Having been deeply involved in radio frequency identification for nearly 20 years, I have worked with all frequency bands, and have spent 15 years in RFID standardization as well. Back when I started in 1995, RFID was known to only a very small community. Today, RFID, smart cards and Near Field Communication (NFC) are known to the general public through many applications, such as ticketing, ePassports and NFC payments. Two decades is a long time for any technology to evolve, and there have been many changes in RFID and its applications. Here are a few:
• As electronic devices, in general, have declined in size and price, so has RFID, especially in terms of reader hardware.
• More mainstream systems are using data collected by RFID, so the scale and complexity of connecting software has increased.
• Many more countries now regulate RFID in its numerous forms, and the regulations can differ greatly from one nation to the next.
• Twenty years ago, there were very few antenna forms. Today, there are hundreds—if not thousands—so the knowledge required to select the proper antenna for the job has also expanded greatly.
• Global standards have successfully enabled the worldwide growth of RFID usage, and that demands an understanding of how to implement systems in line with those standards.
• As active, passive and hybrid RFID technologies have progressed, there has been much more overlap among the different forms of RFID. An application requiring a range of less than 100 feet (30 meters) could potentially be served by passive or active RFID systems, so knowledge of both would be required to ensure correct selection.
All of the above means that selecting and implementing an RFID system is far broader and more complex than it was 20 years ago. And that means that anyone who implements an RFID solution needs a good grounding and knowledge of many aspects of the technology that might not have been considered in the past. Although I have been in the RFID industry for such a long time, there is still something new to learn every day.
Knowledge is critical to success, but today I still see many installations that suffer from a trial-and-error approach, a lack of experience by systems integrators or a lack of knowledge. There are, of course, standards and implementation guidelines. And my company, CISC Semiconductor, provides measurement equipment that can aid in a deployment. But the explosion of RFID applications really means we need well-educated RFID experts.
At present, we have a lot of books and training providers, as well as university education programs focused on RFID. But the quality of the education provided varies significantly. So taking a training course or graduating with a degree could mean vastly different things, depending on where you took the course or with which organization. In addition, there has been no way to verify that a job candidate possessed the requisite level of knowledge or experience. As a result, businesses have had to hire personnel and use the information technology and electronics experts already on staff to train these new employees.
This process has worked adequately during the past few years, but as RFID adoption grows, this will not be sufficient to meet the demand for skilled RFID implementers. For this reason, I have been actively engaged in the International RFID Institute, which was set up two years ago to create RFID certification examinations that would demonstrate that someone who had passed an exam possessed a certain level of knowledge (see International RFID Institute Prepares Certification Program). The RFID Institute plans to create several levels of certification, so hiring companies will know if a candidate has a foundational level of RFID knowledge or is an expert in one or more types of RFID, such as active systems or passive UHF. (To view the certification levels envisioned, visit rfidinstitute.org/rfid-certifications/types-of-certifications.)
The organization created its initial first-level examination, which was delivered earlier this year at the RFID Journal LIVE! 2014 conference and exhibition, held in Orlando, Fla., on Apr. 8-10. This exam was based on questions submitted by about a dozen subject-matter experts (SMEs). Now, we would like to expand our questions portfolio, and are inviting additional SMEs to submit questions—those you would like your current and future colleagues to be able to answer when they work with you.
I have been handling the collection of questions for the exams, and am reaching out to bring in additional SMEs who can help strengthen the test. If you are interested in participating in this effort, please enroll as an SME, at rfidinstitute.org/smes. We require SMEs to have at least five years’ experience in RFID software or hardware, in low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF), ultrahigh-frequency (UHF), NFC or any other frequency. The next round for SME work to collect questions will take place this summer.
I believe the work of the RFID Institute will be invaluable in helping the world use RFID in the optimal manner possible. The Institute, in turn, needs SMEs that can create questions based upon their deep RFID skills and knowledge. I hope you will join our effort.
Josef Preishuber-Pflügl is the chief technology officer of CISC Semiconductor and the head of the International RFID Institute‘s Certification Committee.