| Networked RFID: Systems and Services |
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INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
ITU-T WORKSHOP ON NETWORKED
RFID - SYSTEMS AND SERVICES |
14 February 2006 |
14 - 15 FEBRUARY 2006
CENTRE INTERNATIONAL DE CONFERENCES DE GENEVE (CICG) GENEVA |
OPENING REMARKS
BY
MR. YOSHIO UTSUMI
ITU SECRETARY-GENERAL
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Colleagues,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Geneva for this two-day workshop on
"Networked RFID: Systems and Services".
Telecommunication is characterized by fast-paced innovation and rapid change.
But what is developing today in the form of “ubiquitous communications” is perhaps
one of the most dramatic changes we have faced since the telegraph. As such, this
event is a topical and timely one.
As we gather here today, thousands of tiny radio tags are being embedded in a
wide variety of things. This signals the dawn of a new “network of things”, enabling
communications not only between people but also between things at an unprecedented scale.
But imagine the future: one in which individual objects are drawn into the vast
network of telecommunications – objects such as our house keys, our car, our furniture,
our watches, and everyday items we might buy in the shops.
Even your lovers may one day have their own radio tags behind their ears.
We would thus conduct our daily activities while network communications occur quietly in
the background and for their benefit. There will no longer be the need to find a
dedicated IT device, to sit at or to turn on, in order to gather information or to
connect. We are in this respect witnessing the birth of a new era of ubiquitous
computing and communications, one that is set to dramatically change public and private
lives.
Adam Smith said that the market is led by an invisible hand. I would say that not only
the market place but all of us will soon be connected by invisible RFID tags.
This is why we are here today: to consider the wide-ranging benefits and the challenges
of such new developments.
At the ITU, we have been tracking these issues for some time now. Last November, we
launched our annual Internet Report entitled "The Internet of Things". As its title
indicates, the report considers the implications of an environment full of invisible
radio communications of RFID tags and wireless sensor networks.
The key challenges identified range from the development of effective standards,
to the use of technical innovation to build solutions that help to resolve various
societal concerns, such as public welfare and security, health care, and the environment.
Privacy and data protection were flagged as the most important challenge to overcome,
given the potential for radio tags to track a user’s movements, habits and preferences
on a perpetual basis.
Let us also remember that at the Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), the leaders of the world reaffirmed their "desire to build ICT networks
and develop applications… based on open or interoperable standards that are affordable
and accessible to all, available anywhere and anytime, to anyone and on any device,
leading to a ubiquitous network" (Paragraph 28, Tunis Commitment).
Certainly, the internet should expand in a spirit of partnership, consensus and
openness – we need to encourage a cooperative model for the future “Internet of Things”
in order to ensure the creation of global, all-inclusive, fair and just information
society.
So, in this context, we look to you, the participants in this workshop, to provide
guidance as to how industry, policy-makers, and standard-setting bodies can respond
to the growth of networked RFID. It is expected that, during this workshop, a number
of key areas for international co-ordination will be identified and elaborated.
With that, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to wish you an informative and creative
two days of debate on this most challenging and timely subject.
Thank you for joining us and good luck.
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