'Living in Tomorrow's Internet of Things World' at Central Hall, Westminster, from October 6 – 7, will recommend the way forward for RFID global standards, regulatory and other issues for realising the Internet of Things.

It is anticipated that the IoT will engage with today's Internet to provide an integrated item-intelligent world that can serve the future information and management needs of industry and commerce and the wider needs of the information society.

Ian G. Smith, CASAGRAS co-ordinator and president of AIM UK, the trade association for the automatic identification and data capture industry, said: 'The Internet of Things is moving rapidly from being a concept to a reality. It will impact on society just as dramatically as the established Internet has done and an internationally co-ordinated strategy for its development is essential if its potential for improving lives is to be fully realised. The CASAGRAS project is one of the most important and comprehensive bodies of work ever carried out in relation to the development of RFID and the IoT and we shall be making a series of forceful recommendations for the future.'

Co-sponsored by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the conference will include presentations by the CASAGRAS project partners from Europe, Japan, USA and Korea showing how national policy from these regions supports the project's concepts and definitions of the IoT. In addition, representatives from a range of associated global projects will demonstrate the importance of RFID to the IoT and the need for international collaboration.

In reviewing the current position within Europe the CASAGRAS partners will report on specific considerations which have been the subject of study by the project's work package teams.

These include:
> Using identifiers to link objects to the IoT – an incisive consideration of identifiers as a basis for an Internet-integrated approach to linking objects to the IoT using an identifier resolver scheme - Paul Chartier, Praxis Consultants
> Standards and regulations – providing a comprehensive review of existing and in-progress RFID standards and regulations relating to the CASAGRAS model and IoT definition, together with a view and recommendations for other standards and regulatory developments (including privacy and security regulations) considered necessary for realising the IoT - David Armstrong, RFIP Ltd.
> Interfacing with the physical world – distinguishing the range of 'edge' technologies and interfacing requirements considered necessary in realising the IoT, addressing also the need for standardised protocols and application programmable interfaces (APIs) and how they relate to a layered open systems interconnect (OSI) model and serviced architecture (SOA) – Tony Furness, CASAGRAS technical co-ordinator.
> Networking and communications – providing a review of networking and communication developments relevant to the inclusive model for the IoT, including issues of ubiquity, scalabity and integrity, fixed and mobile networks, ad-hoc networks, sensor networks, network self-configuration, context awareness, distribution and intelligence issues, interoperability, look-up and discovery requirements, environmental issues, network federation and the potential business model for such a structured IoT – Yong-Woon Kim, ETRI, Korea.
> Governance – addressing the international, political, social, technical and locational issues for governing an IoT, funding considerations and the issues of registration and management of global coding requirements. – Trevor Peirce, ETSI, France.
> Applications and services framework – defining the prospective framework for IoT applications and services, particularly with respect to SOA structures and Internet usage. This will be illustrated with application and service scenarios that exploit functional attributes unique to the concept of IoT and provide a migratory route to future developments predicated upon the enterprise and innovation potential presented in the formative concept – Chiaki Ishiwaka, YRP, Japan.

Most importantly, the conference will present a 'road-map' for realising the IoT and the role to be played by RFID, and recommendations for an EU Plan of Action.

The full programme for the Living in Tomorrow's Internet of Things World conference can be seen at www.rfidglobal.eu [1] and at www.aimuk.org [2] Registration is free and includes refreshments and lunch on both days. Delegates can register at these addresses.

Alternatively, further information can be obtained from AIM UK, the trade association for the automatic identification and data capture industry and the co-ordinating body for the CASAGRAS project, on + 44 (0) 1422 368368 or email sarah@aimuk.org [3]