Issue #176 | Jan. 23, 2009 | by Andy Kowl

Our office in Maryland is on Georgia Avenue, which runs straight into Washington, D.C., about two miles away. This was a great week to be here.

Although I avoided the crush of the actual Inauguration, I went downtown the night before to experience the natural glow all over the city, with festive visitors from everywhere. I also checked out the security perimeter, more than anything I've seen since 9/11. In a city of concrete barricades, the number present this week was remarkable.

All well and good, but what does this have to do with RFID and sensor technology?

Everything. RFID, sensors and other Auto-ID technology will play a significant role in the green tech and infrastructure that are about to receive strong jolts of stimuli.

Smart tags and unique IDs, essential for smart technology
A new American administration—and a new era have begun. . . This goes far beyond repairing the old economy. We can now prepare a new one, for the 21st century. We can do so because our planet isn't just getting smaller and "flatter," it's also becoming smarter.

That was more ad copy from the IBM series I referenced last month, "A Mandate for Smart." Excellent stuff, (italicized throughout here) – but advertising here this week took on greater meaning. With the most powerful people in the United States in town this week, the inaugurally-themed ads in the Washington Post were aimed at them.

Change has come; and your future clients, or partners, may be among those advertisers. As a reporter I learned long ago to "follow the money." Even if you sell something other than technology, when hundreds of billions are about to be unleashed, just the trickle-down is worth plenty.

The ads themselves are the tip of an iceberg, each with a network of lobbyists, campaign contributions, industry associations and other allies under the surface. Nothing sinister; this is Washington. Being angry at the system won't put money in your pocket.

Cutting edge technology to the rescue
In an ever-more inter-connected world, these vast, complex systems are no longer separate from one another. The are now interwoven and interdependent. . . we now have the tools to literally change the way the world works. . . And we are applying sophisticated analytics to make sense of the world's digital knowledge and pulse.

Did somebody say Information Technology?

Besides IBM, who were the only ones to directly mention RFID, these were a representative group of industries planting their flag to be part of The Solution. In these tough times, following the money is on all our minds – so let's look at who is spending it.

Monsato's ad was on how to "squeeze more food from a raindrop," and the agricultural technology needed. Along with insurance, Traveler's spoke of their "environmental initiatives to encourage green building."

Energy usage and savings
Energy concerns topped the list by a landslide, no real surprise. Chevron had the Post's back page, bragging how their production headquarters "became the first LEED gold-certified building in the state of Louisiana – consuming 27 percent less energy." LEED is all about control systems, of course; and control systems thrive with unique IDs.

Shell and ExxonMobil also talked of balancing their oil output with environmental concerns. From the collective industry guilt, er, I mean responsible leadership they showed in page after page, it should be a safe bet they are hungry customers for any energy-saving technology you might be selling.

NEI, the nuclear energy industry, talked about job creation, affordability and rebuilding infrastructure. Southern Company, who I think sells coal but does not quite say so, talks of "sponsoring over 20 ongoing projects to develop renewable energy…" A page later, Peabody more directly trumpets: "Clean Coal" and "billions of dollars in new technologies to scrub away emissions."

Keeping America working
Various other groups put in a pitch for their share of the spending. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney led a slew of defense industry members that "employ 95,000" and say they offer "national security and economic stability." A large ad from the United Space Alliance, which must essentially be the same group of players, also vied for attention.

An oil and gas group said they have spent $1.2 trillion since 1996, with a continued commitment to develop "emerging energy technologies."

The American Wind Energy Association nominated themselves as sources of job growth. Vestas, a leading wind power company said, "By 2020, we predict that 10% of the world's electricity consumption will come from wind power."

Your company's own economic stimulus
These industries have government spending on their mind in a time when the feds are spending a trillion dollars, give or take. Some of that is in tax breaks and these advertisers would be happy with those, too. Positioning RFID to get a share of tax breaks for green technology is not unwarranted.

But whatever business you are in, being the first to know about some new town of wind workers about to pop up might give you an advantage.

As we look at investments to stimulate our economies, we have a lot more options and can get a lot more bang for the buck. We can ask ourselves: Do we want an airport, or a smart airport? A highway or a smart highway? A hospital, or a smart hospital? We can think about new industries and societal benefits spawned by a smart power grid, a smart water system, a smart city. About how innovation across all these systems will multiply the number of new jobs and spread new skills.

What if we could simultaneously help cut gridlock, reduce emissions and increase use of public transportation? Smart traffic systems can. . . What if we can improve the quality and reduce the costs of what we eat? Smart food systems in Norway are using RFID technology to trace meat and poultry from the farm through the supply chain to supermarket shelves. . ."

Thanks again to IBM for great copy. Well said.