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17.07.2007
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The BRIDGE project enters key second year for testing and piloting RFID applications
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Brussels, Belgium, 17 July 2007 – The BRIDGE project (Building Radio frequency
IDentification for the Global Environment) is entering a key phase in the future deployment of
EPCglobal applications. The initiative, which is supported by the European Commission and
coordinated by GS1 (the global standards body), will begin its penultimate year with the
execution of real-life pilots, developing business cases and demonstrating results.
“The testing and piloting phase are critically important to support the massive deployment of
the technology that will happen over the next few years” said Henri Barthel, Coordinator of
the BRIDGE project. “Our analysis from the first year of the project provides us with a solid
basis to support our next steps. I have no doubt that the BRIDGE project will deliver value
beyond our current expectations and prove to be the catalyst of major rollouts in Europe and
beyond.”
The Project has the objective to research, develop and implement tools to enable the
deployment of RFID and EPCglobal applications in Europe and involves 30 organisations
from twelve countries in Europe as well as China.
During the first year, the business cluster has conducted Problem analysis and
Requirements analysis in seven key areas: anti-counterfeiting, pharmaceuticals traceability,
textile industry, food manufacturing, re-usable assets, products in service and item-level
tagging in retail for non-food products.
On the technical side, the BRIDGE project comprises four working groups concentrating on
RFID Hardware, Network lookup services, Network supply chain control and Security. The
RFID Hardware group has lodged a patent on “Self Resonant electrically small antenna” and
an OEM low cost reader has already been developed. A reader chipset and a low cost portal
reader will be produced in the coming months. A requirements analysis and technical design
documents for Discovery Services have been developed and will be released by the end of
August 2007 and contribute to future standards development activities on Discovery
Services. A report on an enhanced serial-level inventory tracking model is also available.
The Security working group has issued a comprehensive Security analysis documenting the
requirements for enabling open and collaborative RFID-based business applications.
The horizontal activities include Training, Dissemination activities and Innovation and Policy
reports. The training requirement analysis has been completed and Concept animators
(multi-media learning objects that illustrate the use of RFID/EPC and their applications) have
been produced. Finally, BRIDGE has developed high-level reports analysis related to the
evolution towards the ubiquitous presence of the technology as well as the impact that this
technology will have on policies that are governed by the European Institutions.
A number of BRIDGE public deliverables are available for download on the BRIDGE website
Notes to Editors
BRIDGE consortium members:
GS1 Global Office – Consortium Co-ordinator.
Six GS1 Member Organisation’s – GS1 UK, GS1 Spain, GS1 France, GS1 Germany, GS1 Poland,
GS1 China.
Five research laboratories – Auto-ID Lab Cambridge, UK; Auto-ID Lab Fudan University, Shanghai,
China; Auto-ID Lab ETH Zurich/St Gallen, Switzerland; Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona,
Spain; Technical University, Graz, Austria.
Eleven solution providers - BT, SAP, AIDA Centre, CAEN, Confidex, AT4 wireless, UPM Raflatac,
VeriSign UK, Melior Solutions, Domino Printing Sciences, JJ Associates.
Seven business end users - Carrefour, Nestlé UK, Benedicta, Kaufhof, Sony, El Corte Inglés,
Gardeur.
For more information visit www.bridge-project.eu
The BRIDGE Project
The Building Radio frequency IDentification solutions for the Global Environment (BRIDGE) project is
being supported by the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research and
Technological Development (FP6) with €7,5 million funding. It is a three year initiative dedicated to
research, development, training and demonstration in the effective use of RFID based on EPCglobal
standards.
The BRIDGE project focuses on business-based research, provision of information services and
hardware (sensors, tags) and software development. This will lead to pilots, deployment and
comprehensive training materials in the use of RFID in a variety of business sectors.
In anti-counterfeiting – development of new services in the EPCglobal network will reduce the level
of piracy of goods, which is a serious problem in Europe,
In pharmaceuticals - increasing patient safety by improving traceability, and certifying the pedigree of
pharmaceutical products as they move from the manufacturer to the final user,
In the textile industry – better fulfilment of customers needs by increasing the flow and accuracy of
information through a global supply chain,
In food manufacturing processes – reducing waste and stock holding and improving visibility and
traceability of both products and equipment, thereby improving food safety,
In re-useable assets – improving information exchange and asset management between supply
chain partners to effect reduction in losses and costs,
In products in-service – developing systems and processes to increase the reliability of the upgrade,
repair and replacement processes throughout the life of many products,
In the retail environment – optimising processes in retail stores in order to increase service to the
customer by using RFID on consumer sale units.
This is a great opportunity for Europe to build on a standardised RFID technology for use in global
supply chains. The BRIDGE project will help make this happen by contributing to the development of
new solutions for all businesses, from small to large. Improving skills and expertise on RFID
technology and network information sharing will lead to enhanced competitiveness of European
companies and to benefits to customer and citizen.
About the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research and
Technological Development (FP6)
The BRIDGE project is funded under the FP6 Information Society Technologies (IST) work
programme supporting research into the development of ‘Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) for Networked Businesses’. The strategic objectives of FP6 are to strengthen the
scientific and technological bases of industry and encourage its international competitiveness while
promoting research activities in support of other EU policies.
ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/pdf/fp6-in-brief_en.pdf
For more information contact:
Henri Barthel
BRIDGE Project Coordinator
GS1 Global Office, Brussels
+32 2 788 7823
henri.barthel@gs1.org
View Press Release in pdf format 
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