Any technology that is global must be standardized before it can be successfully deployed. If one railroad's trains do not fit on another rail line's tracks, or CD-ROMs do not necessarily fit into your PC, commerce becomes much more difficult. So RFID, with its radio frequencies, tags and other equipment also needs recognizable standards in order to be interoperable and interchangeable.

Buyers require a choice of equipment, and expect it to work with other RFID equipment using the same standards. This way, vendors can compete on function and price to give you a better and less expensive product.

EPCglobal Class 1, Generation 2, or 'Gen 2' as it is commonly referred to, is the most talked about RFID standard. However, it is only one of over 20 standards relating to RFID. It was designed specifically for use in Supply Chain applications, but it is not limited to only that use. Just as the standards for access control are not limited to opening doors.

An enormous amount of effort goes into developing any international standards. There are many different standards covering aspects of, or relating to, RFID (see accompanying charts). The goal of such standards is to:

1. provide guidelines in which to develop, for example, complementary tags, readers and software, so that you have your choice of equipment;
2. broaden markets, and encourage healthy competition, so that you get better value and higher quality equipment; and
3. ensure that products interoperate between different entities, so that you can do business with a manufacturer, the government, your suppliers.

In the case of Gen 2, the standard was developed through a collaborative process which involved more than 60 leading global companies that subscribe to EPCglobal Inc, a not-for-profit standards organization.

Often, a standard issued by one entity is used to develop a standard by another entity - for example, the EPCGlobal Gen 2 standard is expected to become the basis for equivalent ISO standards, now in review.