The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is the next step in "always on" communications, in which new technologies like RFID and smart computing promise a world of networked and interconnected devices that provide relevant content and information whatever the location of the user. Everything from tires to toothbrushes will be in communications range, heralding the dawn of a new era, one in which today’s Internet (of data and people) gives way to tomorrow’s Internet of Things.

Today I've attended to the first day of RFID 2007 - The next step to "The internet of things", a conference organized by UMIC, IAPMEI e Link Consulting.

The event brings to Portugal the greatest references of the world-wide panorama of RFID, and is inserted in the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, appearing in the sequence of the diverse initiatives launched for the CE.

The conference goal is to discuss technology RFID in its diverse sources and impacts, the technological level, of business and the society. The convergence of diverse technological factors, an accented reduction of the implementation costs and existence of great projects, allows to foresee the appearance of a new technological revolution named as The Internet of Things.

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a technology that allows the identification through tags that store diverse information (ID, transaction information and state, etc) and pass then along a chain of (possibly decoupled) readers, turning them into meaningful information systems. This technology can have a truly transformational role in the enterprise processes, in particular related to logistic and the industrial production, but also with applications in other sectors as in health and combating counterfeiting.

The conference elected five goals:

1. to increase the knowledge on topics related with RFID in the European Union;
   
2. discuss of the implications in privacy terms and security;
   
3. the generation and the reinforcement of the knowledge nets;
   
4. promote scientific partnerships to contribute for the acceleration and progress of the RFID and the Internet of Things;
   
5. identify to ideas for innovative projects of demonstration of the Internet of Things, as much the level of applications of business as of the use of the proper technology.

It was a great mix of envisioning, strategic, business and technological presentations, panels and discussions. Looking forward for day 2!