Professor C. J. Tan is Director of E-Business Technology Institute of the University of Hong Kong and CEO of Hong Kong R&D Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Enabling Technologies

Hong Kong is among the world pioneers in adopting radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

While the everyday user of this technology may not know it, RFID was introduced as early as in 1992 when Autotoll, the automatic toll collection system, was rolled out. Subsequently, the Octopus card for MTR ticketing was introduced in 1994. The Hong Kong International Airport started to use RFID to tag passenger luggage since 2005. And the use of access cards to offices and residences is very common. It is thus fair to say that Hong Kong is an early adopter of RFID technology for civilian use.

With the SAR Government’s vision to support local industries through technological advancement, its Innovative Technology Commission launched the Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) Centre in 2006 to lead the local development of RFID-enabling technologies for the logistics and supply chain sectors. Leveraging the close relationship between the Hong Kong and mainland governments, the Centre has established close collaboration with its counterparts, such as the Guangdong RFID Technology Service Centre, Guangdong Electronics Industry Institute and RFID China Alliance.

As many Hong Kong companies have their manufacturing plants in the Pearl River Delta and conduct business in the entire China market, the development of our RFID technologies is geared toward assisting them in tapping into the diverse business opportunities in China.

New projects in niche and innovative applications that have been taking place in the South China region, such as production process monitoring in manufacturing, performance management on apparel shop floors, container yard management, document management in business process, library inventory management and asset management in residential and commercial complexes all demonstrate the tremendous application potentials of RFID. These aggressive developments have positioned Hong Kong as one of the world’s most advanced and competitive adopters of RFID.