GS1, ETSI and CEN, three major standards organisations, have launched the Global RFID Interoperability Forum for Standards (GRIFS), a support action project funded by the European Union. Its aim is to improve collaboration and maximise the global interoperability of RFID standards.
GS1, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) will be leading the two year project. It will initiate a forum that will continue to work and develop through a Memorandum of Understanding and continuous co-operation between key global standard organisations active in RFID.
GRIFS will work to characterise the variety of standards activities taking place globally;
- To align RFID standards development globally
- To create a number of liaison activities to disseminate information about the
importance of global standards
- To put in place the 'Global RFID Interoperability forum for Standards' (GRIFS)
comprising global stakeholders
- To ensure continuous close collaboration between standards activities
This will create synergies, increase co-operation and avoid duplication of developments in order to minimise unnecessary business expenses caused by the development of incompatible localised standards, and maximise the use of standards development resources. As enterprise networks and intelligent supply chains grow in number, size and reach, the requirement for coherent global standards becomes a necessary requisite.
This support action will focus on the use of RFID in supply chains and related activities. These activities primarily encompass the tracking and tracing of physical items as they move through supply chains in many different businesses, both in the public and private sector.
The project is funded by the European Commission's Framework Programme 7 for Information and Communication Technologies, in which the European Union has recognised the importance of organisations aligning their systems in a standard way as the industry moves towards an intelligent environment where most devices are connected to seamless, ubiquitous networks.
More information is available from the GRIFS project website: http://www.grifs-project.eu .
About GRIFS
GRIFS is a Support Action Project supported by the European Commission's FP7 Programme
It is a 2 year project which started in January 2008 and which will focus on developing liaisons between standards organisations and initiate a long-term forum of exchange and collaboration for global RFID stakeholders.
About GS1
GS1 is a global organisation dedicated to the design and implementation of global standards, technologies and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains.
GS1 has more than 30 years experience in the development and support of global supply chain standards and technologies.
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit standards and services organisation.
About ETSI
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, non-profit organization, whose mission is to produce telecommunications standards for today and for the future. Based in Sophia Antipolis (France), ETSI is officially responsible for standardization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within Europe . These technologies include telecommunications, broadcasting and related areas such as intelligent transportation and medical electronics. ETSI unites 696 members from 62 countries inside and outside Europe , including manufacturers, network operators, administrations, service providers, research bodies and users - in fact, all the key players in the ICT arena.
About CEN
The European Committee for Standardisation is contributing to the objectives of the European Union and European Economic Area with voluntary technical standards which promote free trade, the safety of workers and consumers, interoperability of networks, environmental protection, exploitation of research and development programmes, and public procurement.
CEN is a non-profit making technical organization set up under Belgian law.
About the Framework Programme 7 ICT
The objective of ICT research under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is to improve the competitiveness of European industry as well as to enable Europe to master and shape the future developments of these technologies so that the demands of its society and economy are met.
The EU Member States have earmarked a total of 9.1 billion for funding ICT over the duration of FP7; making it the largest research theme in the Cooperation programme, which is itself the largest specific programme of FP7 (with 64% of the total budget).
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