RFID Lowdown: Thailand Thawing to RFID

October 06, 2006

Thailand Thawing to RFID

The adoption of new technology is an expensive, time-consuming process that is fraught with uncertainties and difficulties. The problem is compounded when no concrete decision has been made on the espousal of the technology.

Industries in Thailand are being relieved of the responsibilities associated with such tasks through the efforts of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa). The agency is collaborating with the National Electronics and Computer Center (Nectec) to set up an RFID test-bed center to conduct tests and demonstrate the uses and applications of RFID technology in a diverse range of applications.

Sipa is hoping to increase awareness on the benefits of RFID technology in various sectors by demonstrating its uses in supply chains, warehouses, logistics applications, retail businesses, vehicles and transport, the garments industry, pharmacy and medical devices, animal ID, electronic consumer products, perishable and metal products, and communications businesses. Organizations can save themselves a bundle in testing and evaluation costs, besides eliminating the risks associated with such ventures.

The center will also be a testing ground for application and middleware developers, hardware developers and system integrators to try out their products in mock real-life situations. Testing services will be offered at three levels, including protocol compliance tests, application tests, and system compliance tests, according to Apinetr Unakul, the secretariat of Tesa, the Thai Embedded System Association that is working with Sipa to test the feasibility of the center.

The center is emerging as a collaborative project with Sipa contributing seed money for the center’s establishment, Nectec playing the role of main sponsor besides providing training support, and the Thai RFID Cluster under Tesa looking after management and operations. Various organizations are also hoping to use the center as an effective promotional base for their RFID chips, tags, and applications – a mutually beneficial relationship for the companies and the center.

The center, which is to be up and running by the end of next year and fully operational the year after, will run on Bt20 million (Thai Baht) for five years after its inception. With Thailand emerging as the new hotspot for RFID technology, it’s a given that the center will be a roaring success.

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October 6, 2006 in Implementation | Permalink