RFID: What it can do for RP

If there’s one emerging technology which the Philippines should develop and deploy as part its IT strategy, it should be RFID, short for radio frequency identification.

Private corporations and government-owned institutions are united in the belief that RFID, which is currently enjoying unprecedented growth in different parts of the globe, will allow the country to leapfrog and become more competitive.

RFID is a form of "contact-less" technology that does away with the line-ofsight requirement of barcodes.

And since it uses radio signals, RFID is also greater in coverage than bar code scanning.

Another advantage of RFID is the convenience it gives to users as it eliminates the need to swipe card or insert one’s card.

These are possible scenarios with RFID technology: long queues at the MRT or LRT can be eliminated with the use of RFID cards that commuters would flash at the entry bar instead of the magnetic cards; in supermarkets, shoppers can push their carts full of groceries and the counter will automatically read all the items at once; with RFID tags installed inside their vehicles, motorists using expressways no longer have to line up just to pay their toll fees.

The last scenario is actually happening or has been realized at the South Luzon Expressway through the E-Pass or electronic pass. However, the prohibitive cost of the tag or transponder (R2,700.00, inclusive of R400.00 prepaid toll) has prevented the large majority of vehicle owners from getting their own tags.

Being a "budding" technology, RFID is still relatively expensive for a poor country like the Philippines to deploy extensively, admits Romulo Maggay, head of the wireless team of Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) of the Department of Science and Technology.

"The widespread use of RFID is delayed by only one factor — the cost of the card or tag," he says. "RFID is trying to replace the barcode, but at the moment, it simply cannot compete with the cheap cost of the barcode."

This is the reason why, Maggay says, RFID is only used in special types of applications in the Philippines.

Its cost, he says, will only become cheaper if there is massive adoption and the technology for creating the RFID system becomes more advanced.

"That is the only time that many entities will invest in RFID," he says matter-of-factly.

In other countries where there is widespread use of RFID, Maggay says common applications include people and animal identification, anti-theft systems, and locator systems. In short, RFID is used and found in anything that involves identification.

In Singapore, currently the top-ranked country in the world in the use of ICT, its government has recognized early on the benefit of implementing RFID in a wide-ranging basis. In malls and public transportation networks, Singaporeans make use of their RFID cards which they top up or reload using ATM machines.

A proof that RFID is a technology with bright business viability is the decision last year of technology giant Philips Semiconductors to invest $265 million to make its manufacturing plant in Laguna a worldwide "radio frequency (RF) center of competence."

Right now, Philips produces 80 percent of the total number of chips that are being used for RFID tags or transponders worldwide, according to Philips Semiconductors Philippines head Jun Sta. Ana.

For its part, Maggay says the ASTI is counting on its RF Transceiver Kit project, a five-year initiative which is now on its last stages of development.

Although the project is not specifically focused on RFID, it can boost RFID-related ventures in the country since "transceiver is the very heart of RFID system."

RFID uses RF signals to transmit and receive data.

"Our objective here is to transfer the technology to the academe through trainings and seminars. Hopefully, we (can achieve) our objective in the last quarter of this year."

Maggay reveals ASTI is not pursuing a particular RFID project at the moment. The agency, however, is open to research contracts or partnerships with companies willing to venture on projects based on RFID.

Citing the business potential of RFID, he recalled an incident a few months ago when a representative from a French company involved in the deployment of RFID toll collection system for the newly rehabilitated Northern Luzon Expressway came to ASTI to seek assistance for their faulty system.

"These opportunities would be of great help for Filipino engineers to fully explore this technology," he says, adding research development should be conducted in order that the country can capitalize on this new emerging technology. (Melvin G. Calimag, MB)