HID Global, a provider of trusted identity solutions, has been at the forefront of helping organisations around the world to streamline processes by securely connecting equipment, devices, inventory, and many other assets to local and web-based business applications. The company draws upon its market insights from deploying identification and sensing technologies to identify today’s leading technology drivers that are transforming the industrial and commercial landscape.
“Billions of things are connected using our identification and sensing technologies, which underscores the critical role wireless transponders play today and into the future for identification, recording and providing data quickly and accurately – regardless of frequency, mobile device or industry,” said Richard Aufreiter, Director of Product Management with HID Global. HID identified the follow drivers for the adoption of trusted identification and sensing technology:
Mass adoption of applications
The use of trusted identities in IoT applications has grown steadily during 2017, and more commercial applications will emerge with Apple iOS 11 support of NFC read capabilities. As a catalyst in driving the IoT ecosystem, NFC has enabled mobile workforces with innovative use cases for automated security patrols, maintenance and inspection compliance, manufacturing and healthcare applications.
NFC will further drive mass adoption of applications for brand protection and customer loyalty programs that help increase consumer engagement. These applications will be secured by cloud-based services and trusted NFC tags, such HID Trusted Tags, that protect Apple or Android users and organisations against potential threats in the Internet of Trusted Things.
Organisations are seeking an end-to-end industrial IoT experience that removes complexities and is easy to manage
Better equipment performance
Organisations are seeking an end-to-end industrial IoT experience that removes complexities and is easy to manage. This is driving demand for active sensing technologies that leverage Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to enable streamlined real-time location services that instantaneously track assets and locate mission-critical equipment to improve operational efficiencies and analyse workflows.
New location services will create hyper-connected environments to monitor equipment through machine learning that delivers predictive data to spot failures before they occur for better equipment performance. These services leverage BLE and cloud-based software to optimise operations by providing centralised management and enhanced maintenance and inspection processes that meet compliance requirements.
Tracking valuable items
Advancements in RFID has garnered the attention of aviation companies, municipalities and other organisations that need secure tags that can count large volumes of items for fast inventory tracking and quick verification that a tag’s seal is intact. Such tamper-evident tags combine the advantages of passive and active capabilities of high frequency (HF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID with mechanical seals that can be used for securely tracking valuable items.
Organisations are embracing tags that visually indicate tampering, and tags that provide immediate digital notification
Organisations are embracing tags that visually indicate tampering, and tags that provide immediate digital notification when it has been compromised. These solutions will be used to track sealed aircraft life vests, sealed weapon racks and tactical equipment, fire extinguishers and other sensitive items that require periodic safety and security checks from a distance.
Accurate inventory counts
Across most industries organisations are seeking more RAIN UHF RFID tags that provide the speed and long read ranges to handle inventory tracking in challenging environments. One growing use case for these tags will be seen in tracking IT equipment within complex data centers and office buildings. RAIN RFID enables IT managers to perform faster, more accurate inventory counts, easily locate individual components, and implement automated security routines.
It makes it easy to identify IT hardware when maintenance or replacement is required to help optimise performance throughout its lifecycle. The use of RAIN RFID will also continue its rapid expansion in advanced supply chain management and IoT applications.