Canadian RFID expertise tags Trinidad and Tobago

HAMILTON, Ont. — McMaster RFID Applications Lab (MRAL) has been selected to provide consulting services to a new RFID company established in Trinidad and Tobago.

Radio Frequency Identification Trinidad & Tobago (RFIDTT) has been formed by Label House Group, one of the region’s pioneers and leaders in label production.

MRAL was retained after an in-depth search for RFID consulting services by RFIDTT. MRAL is providing services such as technology development and research, business process re-engineering expertise, assistance with gathering user requirements, vendor liaison, proposal development, project management, and IP commercialisation.

“We had assessed our options of potential partners from major global service providers and global RFID labs and have chosen MRAL as our partner of choice,” said Richard Lewis, General Manager of Label House Group Ltd. “They possess the required skills and experience needed, are easy to work with, and have become an extension of our team.”

RFIDTT is the first RFID company to be established in Trinidad and Tobago. RFIDTT will establish a modern facility for the development of RFID applications and the commercialisation of those applications to all sectors of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as other Caribbean countries.

Priority sectors include health, transport, asset management, file tracking and security.

“RFID technology is quickly being adopted by sectors such as health care and transportation to improve service and operate more efficiently. RFIDTT will be at the forefront of this innovation,” said Rafik Loutfy, Director of MRAL at McMaster University.

RFIDTT was formally launched on January 14 at the Bureau of Standards in Macoya, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago in conjunction with a half-day seminar titled “RFID in Government.” The seminar was co-hosted by e Teck. Ken Julien, chairman of e Teck and chairman of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, delivered the opening address.

Pankaj Sood, manager of MRAL and Mark Farrow, CIO of Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, were also invited speakers. MRAL and Hamilton Health Sciences are collaborating on the development of RFID applications for the health care sector.

MRAL provides a hub for applications-oriented RFID research and development between academia, multiple industries and the public sector, promoting investigation in technology, social policy, commercialization and business process. The initiative is led by McMaster University and supported by EPCglobal Canada, IPICO, RF Code, Deloitte, Sun Microsystems, LRNI, and Ontario Centres of Excellence.