U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

RFID growth demands govt. and industry cooperation, a Commerce Dept. (DoC) official said Tues. “RFID in the U.S. and around the world is poised for significant growth in business, consumer applications and in government,” DoC Acting Deputy Secy. David Sampson said at an RFID conference sponsored by the National Chamber Foundation and SAP in Washington. “Our success in advancing innovation will depend on the partnership between the federal government, industry and academia,” he said: “We need… to establish intelligent dialogues on the global potential of RFID, and hopefully avoid some of the misinformation and emotions that discussion of emerging new technologies like RFID can sometimes generate.” The govt. increasingly sees RFID as “a technology that promises to keep America more competitive and innovative in the world economy,” Sampson said. Citing industry sources, he said the RFID market for consulting, implementation and managed services could be $2-$4.2 billion by 2008. That year will see as much as 30% of capital goods carry RFID tags, he said. The Defense Dept., which has extensive supply chains, leads the govt. in RFID adoption, Sampson said. “RFID applications are also being tested in other parts of government for logistics support and for public safety and security,” he said. DoC, for example, has an RFID working group engaging several of its offices to “better understand the technology, its deployment in the business sector and the policy challenges associated with an emerging technology application,” he said. DoC recently issued an RFID paper, Radio Frequency Identification: Opportunities and Challenges in Implementation. Commerce will continue to drive RFID innovation, Sampson said, but “there are challenges, as is common with any emerging technology.” They include harmonization of standards and interoperability issues across different RFID systems, companies and countries, as well as privacy and security concerns, he said. “We are working with industry on the development of practical and market-driven technical standards to allow greater interoperability,” Sampson said, stressing “market-driven.” “We must also implement smart privacy and security policies that can sustain innovation built around RFID technology and provide consumers with the information and tools they need to protect themselves,” he said: “All these challenges must be overcome for RFID to achieve its full potential.” Sampson stressed common standards as “key to making possible the wide-spread deployment of technology and all its associated benefits.” As more economies with unique standards enter the global market, “the need for harmonized standards becomes more acute,” Sampson said, citing China as an example. “We need to educate our trading partners that multiple standards create huge costs and great burdens for product and technology development as well as world trade,” he said.

Most federal agencies aren’t taking adequate steps to combat spam, phishing and spyware, as the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requires, the Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) said Mon. Cybersecurity experts in govt. and industry were unsurprised by the report.

A national lab with a way for mobile user groups to set up secure communications on the fly will pitch it tomorrow (Thurs.) to those who might want to license the technology or finance a business to commercialize it. The patent-pending method -- known as robust cryptography for virtual collaborative environments -- is suitable for emergency rescue, military and police operations. It also could be developed for use in Wi-Fi products and other wireless communication devices, said the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

A national lab with a way for mobile user groups to set up secure communications on the fly will pitch it tomorrow (Thurs.) to those who might want to license the technology or finance a business to commercialize it. The patent-pending method -- known as robust cryptography for virtual collaborative environments -- is suitable for emergency rescue, military and police operations. It also could be developed for use in Wi-Fi products and other wireless communication devices, said the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

LAS VEGAS -- Mitsubishi has postponed shipment of its 14-oz. so-called pocket projector to late Sept. and plans to aggressively promote the product, despite indications rivals are hedging their bets. While BenQ, InFocus and Samsung have shown prototype models, Mitsubishi has emerged as the sole supplier so far with plans to sell the DLP-based projector at retail this year.

Delegates to the Nov. 16-18 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) shouldn’t reopen old debates but instead focus on implementing existing agreements, the European Commission (EC) said Mon. The Commission outlined 4 negotiating points in the run-up to WSIS: (1) Build on emerging economies’ progress by backing greater Internet access. (2) Take a holistic approach to bridging the digital divide by mobilizing human, financial and technological resources to integrate information and communications technologies into development policies. (3) Find a “new cooperation model” to put into effect WSIS language on the role in Internet governance of govts., the private sector, civil society, international organizations and other entities. (4) “Insist” on simplicity and efficiency as hallmarks of any mechanism used to ensure implementation of the action plan agreed to at the 2003 summit, along with WSIS political follow-up, and that implementation make full use of existing United Nations organizations, govt. agencies, the private sector and civil society.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) cautioned against “quick-fix solutions” to meet a 120-day FCC deadline for VoIP providers to offer E-911 capability. NENA, a leader in industry standards, said it knows the 120 days is a tight deadline but “any partial solutions implemented within the 120-day timeframe which do not comply with the… open industry standards must be considered as interim methods.” The FCC E-911 order (CD June 6 p1) is “a positive step toward greater cooperation and deployment of IP-related E-911 services,” NENA said. The group is working on “Migratory 12 and next generation NG911 (13) solutions.”

Govt. has a responsibility to regulate new IP-based services, not just to protect consumers but also to make sure new Internet-based services grow competitively, panelists said Thurs. at the Broadband Policy Summit sponsored by Pike & Fischer. Panelists differed on how much regulation would be right. But they agreed the trick will be deciding who does the regulating and how much oversight to apply without harming new services’ growth.

Govt. has a responsibility to regulate new IP-based services, not just to protect consumers but also to make sure new Internet-based services grow competitively, panelists said Thurs. at the Broadband Policy Summit sponsored by Pike & Fischer. Panelists differed on how much regulation would be right. But they agreed the trick will be deciding who does the regulating and how much oversight to apply without harming new services’ growth.