Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Auto-ID Center?

The Auto-ID Center was set up in 1999 as a not-for-profit consortium to develop a system for using the Internet to identify goods anywhere in the world, using something called the Electronic Product Code (EPC). It was originally supported by the Uniform Code Council, EAN International, Procter & Gamble and Gillette, and was based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Over time, it received funding form large companies who wanted to use RFID to track goods, and who believed an open standard was critical. Other labs were established in England, Switzerland, Japan and China. In October 2003, the center closed its doors and was transitioned into two separate organizations: EPCglobal took over the commercialization of EPC technologies, while Auto-ID Labs continued the research and development role of the Auto-ID Center.