Why RFID now??

There are certain factors that should be accounted for before having a technology started in the industry. Talking in terms of RFID we can consider four factors. STANDARDS in the absence of some global standards and regulatory body that can formulate some define rules and regulations technologies take up varied faces and are rendered un-interchangeable. Consider left hand and right hand driven cars, or the difference in electrical appliance sockets in US and other places, I am not saying any of these are less efficient than other or vice-versa, but absence of standards makes the technology region centric. If any such thing happens technology is not able to get the global flavour and becomes redundant. Standards can decide what bandwidth of spectrum to use in what applications, directives for usage of RFID on animals and humans.

Second standards that can be considered is COST, any new technology aspire to cut cost and effort, but the technology should not be so costly that the saving that is intends to make become insignificant. SUPPLY, supply of the technology, its installation, training, maintenance and query resolution are utmost important, in the absence of these facilities the technology will become a cognitive burden on the organisation trying to put it to use. When WalMart initiated the RFID tagging the hardware market (tags, reader, printer) were expected to grow to $5 billion in a span of 5 years, at a steady and healthy growth rate of 41%. HARBINGER, first movers have advantage, but that comes laced with risk, so naturally leaders in industry are expected to comply with new technology, as it happened in this case also WalMart, The US DoD and other leading companies gave the Harbinger effect.

The implementation of RFID is not only because of business motives there are societal forces behind it also, their roots are in the terrorist attack of 9/11 attack, and the mad cow disease that grappled The US which led to banning of potential prior-tainted animal feeds in the US in 1995. The forces grew with public distrust of corporate financial reporting which gave birth to Sarbanes-Oxley Act.