EU Funded BRIDGE Project Concludes with Impressive Results

The BRIDGE project (Building Radio frequency IDentification for the Global Environment) has successfully concluded its work programme on 31st of August 2009. The initiative, which was partly funded by the European Commission and coordinated by GS1, has delivered promising results in the research and development of RFID technology for supply chain applications, based on GS1 EPCglobal standards.
BRIDGE has been the largest RFID project funded by the European Commission up to date, involving a consortium of 31 partners from the standardisation sector, end-user community, academia and solution providers. The project consisted of 15 working groups dedicated to technical research,business applications and development of dissemination and training tools. A number of new hardware and software products based on innovative features were developed and some of them have been commercialised. During the course of the project, several patents were filed by participating organisations. A start-up company was launched to promote a revolutionary concept of smart shelves embedding RFID readers and antennae. The project issued several important
contributions to standard bodies in the areas of sensors, security and Discovery services. The business work packages identified the opportunities, established the business cases and performed trials and implementations in various sectors including anti-counterfeiting, pharmaceuticals, textiles, manufacturing, re-usable assets, products in service and retail
non-food items. A comprehensive set of education and demonstration material was produced. Many of the deliverables, documents, presentations, software tools, are publicly and freely available from the BRIDGE public web site at www.bridge-project.eu

“We strongly encourage anyone who has an interest in the RFID technologyand its applications to make use of these valuable resources. I would like to thank particularly the work packages leaders who were responsible for the execution of the project plan in their BRIDGE Building Radio frequency IDentification solutions for the Global Environment areas. I would also like to thank the European Commission for having made this project possible”, says the project coordinator, Henri Barthel, Director of GS1 System Integrity and Global Partnerships. The overall budget of the project was evaluated at 13 million euros in terms of work efforts, investments and expenses. The European Commission committed to a maximum funding of 7,5 million euros, provided that the work plan was executed properly and the project deliverables met the quality requirements. The project progress was reviewed every 6 months by a panel of experts appointed by the Commission for this purpose. The last review meeting took place in London on 8 and 9 October 2009, where the EC informed the partners that the project had successfully completed their tasks.

“Thanks to its groundbreaking work in moving a technology from a lab environment, out of the analogue age, to a mass market and into the digital world, maybe even the virtual world when objects find their identity in the Future Internet, BRIDGE has made a positive contribution to industry and society, primarily in Europe but also in a global perspective.”, the European
Commission Head of Unit for RFID Gerald Santucci said. This project has provided a great opportunity for Europe to build on a standardised RFID technology for use in global supply chains.
The BRIDGE project has clearly contributed to the development of new solutions forall businesses, both small to large. Improving skills and expertise on RFID technology and network information sharing is leading to enhanced competitiveness of European companies and to increased benefits to customers and citizens.
The project office published a 36 page brochure presenting the main outcomes of the different work packages. The PDF version of this brochure is available from the BRIDGE website.
More information and all public deliverables from the project are available at www.bridge-project.eu
Please also contact info@bridge-project.eu
if you have any questions.

Notes to Editors

BRIDGE consortium members:
GS1 Global Office, Consortium Coordinator.
Six GS1 Member Organisations, GS1 UK, GS1 Spain, GS1 France, GS1 Germany, GS1 Poland, GS1 China.
Five research laboratories, Auto-ID Lab University of Cambridge, UK; Auto-ID Lab Fudan University, Shanghai, China; AutoID Lab ETH Zurich/St Gallen, Switzerland; Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain; Technical University, Graz, Austria. Eleven solution providers, BT, SAP, AIDA Centre, CAEN, Confidex, AT4 wireless, UPM Raflatac, VeriSign UK, Melior Solutions, Domino Printing Sciences, JJ Associates. Seven business end users, Carrefour, Nestlé UK, Benedicta, Kaufhof, Sony, Gardeur, COVAP, Northland
For more information visit www.bridge-project.eu

The BRIDGE Project
The Building Radio frequency IDentification solutions for the Global Environment (BRIDGE) project was supported by the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6) with €7,5 million funding. It was a three year initiative dedicated to research, development, training and demonstration in the effective use of RFID based on EPCglobal standards.
The BRIDGE project focused on business-based research, provision of information services and hardware (sensors, tags) and software development. This led to pilots, deployment and comprehensive training materials in the use of RFID in a variety of business sectors.
The project provided a great opportunity for Europe to build on a standardised RFID technology for use in global supply chains. The BRIDGE project contributed to the development of new solutions for all businesses, from small to large. About the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6)

The BRIDGE project was funded under the FP6 Information Society Technologies (IST) work programme supporting research into the development of ‘Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Networked Businesses’. The strategic objectives of FP6 were to strengthen the scientific and technological bases of industry and encourage its international competitiveness while promoting
research activities in support of other EU policies.