ASPIRE would like to invite small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to an RFID information day. This RFID information day is specifically focused on but not limited to enterprises which are actively involved in the fields of foods and beverages, apparel and footwear, pharmaceuticals and counterfeiting.

RFID, which is regarded as a replacement of the barcode, is a technology that emerged a few years ago in the field of supply chain and continuously gains considerable acceptance in that domain. In addition to that, the considerable research towards the evolvement of the technology and its applications, which is being held in European research centers, is supported by the prominent investments of the European Committee and the private initiative and provides fruitful results daily.

This workshop is organized as part of the European Project ASPIRE, which is comprised of a large consortium of research institutes and enterprises from many European countries. The aim of the project, which has duration of 3 years, is to develop an integrated system that would allow small and medium businesses to enter the world of RFID at a very little cost (TCO) and without the need for significant knowledge of the technology.

By participating in this workshop, businesses will have an opportunity to learn about the key features of RFID, along with the current research trends. Additionally, they will also be able to get a solid experience of the technology through case studies and other demos. Furthermore, through questionnaires and short interviews of the attending businesses, the ASPIRE consortium will be able to elicit the wishes and requirements of the technology, from the SME view, so that the ASPIRE‘s research results will be better targeted. Finally, opportunities for participation in the pilot phase of ASPIRE will be offered to businesses that will attend the event.

This pair of conferences will look at the issues of the “middleware” of RFID solutions and are aimed at SMEs interested in participating in the OSS project ASPIRE and improving their competitiveness by adopting RFID.

Whilst business benefits from RFID are significant, dealing with and integrating RFID data with existing back office solutions poses tremendous business and technological challenges, mainly in terms of cost of ownership and heterogeneity of RFID implementations. Similarly, issues such as data protection and privacy are becoming more important for maintaining trust in RFID adoption and public acceptance of solutions, and the European Commission has taken interest in these issues and is holding a public online consultation to develop Europe-wide recommendations on RFID privacy and security.

In order to reach a proper SME dissemination level, ASPIRE held the RFID Information Day in its partners countries. Here is a list of RFID Information Days held on several countries :

• RFID Information Day in UK  
• RFID Information Day in France
• RFID Information Day in Greece
• RFID Information Day in Portugal
• RFID Information Day in Denmark