The quantity of typos and missing words or other problems in this article is astonishing. Perhaps the author should take another crack at it if he wants to persuade with his arguments.

Eh?

Are you kidding me??? I’m sorry but this DHS work is such a non-sequitur for me that it’s making my body ache.
DHS "WANTS" to stay with RFID, even with all previous information and demonstrations, inclusive of this article.... No, wait - don't answer, it's only rhetorical.
Of course they want to stay with RFID's. For some esoteric reason, it makes sense for them to stay with technology that other countries are moving away from.
Maybe it is also to keep some contracting firms happy?

But to discount the one firm who is willing to help out with their satellite communication demo at minimal cost! I mean, c'mon already.

Someone at DHS (not trying to castigate anyone here) needs to step up and bite the bullet and start moving to a technology that can aid the CBP & ICE agents and the people of this country in a timely manner.
Real time detection is the best and most feasible way to go. Do we REALLY want to wait until compromised container reaches a port?

Patrick W. A.
Sr. Vulnerability Mitigation Strategist

I want to provide a bit more clarity of RFID in the global supply chain and augment Mr. Giermanskis views of where RFID can and should be used.

The term "RFID" is a broad encompassing technologies from passive high frequency (HF) (no battery on the tag) to active WIFI (with a battery on the tag). The category discussed in this article is active ultra high frequency (UHF) (433MHz), which has been broadly deployed by the US DOD to track cargo containers across the supply chain and in theater, but not the contents. If any enterprise in the world is concerned with addressing contemporary security issues, it is the DOD. But putting security issues aside for a moment, he might suggeest, "Satellite or RFID?" is relevant. Rather, the optimal solution comes from answering the question, "What are the strengths of each technology and how can both be employed effectively?"

Self-inventorying, SMART Container technology is actively being deployed by the DOD, and has been evolving for more than ten years. The ODIN solution embeds passive UHF RFID infrastructure in the walls of standard ISO shipping containers, which addresses the important logistics issue of securing "real estate" for RFID infrastructure, raised by Dr. Giermanski. The data is then made available to systems of record one of two ways: 1) either through a satellite or cellular up link or 2) by "nesting" the data to an active RFID tag on the outside of the container.

The security issue raised by Dr. Giermanski is an important one and is addressed by SMART contianers by ensuring that the container door is closed before initiating a passive UHF interrogation round and making the satellite connection available in addition to active RFID if it is believed a security threat or the appropriate active RFID infrastructure is not in place. This gives real-time update on the status of a container and can be augmented with sensors such as bio-hazard, nuclear, etc.

John Boyd, the late Air Force Colonel and renowned military strategist has made far-reaching impacts in military and business strategy with his theory on destruction and creation. Dr. Giermanski and the CBP should pay special heed to his theory. By deconstructing current paradigms and breaking them into their fundamental building blocks, we are able to identify the underlying strengths of existing technologies and business practices. Reconstruction leads to new solution creation and standard operating procedures that can and will benefit the global supply chain, enabling tighter visibility and security than has ever before been possible. www.odintechnologies.com/blog