Discover RFID is now live 

!www.discoverRFID.org is now live

As you might know, earlier this year, the PPSC European Working Group (PPSC EWG) and a group of GS1 GO colleagues started to create and develop a new website aiming to inform consumers and consumer organizations about the benefits of RFID, with a focus on the Electronic Product Code (EPC). This website is our first effort to increase the level of awareness of RFID and EPC among the public and policymakers. 

The results of the EU Online Consultation on RFID launched by the European Commission last autumn underlined the lack of awareness about the technology; an important number of those respondents that had heard about Radio Frequency Identification before were more acquainted with the risks rather than with the benefits and positive potential of the technology. The campaigns launched by anti RFID activists both in Europe and elsewhere had provoked negative reactions in the press as well as political rejection, in the majority of cases due to misleading  statements and misperceptions about RFID technology (or technologies); in most cases, these campaigns ignored the benefits that RFID will bring to consumers and society at large.

DiscoverRFID.orgcommunicate the benefits and potential of the technology in an entertaining and emotional way, addressing not the technology itself but the use cases (whether current or future) and the manner in which they will positively affect people’s lives.

After much debate and careful consideration, the website is not limited to applications based on the EPC, it also addresses other uses of RFID. It was deemed critical to inform about current and future EPC applications in today’s context, where citizens and individuals are already confronted with RFID at the office, when they travel or commute to work. Only a small percentage of those who have heard about RFID understand the particularities of the Electronic Product Code. In order to attract attention to our messages, it was important to put them in the context of Radio Frequency Identification, in a broader sense.

Although DiscoverRFID.org was initiated as a European project, it was soon decided that the project should not only be addressed at the European public. Following our GS1 EPCglobal vision of open global user driven standards, it was clear that we needed to maintain the global character in everything we do; the website’s content is therefore intended for all audiences, independently of their geographical origin.

The website that you are about to visit is in English, although it has been designed so that it can be easily translated into other languages. As any website, Discoverrfid.org     is a living project that can be ameliorated and completed, and your continued input will be essential to make it better and more useful for different audiences.

The basic website will be officially launched at the EU Presidency RFID Conference on Nov 15. As you probably know, GS1 Portugal and GS1 in Europe will have information booths of EPC technology and standards at the exhibition venue; we will distribute some gadgets and eye catchers during the Conference, and the website will be shown there as well.  In addition, we are preparing a press release that will be distributed at the Conference Press Centre, as well as to GS1 GO press contacts.

It would be important to meet with your team members after the official launch, in order to find appropriate ways to disseminate the website locally, notwithstanding the fact that the website is in English.

Establishing a link to the website from the multiple communications channels at your disposal, with a brief explanation about the aim of the website could multiply the positive effects that we are trying to achieve with these first efforts to raise awareness about RFID and EPC.

The PPSC EWG will inform some EU authorities (EU Commission and members of the European Parliament) about the website, and I would encourage doing the same locally.

The current Discoverrfid.org is just a first step, and as mentioned before the PPSC EWG would like to inviteyou to work together in order to update the content and ameliorate the website during the next months.