Chapter 4 Articles
4.10 RACE networkRFID – Stimulating the take-up of RFID in Europe
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5. Involving a large number of Member States’ authorities dealing with public RFID issues, including involvement of major industry (automotive, aerospace, etc…), civil society, RFID advocacy groups and research agencies where relevant.
In addition RACE networkRFID will include the following key objectives:
6. Providing a structure for initiating, developing, and sustaining a large variety of support measures to promote the take-up of RFID with appropriate attention to associated auto-matic identification, data capture and communication technologies and their potential within application designs.
7. Focusing attention upon the SME business communities and the potential that exists within these communities for product, process and services innovation.
8. Addressing the requirements of policy-makers and the general public to ensure that both businesses and consumers benefit from RFID with a specific focus on consumer trust and acceptance, innovation and enterprise.
The objectives are seen as being mutually inclusive and tempered by the need to accommodate consideration for sustainability, change management in relation to market needs, concept and technological developments and thought leadership for positioning Europe as a world leader in RFID and associated technologies. The concept on how to fulfil the vision of a central plat-form will be developed and should be approved by a general assembly of interested stake-holders over the period of the project.
A logical approach to achieving a self-sustaining federated network structure, offering both collaboration and independence of contributory stakeholders, is to provide a framework and a set of deliverables for creating member-state-funded national centres for RFID and object connected technologies.
The founding Management Board of RACE networkRFID propose to link this framework to what they are calling a supporting central platform that can accommodate, on an on-going basis, key objectives which will help achieve a coherent and effective platform for informing and involving Member States of key European and international issues concerning RFID. This will accommodate new developments, concepts, research outcomes and event services (semi-nars, enterprise events and conferences), building upon and extending the European Commis-sion’s RFID Expert Group activities in a new form for strengthening Europe’s involvement, understanding and exploitation of RFID.
The RACE networkRFID consortium recognises the need to consider and accommodate a number of specific issues of direct significance in seeking to achieve the aims and objectives of a European thematic network for RFID. These issues include:
xx Lack of awareness and understanding of the technology dimensions, attributes and founda-tions for selection both within the prospective end-user community and a percentage of the vendor and support communities
x Take-up requires greater attention to SME and end-user needs and business development and assist initiatives supported by accredited advisors and appropriate follow-through sup-port
x Enterprise awareness and follow-through initiatives are required to assist SMEs exploit the potential on offer through RFID and the ‘Internet of Things’, using existing SME applica-tion examples of enterprise and innovaapplica-tion
x RFID requires positioning with respect to other automatic identification and data carrier technologies – more appropriately object-connected technologies and real world awareness (RWA)
x Consumer trust and security, as well as “privacy friendly development” aspects
x Positioning is also considered important with respect to the emerging concept of the ‘Inter-net of Things’ and the associated developments in the Inter‘Inter-net (Web 2.0 and semantic web) x Greater attention to integration capabilities is required with respect to other identification
(including natural feature identification), location, security, sensory and local communica-tion technologies
x The RACE network RFID consortium will collaborate with the relevant EU projects relating to all standardisation issues
x Attention to design, risk assessment socio-economic issues and application principles
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xx Implementation practicalities, coexistence and layered interfacing and networking issues.
In paying collective attention to the ICT PSP aims and objectives and these additional issues the prospect is seen for a network, orchestrated through a central platform that will provide the necessary transformational conduit linking the current EU investment outcomes with a user community receptive to the potential and the opportunities for innovation and enterprise and the need to establish and maintain competitive advantage. The proposed central platform would also be seen as a vehicle for sharing knowledge and expertise arising from member states and as a point of promotion and roll-out for thematic initiatives, such as business devel-opment programmes that will have relevance across member states.
RACE networkRFID is also seen as a platform for sharing knowledge and expertise arising from Member States and as a point of promotion and roll-out for thematic initiatives, such as business development and assist programmes that will have relevance across member states.
2 The Vision The Vision
RACE networkRFID
platform Member State RFID Centres
Stakeholders, including Members States, Industry,
Advocacy Groups and Civil Society Consortium
Members
& Federated Organisations
Industrial sectors and SME
EU RFID Initiative – Past and Present Research Projects RFID Fora and Networks
Standardisation and Regulatory and Policy Developments Consultation Outcomes
Awareness, Education and Training Business Assist and Development Develop Accreditation Formats for Systems Integrators
Policy, Best Practice and Standards Enterprise Generation
The Vision
RACE networkRFID
platform Member State RFID Centres
Stakeholders, including Members States, Industry,
Advocacy Groups and Civil Society Consortium
Members
& Federated Organisations
Industrial sectors and SME
EU RFID Initiative – Past and Present Research Projects RFID Fora and Networks
Standardisation and Regulatory and Policy Developments Consultation Outcomes
Awareness, Education and Training Business Assist and Development Develop Accreditation Formats for Systems Integrators
Policy, Best Practice and Standards Enterprise Generation
The collective vision for the federated network is to provide a network of excellence for raising the wealth creating and competitive status of European member states in the area of RFID usage, thought leadership and development, and positioning within mainstream information and communications technology (ICT). The network will draw upon expertise of Member States and the evolving RFID community to create a dynamic, change-responsive capability that not only aligns with the initial Information and Communication Technologies Policy Sup-port Programme (ICT PSP) objectives, but extends that capability to accommodate emergent and future needs.
The proposed central platform will provide the conduit for deriving user-facing potential from EU RFID initiatives and outcomes, together with structured support services, and convey them effectively to the European Community, initially through a network of members, but ultimately through a network of member state centres. With some member states government representatives and national administrations already supporting such centres, a move towards growing the network and federating these facilities is both logical and possible.
The full set of RACE networkRFID objectives map into a framework of work packages which will meet the intrinsic requirements, identified in the ICT PSP objectives for 2008, for actions aimed at mobilizing stakeholders to:
x Share experiences
x Build consensus around common approaches
x Prepare roadmaps for facilitating the uptake of innovative ICT RFID based solutions The work will further develop and promote the platform aims of the European concerted effort on RFID and will:
x Foster on-going RFID consultations
x Federate existing local/national initiatives into a co-ordinated European initiative on RFID
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xx Maintain a roadmap of the relevant technologies, their applications and how to deal with the potential privacy and security issues
x Create an environment for progress in related European standardisation and critical gov-ernance infrastructure issues.
x Monitor and, where appropriate, link to RFID policy initiatives in other regions of the world x Identify best practices to achieve progress towards a single market for RFID applications by raising awareness and removing barriers to its effective, secure and privacy-friendly de-ployment
x Support the EU/US transatlantic “lighthouse priority project” on RFID
2.1 Policy background and EU dimension
Policy decisions are extremely critical as they constitute a fundamental pillar in assisting the development of an environment that is favourable to the adoption of RFID applications. Poli-cies at EU and national level can play an important role in lifting non technical barriers to the adoption of RFID, by giving an appropriate level of certainty to the market actors and confi-dence to consumers and citizens in general.
These are indispensable prerequisites to the firm take up of RFID technology in Europe. For this reason, RACE networkRFID has gathered together international participants from the industry, standards organizations and consumer groups from diverse origin, interest, size and points of view but each have in common the desire for a stable successful take up of the tech-nology, for the benefit of the society in general.
2.2 Towards an EU internal market of RFID and its applications with a focus on SMEs
Any approach taken by a particular area of public policy in the EU is then executed at national level, so it is important to assure coordination of national initiatives and policy measures in order to guarantee an internal market for the technology and the multiple applica-tions it serves. In this sense, RACE networkRFID has foreseen a specific Work package on
“Harmonization of Related Projects” (WP 4), which intends to identify collaboration possibili-ties and liaise with existing projects and organizations.
In addition work packages dedicated to “Dissemination” and “Awareness” will also facilitate the task of contributing towards an internal market, as the dissemination and awareness aim to happen across multiple member states.
2.3 Enhancing the competitiveness of the European industry in a global world
The analysis of current policies, their impact on RFID applications implementation on the one hand, and the identification of policies that contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of industry sectors and Small and Medium enterprises on the other, will be an integral part of RACE networkRFID throughout all its Work Packages. This multifaceted approach will result in a more enriching view and contribution to policy makers, based on practical experience and gaining from the synergies created by the work within the RACE networkRFID.
In addition, the linkage between different policies that converge in the use of RFID technolo-gies cannot be seen in an isolated manner either geographically or by sector. This is why RACE networkRFID will not only connect with major European industry sectors, but also with SMEs and their customers as they will play an essential role in the adoption and usage of RFID. Fur-thermore, RACE networkRFID will address competitiveness not only from a European per-spective but also in the context of policy developments in other parts of the world, principally Asia and the United States, so underlining the fact that the advancement of RFID applications and standards is truly global phenomenon.
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2.4 i2010 Consumer confidence in the information society era
In determining the focus on policies that are relevant for RFID adoption, the activities of RACE networkRFID will also be informed by the i2010 EU Strategy- a European information Society Framework for Growth and Employment, which promotes the positive contribution that ICT technologies can make to the economy, society and personal quality of life, and with special attention to consumer confidence, privacy and security of RFID applications as well as awareness about the benefits that these bring to the European society at large. It will also be essential for the network to contribute to enhancing consumer confidence in RFID by address-ing underlyaddress-ing ethical, trust and security concerns, in particular by consideraddress-ing potential pri-vacy - friendly development aspects.
3 Impact
3.1 Expected outcomes
There are four principal outcomes to be expected from the work and activities of the thematic network. These outcomes will address each of the three policy implementation themes identi-fied in the ICT PSP Work Programme.
1. Extended platform for developing and promoting policy for RFID in line with the objec-tives of ICT PSP, and embodying the principle of consultation as a basis for deriving pol-icy.
2. European–wide awareness and adoption of RFID and associated technologies concen-trating upon awareness, business assist, business development, innovation and enter-prise and the collective goal of wealth creation and competitive advantage for Europe – growing the market ‘cake’ and enjoying a greater slice of it.
3. Empowering of the greater SME community in exploiting the potential of RFID, associ-ated technologies and the realistic potential arising from radical concepts such as the
‘Internet of Things.’
4. A Thematic Network able to grow into a central platform providing an infrastructure for promoting a consistent, coherent European-wide message and policy with regard to RFID.
3.2 Expected impacts
RACE networkRFID expects to achieve significant impact across Europe in the take-up and exploitation of RFID and associated technologies by SMEs, larger organisations and the Public Sector.
To foster RFID deployment and increase awareness across a wide array of relevant communi-ties, the RACE networkRFID consortium relies on the broad range and expertise of its part-ners.
Engaging appropriately with the vast SME community provides a concrete opportunity for exploiting the revolutionary and radical potential of RFID. It is revolutionary because of its relevance to virtually every sector of industry, commerce and services; and radical in the po-tential it provides for improving and realising new processes, services and products. There-fore, one of the partners in the RACE networkRFID project is UEAPME, the European SME umbrella organisation which incorporates 87 member organisations across Europe. They con-sist of national cross-sectoral SME federations, European branch federations and other asso-ciate members which support the SME community. UEAPME represents more than 12 million enterprises which employ more than 55 million people across Europe.
By engaging with larger organisations and by closely linking with activities promoting existing and generating new standards, the network is expecting to have a direct impact on the remain-ing bottlenecks that hinder RFID deployment. In particular, by addressremain-ing application stan-dards, significant impact can be expected in open systems and supply chain applications.
In 2010 the key project objectives are to create greater awareness of the benefits and potential of RFID among SMEs across Europe; engage with appropriate Government departments across the 27 Member States; and significantly increase the number of project partners.
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4 Members
The RACE networkRFID community involves both Contractual Members and Associate Mem-bers. The Contractual Members are signatory to the contract with the European Commission, and Associate Members are partner organisations joining the network after its contractual start.
Contractual Members:
xx ERCIM (France) xx GS1 (Europe) x FHG IML (Germany) x FILRFID/CNRFID (France) x ETSI (Europe)
x IF RFID (Germany) x IBERLOG (Portugal) x AIM (UK)
x AIDC (UK)
x RFID PLATFORM (Netherlands) x AUEB (Greece)
x RFIDSEC (Denmark) x ISMB (Italy)
x UNIMAN (UK)
x ARDACO (Slovakia) x ITT (Ireland) x ROBOTIKER (Spain) x VTT (Finland) x TREVI (Italy) x RAND Europe (UK) x SINTEF (Norway) x RFID NORDIC (Sweden) x UEAPME (Europe) x BIBA (Germany)
x INTERNET VECI (Czech Republic)
Associate Members:
x CNIPA (Italy)
x Institute of Shipping Economics and Lo-gistics (Germany)
x Mondi AG (Austria) x Link (Portugal) x CYCLOPS (Turkey) x Aston University (UK) x VDEB (Germany) x CEDT (Portugal) x CATTID (Italy)
x Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH (Germany) x Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de
Farmacéuticos de España (Spain) x Research Group RI-ComET at HTW des
Saarlandes (Germany)
x Friendly Technologies (United Kingdom) x Georgia Tech Ireland (Ireland)
x University of Craiova (Romania)
x Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Cir-cuits (Germany)
x AIM-D e.V. (Germany, Austria, Switzer-land)
x CLECAT (Belgium)
x K.U. Leuven Association (Belgium) x National AIDC Centre for Wales (UK) x Cheshire Henbury (UK)
x METRO Group (Germany) x BITKOM e.V. (Germany) x Intel GmbH (Germany) x Not Innovated Here (Finland) x Trinity Systems (Greece)
x CISC Semiconductor Design+Consulting GmbH (Austria)
x Picosoft Solutions (Ireland) x AIDC Global (UK)
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Ovidiu Vermesan SINTEF, Norway, ETP EPoSS
Abstract: Internet of Things technology opens the way towards multi dimensional, context aware, and smart environments. The technology is bridging the real, virtual and digital worlds by using wireless connectivity for energy efficient and environmentally friendly applications and ser-vices and by respecting the security and privacy of individuals and organisations.
1 Introduction
Tackling the challenges that European society and the world will face in developing the “Fu-ture Internet” will require a multidisciplinary approach and coordinated efforts.
Today, there are 36 European Technology Platforms (ETPs), and five Joint Technological Ini-tiatives (JTIs) originated directly from ETPs, covering the most important technological areas.
They connect thousands of European companies, knowledge institutes and policy makers and have facilitated the development of a common vision and research agenda for each of the 36 technology fields they represent.
In the context of “Future Internet” there are 10 ETPs that have become important inter-locutors for the European Commission for the development of strategic research agendas de-fining the technologies required for implementing the future internet.
Figure 4.11-1: European Technology Platforms – IoT technology research and development.