Auto-ID Center
Auto-ID Center was a research consortium founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 to develop the Electronic Product Code and low-cost RFID tags, with Kevin Ashton as a driving force, before EPCglobal took over its standards work in 2003.
What happened and why it matters
The Auto-ID Center created the EPC standards behind the passive RFID tags now used on apparel, cartons and pallets. Backed by the Uniform Code Council, EAN International, Procter & Gamble, Gillette and more than 100 sponsors, it aimed to give every item a unique number that could be read by radio without line-of-sight scanning. Ashton is also credited with coining the phrase internet of things. In 2003, EPCglobal, a joint venture of the barcode bodies, took over the standards while Auto-ID Labs continued research. Retailer RFID mandates for apparel and RFID-based inventory counts in some fulfillment centers trace directly to this work.
People
Related events
Sources
- Auto-ID Labs (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- What is the Auto-ID Center? (RFID Journal) rfidjournal.com