How does the RFID Internet of Things go? Europe, America, Japan and Korea are very different
In 1999, Kevin Ashton, known as the "Father of the Internet of Things," first proposed the concept of the "Internet of Things", which soon became widely spread. In the original vision, RFID was seen as the foundation of the Internet of Things. If everyday items are equipped with RFID tags, people can build a networked system for rapid identification of items covering the world.
Nowadays, when we talk about the Internet of Things, it still seems to be a kind of outlook on the future, but in fact, the Internet of Things has penetrated into all aspects of our lives, such as the most intuitive mobile phone ordering, buying tickets, receiving express delivery, and smart homes for daily use. , Convenient transportation navigation when traveling, etc.
If you think about it, these changes have actually happened in recent years. It turns out that our way of life has been subverted by the Internet of Things too many times without knowing it.
Each country has its own focus on the development goals of the Internet of Things
Today, the Internet of Things is regarded as the third wave of the information industry. It is not only an inevitable trend of social development, but also a high ground for countries all over the world to compete.
The RFID Internet of Things is closely related to the M2M concept, and the connection between things is realized through the characteristics of RFID wireless identification. In order to promote the wider application of RFID, the EPC organization has done a lot of standardization work, conducted research and planning on the bar code and RFID standards, and launched the EPC standard on this basis, which was later upgraded to ISO 18000-6C International standard.
In order to promote the application and industrialization of RFID, different countries and regions have planned different frequency bands and standards. For example, the frequency used in Japan is 952~954MHz, the frequency used in the United States is 902~928MHz, and the European Union is 865~868MHz. There are currently two licensed frequency ranges issued by China, namely the 840~845MHz and 920~925MHz frequency bands.
At present, the EPC global standard of the United States has taken the initiative in the international arena, and many countries have adopted this standard framework.
Japan has long developed RFID applications under the leadership of the government. In 2005, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan vigorously carried out strategies such as "Electronic Japan" and "Ubiquitous Japan" to continuously promote the realization of the "Ubiquitous Network" concept. Its "ubiquitous" concept implies the widespread existence of RFID.
In addition, the UID standard system established by Japan has achieved good results in China and has been vigorously promoted abroad. Soon after Japan launched the "Ubiquitous Japan" strategy, South Korea also followed the steps of Japan and launched the "Ubiquitous Korea" strategy.
On the whole, Europe and the United States pay more attention to IoT strategies and planning, while Japan and South Korea focus on ubiquitous networks and key applications.
After entering the 21st century, China has also continued to vigorously promote the popularization of RFID applications. Under the leadership of the government, applications including transportation cards, bank cards, Olympic Games, World Expos, railway information systems, etc. have been continuously implemented. It has a local background. Next, the development strategy of "perceive China" is proposed.
However, on the whole, due to the huge domestic market, most of the Internet of Things projects are in the start-up period of scattered applications, and there is still a big gap between large-scale applications.
Development strategies for RFID IoT applications in different countries
(1) Europe
Today, Europe is facing many challenges such as economic recession and population aging. At the same time, Europe's high labor costs, very strict market supervision, and strong awareness of privacy protection all have an impact on the application of RFID industry to a large extent.
Europe is very strict in the supervision of food, medicine and health products. Taking food as an example, the legislation clearly stipulates the definition and scope of dietary supplements, the use and source of raw materials, the operating specifications that business enterprises must comply with, etc., to ensure that all aspects of the extraction, production, processing, listing, and circulation are strictly in the EU Within the scope of supervision.
The use of RFID for tracking in the production and circulation of food, medicine, and health products has greatly improved Europe's ability to combat unsafe food, medicine, and related product fraud. Therefore, Europe's ability to control these product markets has been highly recognized around the world.
Due to the high labor costs, Europe is willing to introduce intelligent automation in logistics, manufacturing, and retail industries to improve production efficiency. Therefore, the popularity and maturity of RFID applications in these fields are very high.
Due to the strong awareness of citizens’ privacy protection, EU legislation guarantees people’s right to "chip silence", that is, citizens should be able to read basic RFID tags and destroy them at appropriate nodes in the supply chain to protect their privacy.
(2) United States
Since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, the United States has promoted the development of the new energy industry to an unprecedented level. Among them, the construction of smart grids has been chosen by the government as the core main force for stimulating the revitalization of the US economy.
Compared with traditional power grids, smart grids can greatly improve the efficiency, reliability, and flexibility of the grid system, thereby increasing energy efficiency, which is beneficial to the ecological protection of the entire planet.
The application of RFID in the power scene is mainly the detection of power grid equipment and power asset management, prevention of natural disasters, and monitoring of line conditions. In the real scene, because there are a large number of blind spots in the terminal collection of data, relying on RFID technology can realize the data monitoring of this part.
In addition, the use of RFID in large supermarkets in the United States is also common, and the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart is the leader in RFID applications. With the vigorous promotion of Wal-Mart, its supply chain manufacturers have launched RFID one after another, which has greatly improved the efficiency and flexibility of supply chain operations.
In addition to Wal-Mart, well-known international giants such as Gillette, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, etc. all vigorously promote RFID applications. In addition, the US Department of Defense uses RFID in the management and control of military supplies, and the Food and Drug Administration is also actively using RFID technology to track and combat counterfeit drugs.
(3) Japan and South Korea
Japan and South Korea are relatively small in land area, large in population, and relatively poor in resources. At the same time, they are faced with challenges such as population aging and low birth rate. The cultural environment and market environment are different from those in Europe and America. Therefore, for RFID application scenarios and methods There are obvious differences in focus.
Sakamura Kenzo, who is known as the "Father of RFID Technology", wrote an article that countries with different cultures and nationalities should be treated differently. He believes that there is a tradition of "sexual evil" in European and American cultures, which makes them more inclined to monitor illegal activities in the application of RFID, and the application of RFID in Japan focuses more on monitoring the production and circulation process.
In addition to the large-scale use of RFID technology in manufacturing, logistics, and retail, due to the shortage of land resources in Japan and South Korea, coupled with the problem of aging populations, the demand for intelligence in agriculture and medical care has become more prominent. It can also be played in these scenarios.
There are a large number of convenience stores and unmanned vending machines in Japan. RFID technology has played a huge role behind it. In addition to the fast shopping and checkout experience that consumers can experience personally, a greater role occurs behind the scenes. With the help of an online inventory management system built with RFID technology, we can keep abreast of the status of goods in shelves and warehouses at any time, and greatly improve the problems of inventory backlog and excess inventory.
RFID technology will be affected by all aspects of economy, technology, culture, and market in different countries and regions. Under the comprehensive influence of these elements, different development strategies will be produced, and different industrial forms will be shaped. At present, the development of globalization will also give birth to new application scenarios for RFID. In addition, COVID-19 has promoted the development of contactless economy. RFID will play an increasingly important role in economic development.
