The Brave New World of Smart Technologies

At the dawn of the Internet revolution, users were amazed at the possibility of contacting people and sourcing information across oceans and time zones, through a few clicks of their mouse. In order to do so, however, they typically had to sit in front of a computing device connected to a global network. Today, they can also use mobile phones and portable laptops. The next logical step in this technological revolution is to connect inanimate objects. This is the vision underlying the “Internet of Things” – a concept that will also serve as the subject of a brand new ITU report to be released at the World Summit on the Information Society.

The use of electronic tags (such as radio frequency ID - RFID) and sensors will serve to extend the communication and monitoring potential of the network of networks, as will the introduction of computing power in everyday items such as razors, shoes and packaging. Advances in nanotechnology - manipulation of matter at the molecular level - will serve to further accelerate these developments.

The late Mark Weiser, one-time chief scientist at the XEROX Palo Alto Research Center, once remarked that “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” In other words, in tomorrow’s world computing through dedicated devices will slowly disappear, while information processing capabilities will begin to pervade our surrounding environment. With the benefit of integrated information processing capacity, industrial products will take on smart capabilities. They may also take on electronic identities that can be queried remotely, or be equipped with sensors for detecting physical changes around them. Such developments will make the merely static objects of today dynamic ones - embedding intelligence in our environment and stimulating the creation of innovative products and new business opportunities. The Internet of Things will enable forms of collaboration and communication between people and things, and between things themselves, hitherto unknown and unimagined.

RFID – the first step towards the “Internet of Things”

Already, the line between science fiction and fact is blurring. Although consumers are not always aware of it, many have already benefited from radio frequency identification chips in action: on toll roads, in offices, in theme parks and libraries.

From sports events to retail shopping, these tiny tags no bigger than a grain of sand are becoming increasingly popular as a way of measuring stock levels or people-flow.

Bio-medical applications too are looking at tags that contain identity information which can be implanted or injected into the body of animals – and perhaps, one day, humans too.

Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, are using RFID tags on bottles to fight drug counterfeiting and theft, while mobile phone operators are seizing on the technology’s location sensitive capabilities to develop attractive new payment and information services for their customers.

Getting moving

Public transport, toll collection and contactless payment cards are some of the early RFID applications gaining momentum. RFID was first deployed for collecting fares on toll highways as part of electronic fare management systems. Typically, such systems use contactless smart cards, which have the advantages of being valid for up to 10 years and resistant to damage by liquid, dust or temperature fluctuations.

The mass transit authority (RATP) in Paris, which manages one of the most advanced networks in the world, was one of the pioneers in using RFID-based automated fare collection technology. The mass transit system in Seattle also uses an RFID contactless smart card for fare collection.
 

Radio that cab fare

In Tokyo, taxi drivers are now being paid via RFID and mobile phones, using a new system that began trials in November 2004. Selected taxi drivers were given RFID readers which can read a passenger’s mobile phone chip and deduct the requisite amount. For the moment, however, proprietary technology is still the rule; mobile phones used in the trial had to be compatible with the operator’s mobile wallet handsets equipped Sony FeliCa chips, which use near field communication (NFC) passive RFID technology.
 

RFID combats counterfeit drugs

Spiralling sales of counterfeit drugs is an increasing problem for the pharmaceutical industry, driving it to become an early adopter of item-level use of RFID.

Around 30 per cent of drugs in the developing world and up to 10 per cent in the developed world are estimated to be counterfeit products. In July 2004, a group of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States announced that they were working with distributors and retailers on an experiment dubbed “Project Jumpstart” to attach RFID tags to individual bottles of drugs. By using RFID tags on medication destined for pharmacies and drug stores, the industry hopes to better detect illicit stock.

In addition to tracking counterfeit products, RFID-tagged bottles help prevent theft and more effectively manage recalled and outdated medication. It is estimated that inventory worth USD 40 billion is lost or stolen somewhere along the pharmaceutical supply chain every year.

As pharmacies receive medication through specific distribution centres, bottles would be tagged reflecting their point of origin. Alarms could thus be raised when an incomplete or inaccurate set of locations were found on a tag.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a report in early 2004 recommending that pharmaceutical companies use RFID on bottles of the most commonly counterfeited drugs starting in 2006 and on bottles of most drugs by 2007.

Security and access control

RFID technology is also being used to control access to restricted areas, and to enhance security in laboratories, schools and airports. Many employee identification cards already use RFID technology to allow staff to enter and exit office buildings. For example, the security programme of the Canadian Air Transport Authority (CATSA) uses smart cards equipped with RFID first deployed in March 2004. These contactless cards and readers offer physical access control enhanced by biometric authentication to restricted areas.

The Rikkyo Primary School in Tokyo (Japan) carried out a trial of active RFID tags in September 2004 in order to monitor the comings and goings of its students in real-time. The system records the exact time a student enters or leaves the campus, and restricts entry to school grounds. Since the tags can be read by scanners from a distance of up to 10 metres, students do not have to stop at designated checkpoints. Some schools in North America are also adopting this approach. One example is the Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo (New York), which deployed an RFID smart label system. The system, in addition to controlling access to the school campus, is also being used to identify and secure assets such as library books and laptop computers.
 

Helping parents keep a tab on their children

Since RFID tags are location-sensitive, public leisure parks such as Legoland in Denmark are using the technology to ensure the safety of children and elderly visitors.

Legoland visitors can choose to rent RFID-enabled wristbands from the park’s administration for the purpose of keeping a tab on their children’s whereabouts.

Parents and guardians wishing to locate separated or missing children can use their mobile phones to send a text message to an application known as “kidspotter”. The application then returns a text message stating the details of the child’s last logged location in the park.

Large shopping malls and department stores may not be far behind, particularly as many have begun using RFID readers and tags for tracking inventory.

Tagging the ancient… and new

Libraries are opting for RFID technology to automate the loan and return of their materials. In the past, books and magazines were traditionally identified using bar code labels that had to be read individually with bar code readers. With RFID, libraries can check materials in and out using scanners placed on shelves or in hand-held devices.

The Vatican Library, which houses a 40-million piece collection of books and manuscripts, began deploying RFID in 2003. About 30’000 books had been tagged as of end 2004. RFID was chosen due to its low cost and for the fact that it did not damage the collection, which includes ancient manuscripts and the oldest known complete version of the Bible.

In the Netherlands, publishing companies like NBD Biblion, which sells 2.7 million books to Dutch libraries annually (accounting for 80 per cent of the national market), began RFID tagging all its books in September 2004. In Tokyo, the Roppongi Hills Library has been tagging its books since 2003.

RFID and the mobile revolution

Mobile phones can serve as an important platform for users to communicate with “smart objects”, opening up new possibilities for location-based services. In March 2004, Nokia introduced the “Nokia RFID Kit”, a GSM phone with RFID reading capability for supply-chain applications. Within a couple of years, the handset manufacturer intends to give consumers the ability to use their mobile phones to access data rich in information about consumer products sold in retail stores.
 

Sports and leisure

Marathon organizers in such cities as Boston, London, New York, Berlin, Los Angeles and Capetown are bringing high-tech communications to participants as they run the course. For example, all of the official entrants in the 2004 Boston Marathon were issued with the “ChampionChip”, a small token tied onto the runner’s shoe. As a runner crosses stationary mats located throughout the race, his/her time is recorded.