I recently attended the sold-out RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition in Las Vegas. This was my first time at the show and I picked a good year to jump in. Enthusiastic people excited to talk about the technology filled the convention center. One recurring message in the presentations and the booths was that RFID is an industry that is hitting its stride—that it’s evolving and will be used extensively in years to come.

As Alien Technology CEO George Everhart said in his presentation, “RFID has come of age.” He predicts that 2008 will be a huge year for the industry, and reported that Q4 2007 sales jumped dramatically. Everhart said that at this year’s show, he wasn’t hearing as much about issues with the technology, but more about ROI and solutions. Increasing partnerships between vendors and an increase in vendor choices are also helping the industry’s rapid growth, he said.

From what I heard from various attendees, it’s an exciting time because the technology has matured to the point where the focus is shifting toward using RFID to solve problems. People said that even just a few shows ago, the details of the technology were still being worked out. I heard things like, “Two years ago, this application was unthinkable because it was too expensive.” Now, costs have come down, performance has gone up, and customers across all industries are embracing RFID technology.

In a presentation titled “RFID—A World of Benefits, A Universe of Possibilities,” Ray Martino, CTO of Enterprise Mobility at Motorola, echoed these ideas of the industry’s growth and expansion. RFID is moving forward, and he expressed his frustration with naysayers who question the state of the industry and technology. His answer: “RFID is exactly where it should be.” As he explained, emerging technologies start out in small, vertical, closed-loop systems and then broaden across the market as the technology matures. RFID has “crossed that chasm,” Martino says, and will soon extend across multiple enterprises and bigger markets. “When you think about RFID today, it’s no more ‘Will it work?’ ‘When will it work?’ It just plain works,” Martino said.

Does it work for your organization? How is RFID used in your company, or, if it’s not currently used, has implementation been discussed?