IEEE RFID 2008

Mark Roberti

Research into technical issues surrounding radio frequency identification is gathering momentum in every corner of the globe. At least, that's the conclusion I draw from the number and quality of submissions received by IEEE for its IEEE RFID 2008 technical conference, to be held in conjunction with RFID Journal LIVE! 2008.

The review committee received 124 papers, and selected 44 to be presented during the event—which shows that the selection process was very competitive. Researchers from 25 countries submitted papers, and 15 nations will be represented at the event. Clearly, research is not being dominated by a few countries, or even a particular region.

The papers and the identities of the authors will be posted shortly on both the IEEE Web site and the RFID Journal LIVE! site. Many of the papers, in all honesty, go way over my head. But what is valuable about this event is that it brings together academics, engineers working for RFID vendors and technicians at end-user companies to hear about the work being done around the world to move RFID forward.

As someone very focused on informing people about what's happening within the RFID universe, I find this very exciting. The free flow of ideas and the sharing of knowledge are critical to moving RFID forward. Someone sitting in the audience might hear something that triggers a new avenue of research and leads to a major breakthrough in product performance. At the very least, researchers will be able to make connections allowing them to cite other sources of research rather than duplicate the work themselves. I'm sure it's going to be an exciting event, and I'm pleased that IEEE has decided to hold it in conjunction with LIVE! 2008.