Computing giant IBM is to establish a wireless research and development (R&D) operation at its Mulhuddart campus in Dublin which will employ 25 people. The Wireless & RFID Centre of Excellence will focus on worldwide asset tracking using the next generation of barcodes as well as RFID (radio frequency identification) support and consultancy services.
This centre will work closely with other IBM centres of excellence worldwide and marks the second such centre in Europe. Currently the La Gaude Centre in France focuses on showcasing the business benefits of RFID through end-to-end live solution prototypes.
Jennifer Van Cise, director of the Dublin Technology Campus, explained: “This investment by IBM is a significant achievement for the Dublin Technology Campus in this emerging billion dollar market that RFID represents.
“It also highlights the ambition of the IBM Dublin Technology Campus to move up the value chain and be aligned with the Irish Government and EU strategy of shifting from manufacturing-based jobs towards attracting R&D-type investments and knowledge-based jobs. It also highlights the key role IBM will play in driving this strategy,” Van Cise said.
In another statement issued today IBM announced the addition of new RFID software, services and developer packages to its expansive RFID portfolio. Its WebSphere Premises Server asset-tracking solution can aid with critical resource tracking, personal security and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for capital equipment accountability.
The Dublin IBM campus has already completed an RFID pilot. A sample of campus laptops were fitted with passive RFID tags, enabling IBM to test its own RFID solutions for asset tracking, including the use of WebSphere Premises Server V1.1.
The pilot was so successful that IBM will be extending RFID tags to some 500 campus laptops. This adds to the numerous internal IBM RFID implementations around the globe, including a supply chain management RFID system in place at IBM’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in New York.
By John Kennedy
