rfidrecruiters.com | | | Research & Whitepapers | RFID Marketing Strategies Report
Thirty-nine pages of original research on RFID audience perceptions, including 30+ figures of tactics, content & messaging, and recommendations to guide marketing strategy. Also, Top-10 RFID company rankings based on 550+ survey respondents. View the executive summary free, with Top-3 sample rankings. Only $495 Individual License or $795 Corporate License. Available now |
This email was intended for , who subscribed
RFID Update is the RFID industry daily. Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every weekday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID. Each issue delivers the breaking news and analysis most pertinent to successful RFID implementations, allowing readers to understand global RFID developments as they happen.
RFID Update Editor: Will Smith, editor at rfidupdate dot com
Press releases and public relations inquiries should be directed to Will.
To advertise in RFID Update, email advertising08 at rfidupdate dot com to request a media kit.
RFID Questions? Ask at RFID Talk (www.RFIDtalk.com).
Forward this issue of RFID Update to your colleagues, or tell them to subscribe free at: www.RFIDupdate.com
View all past issues of RFID Update in the archive.
Update your subscription settings: subscriptions08 at rfidupdate dot com
We take your privacy seriously. View our Privacy Policy here.
RFID Update -- The RFID Industry Daily
3213 Duke Street #266
Alexandria, VA 22314
http://www.rfidupdate.com
© 2008, ALX Technologies. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
