It’s no secret that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is used for security arrangements at various venues but it does come as a surprise when technology is leveraged to provide better access and on-site security to over 100 representatives of various nations including G20 countries like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States, in a developing country like India hosting these nations as the G20 President (the G20 presidency is with India from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023 ).
G20, the group of 20, is a premier economic forum of 20 nations (groups) which come together to felicitate inter-country co-operation in shaping and strengthening the global architecture and governance on major international economic issues.
Use of RFID at G20 meetings:
In the Indian states of Assam, the Guwahati city is hosting delegates from various G20 nations and some invited countries for few days as part of India’s presidency of G20, but one thing that stood out as a major highlight in security measures and on-site access granted to different people including people from media, was the use of RFID tags.
Passive UHF RFID tags were embedded in the gate passes (RFID gate pass) provided to delegates to felicitate movement of these delegates from different nations from one hall to other and to keep track of time one spends at a particular venue, which is measured by recording entry and exit timings, by the RFID readers installed at various entry points.
In addition to existing security measures in place, the use of RFID tags for access-control and felicitate movement inside the venue, is a first for the city of Guwahati, India.
Card (RFID) readers were installed at various intersections and connected to big screens so that security personals deployed at the venue can identify and felicitate better security at the venue. RFID also works as the preferable security database which helps identify all the people registered for the event as well.
How RFID works for security:
RFID system employs a set of RFID tags, also known as transponders, antennae and RFID readers to transmit and detect radio frequency signals. A passive RFID system uses RFID tags with no batteries which make the tags light weighted and less costly in comparison to active RFID, where tags come with batteries which work as power source.
When in range, passive RFID tags react to the Radio frequency signals coming from the RFID readers and send the data to the RFID readers, which in turn read the data and display the same on a screen for end users.
Active RFID tags send strong RF signal to the reader themselves over long range unlike passive RFID tags.
For the security purpose, RFID is used in access control, meaning RFID passes are issued to specific people, allowing them to enter and exit certain premises. Like in the case of G20 delegates, RFID tag was embedded in the passes issued to delegates, allowing them to smoothly enter and exit from one hall to another, while restricting unwarranted entries. Even media persons were restricted to media conference hall in the light of enhanced security measures in place.
RFID technology is being used since 1970s but the recent technological advances in internet have accelerated the use of RFID in businesses such as retail, logistics and supply chain management etc. to a great extent.
Retail businesses like Wal-Mart, H&M, Gap etc. are employing RFID technology for various needs as well.
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