Moving Towards the 'Internet of Things'
by Jason Grosse, Communications Manager, ITAC
ITAC hosted its first RFID Seminar on March 4th. Sponsored by Deloitte and Dapasoft, the event brought together representatives from established as well as up-and-coming RFID solution providers, companies interested in adopting an RFID strategy and government.
It is undeniable that radio frequency identification (RFID) is going to have a profound impact on how people interact with technology. It is the next step in the evolution of information processing. RFID is not just a microchip attached to an antenna enabling widgets to be tracked in a warehouse — it’s about how those widgets communicate with the warehouse, the employees of the warehouse, and widget control back at head office. The “Internet of Things,” first proposed in 1999 by the Auto-ID centre, a global network of retailers and academics based at MIT, refers to the potential for a network of RFID-enabled devices to change our lives.
In the public sphere in Canada, RFID is poised to fundamentally change the way we interact with government services. Some of the major RFID-related projects that the federal and provincial governments are working on are Electronic Driver’s Licenses (EDL), ePassports, Electronic Health Records, and public transportation. Advancements in these areas hold promise for Canadians in terms of efficiency and ease of use in interacting with government. As an example, Passport Canada is currently piloting the ePassport for diplomats and special passports, with national implementation set for 2011. The ePassport is a response to the global demand for increased security measures and stricter controls. It contains enhanced security features that will minimize the opportunity for fraud. Electronic driver’s licenses also hold this same promise, while the Presto card will change the way we use public transport in the GTA as well as in Ottawa — its technology has already been employed in major international cities such as London with the Oyster card.
Industry also has its share of RFID successes. Glaxo Smith Kline’s Mississauga plant implemented an RFID system in 2006. It is important to also acknowledge the concerns with RFID. These concerns mirror many of the concerns we have with the internet — security protocols, hacking, identity theft. With sensitive documents like the ePassport, the Electronic Health Record or the Electronic Driver’s License, these concerns are heightened. The key to navigating RFID is through a combination of good technology and good regulation.
To find out more about ITAC’s RFID Forum, contact Bill Munson, Vice-President Policy at bmunson@itac.ca
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A Successful Canadian RFID Industry Requires Collaboration
by Bob Moroz, Chair ITAC RFID Forum and President RFID Canada
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| Bob Moroz, Chair ITAC RFID Forum and President RFID Canada |
RFID is one of the fastest growing technologies today and like all emerging technologies, it has had its struggles. In the next few years, everyone will be touching RFID and all consumer and business based software will have an RFID component.
In Canada, we need to do some soul searching, and ask ourselves tough questions. How is Canada positioned in comparison to the rest of the world? What are we currently doing? And how can Canada be a leader in the design, development of RFID products and solutions?
This is why the ITAC RFID forum is so important. It allows us to better understand where the technology is going and how to be better prepared to compete globally. One problematic issue with the RFID industry is overall, it lacks knowledgeable, trained and qualified people. Most integrators and solution providers do not know the difference between the different products. They have little knowledge of radio frequency, specifically, the physics of RFID and they do not understand the environmental and social effects of RFID. For the most part, the goals of the RFID Forum are to promote the deployment of the technology and to ensure it is done right.
The RFID Forum was established to provide ITAC members with a better understanding of RFID technology - where it is today and where it is going, a venue to address issues such as privacy, security and safety that will help the development of new products and solutions that in turn will generate new business.
To be successful, the RFID Forum needs the support and involvement of technology and solution providers, end-users, the government, the academic sector. To better understand RFID, we need to look at where and how RFID is being used. The following are some of the less known but creative and unique RFID applications being deployed:
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Access Control for people is probably the most widely used application for RFID…but what about for pets? Recently, someone developed a door that is designed to open for a pet with a valid RFID tag. This is to prevent other unwanted pets to enter the home.
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Product Authentication - counterfeiting of valuable items has been a problem. RFID is now being used as a solution for the authentication of items such as event tickets, prescription drugs and sport memorabilia. Due to the successful results in this area some police departments have also adopted RFID as a way against the counterfeiting of police badges.
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The implanting of RFID transponders in humans has been a controversial issue. The first published case of implanting RFID in humans has been for the elderly who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Since then, we have seen numerous deployments from security access to access and payment at resorts, to using implanted RFID chips for opening doors. Currently, a Mexican security company using implanted RFID and GPS are tracking their clients’ movements. In some instances, these same clients have been kidnapped but the security company is still able to monitor and track the clients’ whereabouts with the ultimate goal of having them released unharmed from the kidnappers.
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Using RFID to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections
by Niall Wallace, CEO Infonaut Inc.
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| Niall Wallace, CEO Infonaut Inc. |
New strains of MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), of VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci), c.difficile, even TB are becoming drug-resistant. Some are now classified as XDR: extensively drug-resistant. Many of these “superbugs” spread fastest in what should be the most hygienic and safe environments -- hospitals.
Yet one of the most effective strategies in combating hospital-acquired infections (HAI) is simple contact management, tracing and understanding interactions: between patients and staff, patients and equipment, staff and equipment.
RFID technology lets us get back to these basics, only better.
Keeping track of who touched what and what went where, done manually, quickly compounds rather than alleviates the burden on overworked professionals. But data gathered through RFID happens automatically is accurate; and is available in real-time.
One of the most promising applications of RFID tag technology, the one used by Infonaut’s Hospital Watch Live (HWL) system, is its integration with the next layer up in spatial understanding -- geographic information systems (GIS).
On its own, RFID identifies a specific location. Adding GIS interpretation to the granular data allows you to add the spatial dimensions which leads from data to knowledge: relative locations, correlation with other data sets, and interaction management.
When a “Patient Zero” is identified, GIS mapping technology combined with RFID locators supports immediate risk assessment, containment and outbreak mitigation. This gives hospitals actionable information. Real-time and historical data gives them the ability to create, measure and refine their strategies against disease spread.
Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI) are the next big challenge facing hospital and healthcare institutions -- in Canada, and internationally. HAI are responsible for at least $1 billion in direct hospital expenses in Canada alone, and have been flagged as an area of importance by the CDC in their plan “Preventing Emerging Infectious Diseases for the 21st Century”. While the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries work on ways to cure infections once they’ve happened, we can use RFID technology to stop them before they start.
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At Last … Ontario Will Harmonize Sales Tax
Ontario made a major breakthrough in tax policy with its decision to
harmonize its retail sales tax with the Goods and Services Tax by July 1,
2010. ITAC, along with many other business organizations, has repeatedly
called upon the Provincial Government to harmonize sales tax and upon the
Federal Government to help it do so. The Federal Government is contributing
$4.3 billion. The harmonized tax will replace the 5% GST and 8% RST with one
harmonized 13% tax. When fully implemented (and there is a lag), the most
important aspect of harmonization for Ontario businesses is that as a
value-added tax it will allow them to recover the provincial portion of
sales tax on inputs. This reduces the cost of investments and of products
sold. There is also a big saving on compliance costs, to the tune of $500
million.
The RST is particularly problematic for ICT companies. The complexities of its rules, particularly as applied to custom software, have posed significant burdens on our industry. So the move to harmonization is great news for us. Audrey Diamant (PWC) has worked with ITAC’s Tax and Finance Committee to advocate for reform. Here is her analysis of the impact of harmonization:
“On the sales side, the complexity of the RST rules as they currently apply to the industry has been the subject of much debate and concern. Since the RST rules on software were revamped in 1997, the industry has struggled to understand and apply the rules on a consistent and coherent basis. In particular, properly defining exempt custom software; determining the non-taxable service elements of a software implementation project; applying RST to access charges where software was loaded on a server in Ontario; and trying to support exemption for service charges under certain SaaS models, all represent RST issues that have plagued local industry. Consequently, implementation of the HST will effectively remove these issues and simplify the application of tax. It will also remove the RST-driven incentive for certain suppliers to move their servers outside of Ontario, an unfortunate result of Ontario’s taxing software access charges based on the location of the software, as opposed to that of the user. Importantly, business consumers may see the effective cost of IT services decrease with the advent of a harmonized tax.”
Corporate taxes are also scheduled to fall from 14% to 10% by 2013 and for small business from 5.5% to 4.5% as of 2010, and the small business earnings threshold is going to $500k from $400k. With harmonization and corporate tax reductions, Ontario is cutting its marginal effective tax rate on investment in half. This will be a tremendous boost for investment and growth.
The Budget also contains many useful measures to bolster Ontario’s innovative capacity including research infrastructure and digital media. The Budget also contains a temporary 100% accelerated capital cost allowance rate on computers and software that matches the CCA measure in the January Federal Budget and it reaffirms the $250 million Emerging Technologies Fund announced the previous week.
Ontario’s Budget caps a month of provincial government announcements that contain a number of improvements to R&D credits and methods to incent investment. The most significant move to address the financing crisis facing growth tech ventures is in Québec which established the $500 million EFRB (Emergency Fund for Small Business), the $825 million FFSUC (Fund to Finance Sectoral Venture Capital Funds) and three funds for start-ups totaling $125 million. It establishes Stock Savings Plan II, a retail investment tax credit for SMEs with assets up to $200 million. The Québec Budget also contains a provision for a 10-year tax holiday for new corporations dedicated to the commercialization of intellectual property from Québec universities and public labs.
ITAC is requesting its members comments on the Ontario budget. Please send commentary to ITAC CEO and President, Bernard Courtois.
Please click the following links to view our correspondence to government
The Honourable Jim
Flaherty, Minister of Finance
The Honourable Dalton McGuinty,
Premier of Ontario
The Honourable Dwight
Duncan, Minister of Finance and Minister of Revenue
Advanced Packaging Forum Gets Raves
Nearly 30 representatives of Montreal's microelectronics community turned
out to hear Dave Danovitch's presentation on advanced packaging solutions at
the latest Strategic Microelectronics Council Best Practice Forum. The
forum, hosted by Wavesat, provided a highly interactive look at the
challenges and benefits of solutions like flip-chip packaging and
system-on-a-chip. The feedback from the session was overwhelmingly positive.
Those who could not attend may want to take advantage of an encore
performance Dave (who is a senior engineer at IBM's Bromont facility) has
planned for Ottawa on May 12.
For more
information, or to register, click here.
Innovation in Ontario: Government
Announces Spending and Program Changes
Ontario is creating a new fund to drive start-up investment in green
technology companies and other high-tech businesses. The move is a response
to the challenges emerging technology companies are experiencing in raising
venture capital due to tightening credit markets. The long-term goal of the
fund is to create a dynamic, vibrant venture capital community that will
help Ontario companies grow and compete globally. Starting in July, the
Emerging Technologies Fund would invest $250 million dollars over five years
together with qualified venture capital funds and private sector investors.
The fund would match small to medium private sector investments and receive
an interest in companies it supports. To learn more about Ontario’s
Innovation Agenda,
please
visit the Government of Ontario website.
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Call For Nominations - ITAC IT Hero Awards
ITAC has officially launched the Call for Nominations for the 9th Annual
ITAC IT Hero Awards presented by Intel. The ITAC IT Hero Awards celebrate
and recognize creative applications of information technology that
significantly improve the lives of Canadians and readily demonstrate the
social and economic benefits. ITAC developed the awards program in 2001
collaboratively with Industry Canada as a feature of IT Week, a time to
reflect on the successful impact of IT on society. Now entering its 9th
year, the ITAC IT Hero Awards program has been expanded to include a
corporate-level award.
Program Highlights:
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There are two award categories:
Community IT Hero Award – an individual, group or not-for-profit organization who demonstrates the creative application of IT in improving the lives of Canadians. -
Corporate IT Hero Award – a for-profit public or privately-owned business that demonstrates the creative application of IT in improving the lives of Canadians.
An independent judging panel is assembled comprised of distinguished individuals with intimate knowledge of Canada’s IT sector. The awards will be presented at the Chair’s Dinner taking place June 23, 2009 in Toronto. We still have opportunities available for sponsorship. Please contact Cindy Scott at cindy.scott@firstavenueevents.com for more information and a copy of the sponsorship package. For more information or to nominate visit http://www.itheroawards.ca.
 meshU is a one-day event of focused workshops on design, development and team management given by those who have earned their stripes in the startup game; people who can talk knowledgeably about everything from interface design to using Amazon’s S3 distributed server network. We hope this addition to mesh will meet a growing need in Toronto: the need for practical, down-to-earth information about tools, knowledge and expertise for startups, web designers and developers of all kinds. |
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The Audacity of
Imagination: Microelectronics’ New Millennium
April 14th - 15th 2009
Delta
Hotel, 105 King Street East, Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
A Strategic
Microelectronics Council of ITAC
Everyday life in the 21st Century is not exactly what was envisaged in the
early 1960’s TV shows like Star Trek and the Jetsons but technology is
impacting every aspect of our lives, both working and social - and not
always for the better.
However, much as we would like the pace of change to slow down, there is no
sign of this happening anytime soon - so get ready for a whole new
generation of technologies which will impact our lives: quantum computing;
solar energy; green-tech; mobile 4th Gen Broadband; imaging solutions.
This year’s Forum will provide an opportunity to get an advance look at some
of the most exciting emerging applications and allow us to understand the
impact of the underlying microelectronics–based technologies that enable
them: nano-electronics; photonics; MEMS; bio-tech and more. Join us as
experts from global enterprises discuss the opportunities for
microelectronics companies as emerging technologies get ready to change
consumers’ lives. For more information
click
here.
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The Tremblant
Venture Forum 2009- Venture Capital Financing Solutions in Challenging Times
May 13 – 14, 2009
Fairmount Tremblant Hotel, PQ
The Tremblant Venture Forum (TVF) is Eastern Canada’s premier company
financing event.
It brings together leading North American venture capitalists, over 25 of
the most promising Canadian early-stage and growth-stage companies in ICT and
technology sectors,
prominent investment professionals, CEOs and entrepreneurs and professionals
who offer services to the ICT and Clean Technology Sectors and the VC Industry. For more information,
click here.
For a complete listing of all ITAC events go to: http://www.itac.ca/index.php/site/events/
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) Program Starting April 1, 2009
Ontario’s WEEE program comes into effect April 1, 2009. Among other
features, the program introduces drop-off locations for used electronics.
Brand owners, importers, assemblers and franchisors will be responsible for
the cost of recycling. For more information,
click here (redirects to marketnews.ca)
The 21st Annual Profit 100
Every year the PROFIT 100 turns successful entrepreneurs into the
heroes of Canadian business. The PROFIT 100, now in its 21st year, is the
definitive ranking of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies. Its alumni include
some of the biggest names in Canadian business, such as Research in Motion,
Sleeman Breweries, Forzani Group and WestJet Airlines. Profit 100 companies
enjoy many great benefits including coverage in the June 2009 issue of
PROFIT Magazine and online at PROFITguide.com. PROFIT 100 leaders also
receive an exclusive invitation to the PROFIT 100 CEO Summit, Canada’s most
rewarding conference for entrepreneurial achievers. The entry deadline is
March 31, 2009. For more information or to enter online, visit
http://www.profit100.com
Intel Premier IT Knowledge Awards – Call For
Nominations
Has your organization’s IT team or an individual really made an impact in
managing your client fleet or data center? If so, they may have an
opportunity to be recognized for their efforts through the Intel Premier IT
Knowledge Award from CIO and Intel. Honorees and their winning best
practices will be prominently featured in an upcoming issue of CIO magazine.
The deadline is May 29, 2009. For more details,
click here.
Kinsa 3rd Annual Heroes of the Fight
Celebration
June 3, 2009
Berkeley Church, 315 Queen Street East,
Toronto
The Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance invites you to join us for the 3rd Annual
Heroes of the Fight Celebration. A Cocktail Reception Fundraising Evening
Featuring a live jazz performance by Juno winner Richard Underhill with a
charity casino and a magnificent silent auction. For more information, go
to: http://www.kinsa.net
Ontario Showcase at CommunicAsia2009 & ICT
Partnering Forums
Singapore & Bangkok, Thailand
June 15 - 23, 2009
The Ontario Ministry of International Trade & Investment is pleased to
invite you to join the Ontario showcase within the Canadian Pavilion at
CommunicAsia2009. The event will be preceded by an ICT Partnering Forum
organized by the Canadian High Commission in Singapore on Monday, June 15
and followed by an ICT Partnering Forum organized by the Canadian Embassy in
Bangkok, Thailand on Monday June 22. During CommunicAsia, a networking event
designed to introduce visiting delegates from India to our solutions is also
planned. For more information, please contact Corie McDougall, Area
Director, South & Southeast Asia, International Trade Branch, Ministry of
International Trade & Investment, (416) 325-6663, corie.mcdougall@ontario.ca
We want to hear from you! Please submit your company's news link or press release to Jason Grosse at jgrosse@itac.ca for posting on the ITAC website.
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