Spanish Military RFID Tagged: Knowledge Driven Revolution

While U.S. retail giants have been slow to come around to radio frequency identification tags, RFID chips are now marching into the military—in Spain, said an RFID supplier Wednesday.

The Spanish Armed Forces has set up RFID technology developed by Sunnyvale, California-based Savi Technology, a unit of Lockheed Martin.

The RFID network and software for the Spanish military are interoperable with similar network applications used by NATO and other allied defense agencies.

“We believe the Savi project to be the largest RFID project in the world today—the longest-running with proof that it works with incredible benefits to the [U.S. military] organization,” said Jeff Woods, vice president at Gartner Research.

RFID chips, seen as the next productivity revolution in retail, have been slow to gain traction. Outside of the military, adoption among businesses is struggling as are many of the startup RFID companies.

RFID chips can be attached to inventory to help companies keep track of what’s in stock. The chips have raised Big Brother concerns among privacy advocates who fear that tagged merchandise could be tracked beyond the register checkout.

“The helicopter view is RFID is a classic example of human failing,” said Dr. Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research firm IDTechEx, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. “The industrialists are not looking at the right thing—they see volume and think that means wealth.”

Read the full article here

Article Continued...

Built-in Market

The U.S. military required in 2004 that equipment worth over $5,000 be tagged with RFID. While military supplier Savi Technologies said it has made a profit three years running, commercial supplier Alien Technology has lost millions.

Savi does business in a so-called vertical sector that demands sophisticated tags and is willing to pay the fee of $120 per tag. U.S. retail giants Wal-Mart and Target, however, require their suppliers to place RFID tags on merchandise crates without raising the cost of the products, leaving the supplier to foot the bill and rework their budget, said Dr. Harrop.

RFID companies that serve the corporate market are waging a battle over price. With tags running as low as $0.10 per tag, Alien Technologies is losing money trying to stay in the game.

On August 4, Alien Technology withdrew its IPO registration from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, citing “market conditions,” company CEO Stav Prodromou said in a statement.

Gartner Research’s Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle 2006 report, which was released Wednesday, noted that RFID was still considered a “leap of faith” initiative by most commercial companies and will not be adopted in a mainstream way for another five to 10 years.

Mr. Woods put the global adoption rate of RFID at 40 to 45 percent a year. “RFID is inevitable, but not for bar coding, the way most people thought at first,” said Mr. Woods.

Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking the "Expand/Collapse" button below.

Read Today's Knowledge Driven News
HOME V for Vendetta - R for Reality Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ? Shill of the Week: Stephan Harper Aspartame: The Sweetest Killer Chicken Little Terrorist of the Week: Creating Fake Terrorists Shill of the Week: Paul Martin The Number 1 Reason YOU became a Slave	Spanish Military RFID Tagged Red Herring August 21, 2006 While U.S. retail giants have been slow to come around to radio frequency identification tags, RFID chips are now marching into the military—in Spain, said an RFID supplier Wednesday. The Spanish Armed Forces has set up RFID technology developed by Sunnyvale, California-based Savi Technology, a unit of Lockheed Martin. The RFID network and software for the Spanish military are interoperable with similar network applications used by NATO and other allied defense agencies. “We believe the Savi project to be the largest RFID project in the world today—the longest-running with proof that it works with incredible benefits to the [U.S. military] organization,” said Jeff Woods, vice president at Gartner Research. RFID chips, seen as the next productivity revolution in retail, have been slow to gain traction. Outside of the military, adoption among businesses is struggling as are many of the startup RFID companies. RFID chips can be attached to inventory to help companies keep track of what’s in stock. The chips have raised Big Brother concerns among privacy advocates who fear that tagged merchandise could be tracked beyond the register checkout. “The helicopter view is RFID is a classic example of human failing,” said Dr. Peter Harrop, chairman of independent research firm IDTechEx, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. “The industrialists are not looking at the right thing—they see volume and think that means wealth.” Read the full article here Article Continued... Built-in Market The U.S. military required in 2004 that equipment worth over $5,000 be tagged with RFID. While military supplier Savi Technologies said it has made a profit three years running, commercial supplier Alien Technology has lost millions. Savi does business in a so-called vertical sector that demands sophisticated tags and is willing to pay the fee of $120 per tag. U.S. retail giants Wal-Mart and Target, however, require their suppliers to place RFID tags on merchandise crates without raising the cost of the products, leaving the supplier to foot the bill and rework their budget, said Dr. Harrop. RFID companies that serve the corporate market are waging a battle over price. With tags running as low as $0.10 per tag, Alien Technologies is losing money trying to stay in the game. On August 4, Alien Technology withdrew its IPO registration from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, citing “market conditions,” company CEO Stav Prodromou said in a statement. Gartner Research’s Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle 2006 report, which was released Wednesday, noted that RFID was still considered a “leap of faith” initiative by most commercial companies and will not be adopted in a mainstream way for another five to 10 years. Mr. Woods put the global adoption rate of RFID at 40 to 45 percent a year. “RFID is inevitable, but not for bar coding, the way most people thought at first,” said Mr. Woods. Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking the "Expand/Collapse" button below. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Features Archive
		What Is Wrong With Canada? Recent 9-11 News Suppressed by the Media Aspartame: The Sweetest Killer The Number 1 Reason YOU became a Slave Knowledge Driven Look at Your Favourite Canadian Political Parties
		June July August 2006 30 31 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 01 02 Weekly Features 2006 2005 Read Today's Knowledge Driven News
		Counter
Copyright © 2005-6 KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com