Jan 10, 2011Every year, at our RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition, we announce the winners of our annual RFID Journal Awards, which recognize excellence in the RFID industry.
Last year, at our LIVE! 2010 event, one of our 2009 winners told me he was very sad about giving up his title as a reigning award holder. For me, this was a confirmation that the RFID Journal Awards are considered a prestigious honor in the radio frequency identification industry.
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That was an important goal when we established the awards back in 2007. Unlike many publishing and research companies that give out awards to anyone who pays a fee, I wanted to ensure that our awards were not seen as something that could be bought and paid for by the winners.
While the competition is steep, I think all of the winners chosen by our esteemed panel of judges have been deserving of the award. The winners come from a wide range of industries and countries, and are a mix of large global organizations and smaller firms. Past winners have included Airbus, DHL, Dow AgroSciences, Hewlett-Packard Brazil, InterfaceFlor, Focus Magazine, Montreal's Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center, Vail Resorts and more.
Our goal in creating the awards was to highlight successful deployments so that companies could learn how leaders in their industry were benefiting from RFID technology. We also wanted to encourage more businesses to speak publicly about their projects. For this year's awards, being presented at RFID Journal> LIVE! 2011—to be held on Apr. 12-14, in Orlando, Fla.—I would encourage any firm that has deployed an RFID system that is delivering value to submit it for one of the categories listed on the following page.
Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service: To be given to the end-user company that has best utilized RFID technology to enhance an existing product or service.
Most Innovative Use of RFID: To be given to the end-user company with the most novel use of RFID technology to solve a business problem, improve customer service or create another business benefit.
Best in Show: To be given to the RFID technology firm that exhibits the best new RFID product or service at LIVE! 2011.
Special Achievement Award: To be given to the individual—an end user, researcher, vendor, inventor or standard developer, for example—who has contributed to the advancement of the entire RFID industry.
NEW: RFID Green Award: To be given to the end-user company that has demonstrated the best use of RFID technology to improve the environment, increase recycling or enhance sustainability.
You can learn more about the RFID Journal Awards and meet our independent panel of judges at our Web site. Each winner will receive a crystal award at the event, and be featured in our print magazine. The deadline for entries is midnight on Jan. 31, 2011.
Every year, RFID technology gets more mature, and the applications more sophisticated, so I am confident that there will be a lot of great submissions for the 2011 awards. I look forward to reading them all.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog or the Editor's Note archive.
