India plans RFID toll system

The Indian government is looking to adopt a nationwide radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled open road tolling (ORT) system, reports RFID News.

The Indian ministry of road, transport and highways will begin a six-month pilot project testing the merit of three different ORT systems, each on its own stretch of highway.

One of the highways will host an active RFID system, the second a passive RFID system, and the third an infrared system. The Indian government expects the new toll system will relieve highway traffic and reduce the amount of time commercial vehicles spend at toll booths.

In anticipation of the widespread deployment of RFID technology to consumer applications, Smartrac is rolling out biodegradable RFID tags, states RFID Journal.

Smartrac's chief technology officer, Manfred Rietzler, anticipates RFID will be adopted in a range of new consumer applications, including ticketing and consumer packaging.

"Our target is to prepare ourselves for the time when RFID transponders will be embedded into more or less any consumer product," Rietzler says.

Biometric and RFID products and services provider RCG has signed a contract to provide its RFID security personnel patrol system, the Guard Tour Monitoring solution, to the Malaysian Ministry of Education, according to Info4Security.

The solution uses machine-to-machine, or 'M2M', communication enabled by RFID and wireless technologies to enhance security and improve operational efficiency in the security patrol process.

The first phase of the project will be delivered to a total of 22 schools in Kerian, Perak in Malaysia.