Nov. 13, 2006—Last month, RFID Journal held its second annual RFID Journal LIVE! Europe conference, an RFID event designed for end users and potential end users of radio frequency identification technology in Europe. The conference was held Oct. 25-27, at the Hotels van Oranje in Amsterdam.

Nearly 250 professionals attended the conference, including retailers, distributors, manufacturers, consulting firms, systems integrators and vendors of radio frequency identification technology. Several of the industry's major players displayed their technologies and services, and more than 40 speakers were on hand to offer critical insights about how RFID can—and can't—help improve the way companies do business.


Education and Regulation
The event opened with a pair of educational preconferences. The RFID Journal University seminar introduced attendees new to RFID to the basic concepts required to understand and design pilots, engage vendors and deploy the technology successfully. Presenters discussed the physics behind RFID, legislation and standardization, building an RFID business case, the EPCglobal Network and other topics vital to success.

Also presented was the RFID in Packaging Preconference Seminar, intended to educate attendees about the use of radio frequency identification technology in the packaging and printing sectors. Juha Lehtola of Orion Pharma explained how tracking and tracing strengthens brand authentification, while Cypak's Stina Ehrensvard discussed how to add value with smart packaging. Ian Dent of the Packaging Federation addressed the challenges and opportunities facing implementation of RFID in packaging, and Didier Mattalia explained how Tagsys bypassed the eventual obsolescence of RFID labels by integrating the tag into their packaging.