Following the 3rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY...

Friday, 05 February 2010 16:44

The 3rd General Assembly of RACE networkRFID was held at the new Frankfurt University campus on March 25th, 2010. Hosted and sponsored by the Ministry of Economics of the State of Hessia and by AIM Germany, it gathered 36 members and guests of our thematic network.

Election of new General Assembly chair person

The 3rd General Assembly started with the election of its new chair The chair person is elected every year in March for a 12-month mandate. The General Assembly chairman for the second year of RACE networkRFID is:

Gunnar IVANSSON, from RFID NORDIC

Congratulations to Gunnar, and warm thanks to Andrea, our retiring year 1 chair.

Election of members of the extended Management Board

The RACE Management Board in year 1 was composed of the 9 work package leaders. It was decided in December 2009 to open up this governing body to 3 representatives of the General Assembly, including its chairperson. Consequently, a second election was held during the General Assembly to nominate two more members of the Management Board.

With the new chairman of the GA who automatically took one of the 3 new seats, the Management Board now counts in its rank the following three representatives of the General Assembly:

• Gunnar Ivansson (RFID NORDIC, Sweden)
• Pat Doody (ITT Tralee, Ireland)
• Vladislav Zvelebil(Internet veci v.p.s., Czech Republic)

Membership recruitment campaign

In order to ramp up the increase in membership, it has been decided to create a recruiting committee that will put together an action plan in order to reach our membership goals by the end of 2010. This committee is composed of:

• Ian Smith (AIM UK, WP9 leader and chair of the MB)
• Philippe Rohou (ERCIM, WP8 leader and project coordinator)
• Pat Doody (ITT Tralee, member of the MB)
• Vladislav Zvelebil (Internet veci v.p.s., member of the MB)

From the European Commission

Our Project Officer Peter Friess reminded us of the main goals of RACE networkRFID:

• Contribution to a cohesion in Europe on RFID
• Becoming a One-stop Shop for RFID in Europe
• Promoting Pilots, full implementation scenarios and applied research possibilities
• Supporting take-up of RFID recommendation
• International Co-operation

Among other topics, Peter invited the network to participate actively to the ‘Call for CIP pilot on Smart Cities’:

• Budget for one pilot with focus on RFID and Internet of Things is around 3M€EU funding; duration 2 to 3 years
• Local city ecosystems, networked across Europe
• Suggested key innovation areas: Smart living –co-design of smart homes and living spaces
• Green digital agenda –supporting a low carbon economy
• Open platform with levels of security and privacy (tourists, residents, public administration)

Brokering session in Valencia on 14/04 PM. The Call will close on 1st June 2010. For further information, please consult www.r2sconference.eu

Outreach and further growth of RACE networkRFID

Before the lunch break, our new GA chair Gunnar Ivansson animated a breakout session on the topic of RACE outreach and further growth. The audience was split in 3 groups who held animated discussions for 45 minutes after which the group leaders presented the outcome of their brainstorming.

All these good ideas and suggestions will be acted upon by the Management Board in its forthcoming working sessions during the second year of the project.

RACE database of RFID use cases

Driven by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and WP3, the RACE database of RFID use cases is now on-line and accessible to the members, who are strongly encouraged to connect and enter their use cases. The database is available at http://usecases.race-networkrfid.eu/

Implementation of EU Recommendation on RFID and Privacy

• Privacy Impact Assessment (Emilie Danel, GS1)

Emilie Danel presented the highlights of the proposed Privacy Impact Assessment Framework that industry, including RACE Network members, in consultation with stakeholders represented at the EC RFID Recommendation Informal Group, has developed in order to meet the requirements of Section 4 of the EC Recommendation on RFID. The final draft PIA Framework for RFID Applications has been examined by the Art.29 Technology Subgroup. At the time of this meeting, a new amended version was being produced for submission to the Article 29 Working Party. An ambitious calendar of approval has been set tentatively for the end of May this year.

• Common RFID sign (Simon Japs, InformationsForumRFID)

In its first deliverables, Work Package 5 “Public Awareness” concentrated on the development of a common European RFID sign and, thus, on supporting the implementation of the EC Recommendation on RFID and privacy. Based upon discussions at an initial workshop in Berlin in September 2009, members of WP 5 developed a report regarding the requirements for a common European RFID sign. The key issues in this context are the need for utmost flexibility in the use of the signs, the ability of coexistence of established signs, and the need of a accompanying consumer information strategy. The report was finalized in February 2010 and has been forwarded to the European Standardisation Organisations after approval by the EU Commission. In the coming months, WP 5 will liaise with the Strategic Task Force that was formed by the European Standardisation Organisations to lead the next steps in the process of the development of the common sign. WP5 will work with the STF and, if necessary, support a call for ideas.

Acknowledgments

The 3rd General Assembly of RACE networkRFID turned out to be a very productive meeting that offered a platform for networking to the 35 participating members, as well as allowing open discussions with the European Commission.

With the extended Management Board and the new chair of the General Assembly, with streamlined operating procedures and the experience acquired during the first year of the contract, the network is ready at the beginning of the second year to fulfil its ambitious objectives, with the support of 60 registered members.

To finish this brief report, on behalf of the whole network we would like to thank:

Andrea Huber, for her great contribution to the network in Year 1 as our General Assembly chairlady

and our hosts for facilitating a productive meeting in a very welcoming location:

Ruediger Hansen (AIM Austria, Germany, Switzerland)	Frithjof Walk & Mirco Sander (HA Hessen Agentur)