May 27, 2009This article was originally published by RFID Update.
May 27, 2009—Wealth and asset management firm Robert W. Baird & Co. has published the May edition of RFID Monthly. Baird has given RFID Update permission to reprint the Key Developments section (below), which offers the report highlights. For those wanting more detail, the complete 17-page document is available free here. Following are highlights:
- We remain optimistic given observations. Despite the meaningful economic weakness, which is resulting in project delays, we believe the RFID industry is showing some positive signs of strengthening. We attended the RFID Journal Live show in late April, and believe vendor pipelines are increasing. We were also somewhat encouraged to see useful new product introductions, reasonable attendance and discussions of good pilot activity.
- Expanded bag tagging. Hong Kong Airport continues to expand its use of Gen2 RFID for bag tagging with a 70M unit order over a three year timeframe. Last April, we reported the airport had provided an initial order of 15M tags for departing passengers.
- Equipment overview. We have seen a number of equipment advances and expect to see a good amount of new products introduced in the next 2-3 quarters. While the equipment is working well in terms of read capability, we have heard comments from end users and vendors who would like to see more advances in the area of aesthetics, ergonomics, improved flexibility and lower cost.
- European privacy recommendation. The European Commission published its RFID privacy recommendation, which has several noteworthy components, including an acknowledgment in the potential "economic and societal benefits" of RFID. Also, because it is potentially ubiquitous and virtually invisible, privacy and security need to be addressed. One key recommendation is the development of a framework for "privacy and data protection impact assessments."
Download the full Baird RFID Monthly
