RFID in Japan

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) is considering RFID as a key technology for enhancing safety of electric and gas products.

In 2005, a college student died of inhaling carbon monoxide while using Paloma's water heater. People say one of the things that caused this tragedy (and many other similar incidents) is the illegal modification of the water heater by repairmen.

METI is considering ways to enhance safety of electric and gas products by attaching them RFID tags that records rapair histories. For example, at a second-hand shop, consumers could potentially use such RFID tags to check past repair histories. Gas companies can also use the tags when checking gas water heaters. METI is planning to use 100M Japanese yen (about a million dollar) next year for a pilot test based on this idea.

Challenges include the cost and the durability of RFID tags. It's also a question if repairmen (especially the ones who made illegal modifications) accurately record what they did to equipment.

via Asahi.com, August 12, 2006 (in Japanese)

Posted by konomi at August 12, 2006 08:03 AM | TrackBack