The NFC Forum has announced liaison agreements with the Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA) and the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). These alliances will allow for the adoption and usability of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in packaging and wireless charging. NFC technology can add intelligence and new capabilities to packaging to provide information, lower costs, reduce waste, and increase profitability. In the area of wireless charging, NFC technology will act as a key enabler by supporting greater interoperability and more compact and cost-efficient charging interfaces.
These collaborations were established in order to promote, educate, and increase interest in and the use of NFC. Liaison relationships are focused on unleashing innovations and removing barriers to interoperability for industry and consumers so that businesses and people everywhere can take advantage of NFC technology.
For businesses and consumers, these liaisons signal a significant step forward in ensuring that homes and workplaces will benefit from the greater ease, simplicity, and enhanced security that NFC can deliver to product packaging and wireless charging.
The new liaison partnership agreements pave the way for accelerated NFC adoption:
- Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA): AIPIA and the NFC Forum will focus on developing the latest technological innovations in intelligent and active packaging solutions. AIPIA believes that implementation of new technologies in packaging is key to growth, enhanced efficiency and security, reduced waste and better control in sales and marketing. Early applications of NFC technology in smart packaging include smartphone-enabled interactive tags & labels and time-temperature monitors. This will be the fastest growing segment, increasing at a double-digit annual rate as NFC becomes more commercially feasible for mass-volume consumer products, following earlier NFC adoptions by higher-value goods. AIPIA is dedicated to supporting implementation of smart packaging throughout the industry, enforcing the adoption of standardization platforms, participating in commercial ready-to-market events, connecting industry players on the highest B2B level, and lobbying activities to various governments worldwide.
- Wireless Power Consortium (WPC): The partnership of WPC and the NFC Forum will allow for more education in the industry about use cases and standardization for products in wireless charging. WPC has created an interface specification, called “Qi”, for wireless power transfer. Qi is the global standard that makes all phones that support wireless charging compatible with wireless chargers used at home, in the office, and while driving. The WPC operates a certification program to ensure that products, like NFC Forum devices, supporting Qi based wireless charging can transfer energy seamlessly. This program will include requirements and test methods for Qi wireless transmitters to protect NFC Forum devices and tags. The end goal is to have interoperability that is truly open with the use of Qi, a standard produced by some of the world’s largest companies. The implementation of NFC and wireless charging will create more compact and cost-efficient charging interfaces for portable devices, mitigate the problem of the gap between battery capacity and device power consumption, as well as create opportunities for integrating NFC-based services into charging applications.
