Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology will be life-changing, is likely to touch every aspect of our lives in 10 years and any organisation that does not get involved will be left behind.
These are some of the main messages delegates to the first African RFID World conference heard in the opening sessions of the three-day event that began at the Sandton Convention Centre yesterday.
In his opening address, conference chairman Johan Eksteen of the CSIR called on delegates to use the conference to consider the opportunities RFID technology presents to local innovation companies.
"SA has more intellectual property surrounding RFID technology than the rest of the world put together," said John Greaves, global director for RFID integration at Deloitte in the US.
Bertus Pretorius, chief system architect at iPico, said the world acknowledged SA had a contribution to make to developing RFID technologies, and encouraged local organisations to become involved in driving the standards from an emerging market perspective.
Gerry Wind, supply chain development manager of Amcor, Australia, said after extensive research throughout the world, it was a South African company that provided the kind of RFID tag technology needed to fulfil his company`s needs.
"The best development I have seen around RFID technology is by South African and Israeli companies," said Wind.
Although all the speakers in the opening sessions of the conference agreed on the tremendous potential for finding applications for RFID, most cautioned against irresponsible hype around the technology, saying a clear business case had to precede any kind of investment in RFID.
"RFID is not about technology, it`s about a business process implemented by technicians," cautioned Lynne Steward, global standards manager, Consumer Goods Council of SA.
There was agreement that specific RFID technologies should not be tied to law, but that legislation should rather govern the application of the technology without constraining its development.
The consensus around RFID as a replacement for barcodes was that both were likely to exist in tandem for quite some time. Some delegates as well as speakers also felt RFID and barcodes were not necessarily mutually exclusive, but that each was best suited to certain applications.
Eksteen wrapped up the first day of the conference by emphasising that RFID was an opportunity waiting to be taken up by the characteristically "innovative and creative" nature of the South African industry.
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