Winners Announced for the 2006 Breakthrough Awards

The winners of the 2006 RFID Breakthrough Awards were announced at the RFID Breakthrough Awards Gala Dinner at Banqueting House in London on November 8th.

The Awards, held in conjunction with the 7th RFID Networking Forum, exist to recognise the successes and reward the achievements of those using radio frequency identification technology across a wide range of industries.

The winners in the eight award categories were:

RFID Implementation Award:

Oyster Card Project nominated by Transys

RFID Integration Award:

Northern Foods nominated by IBM

Best RFID Pilot Award:

TNT Logistics & KPN Dutch Telecom nominated by Symbol Technologies
RFID Business Impact Award:
Worldwide Fruit

RFID Business Case Award:

IATA nominated by Alien Technology

RFID ROI Award:

Mitsukoshi Department Stores nominated by Cisco Systems

RFID Library Award (Sponsored by Libraries and Archives Journal):

Essex County Council nominated by Intellident

RFID Visionary Award:

Matthijs Van Der Lely, CEO, Boekhandels Groep Nederland

The Awards were judged by a panel of RFID thought leaders including Dr Gerd Wolfram, the man behind Metro Group's RFID enabled Future Store in Germany; Nigel Montgomery, Head of European Research, AMR Research; Chris Rezendes, Vice-President of Venture Development Corporation and Ivano Ortis, Program Manager for IDC European Vertical Markets.

Roger Lewis, Director, Governance & Compliance Organisation and Awards Evening host said, “The Awards ceremony has reflected the outstanding achievements of the industry. The winner's and finalists can be used as an example by any organisation looking to develop an RFID project, whether it is at business case, pilot or full roll out level.

Speaking to over two hundred attendees on the evening Mario Cardullo, Counselor for Technology and Entrepreneurism at the U.S Department of Commerce and inventor of the modern RFID tag added, “I may have invented this technology, but you are the guys who have made this technology into a reality. The success that this technology has bought to tonight's winners is down to your hard work and dedication and for that you deserve the recognition that the RFID Breakthrough Awards gives you.”

Held on the evening of November 8th, the RFID Breakthrough Awards gala dinner provided the ideal backdrop to the 7th RFID Networking Forum, which took place on November 9th at the Olympia 2 Conference Centre in London. Attracting Europe's largest gathering of RFID users, prospective users and solution providers, the RFID Networking Forum provides the ideal meeting place for the RFID community.

Further details of both the RFID Breakthrough Awards and the RFID Networking Forum can be found at www.rfidawards.com and www.rfidforum.com

For further details or images of the RFID Breakthrough Awards or the RFID Networking Forum please contact Dominic Matthews, PR Manager on +44 (0) 1883 344 799 or email dom@rfidforum.com