MIT's Auto-ID Lab has been asked by EPCglobal to build a "software simulation to study how data will flow to global trading partners using radio frequency identification (RFID) and the Internet."

"'EPCglobal has requested us to build this,' John Williams, MIT's Auto-ID Lab director told RFID Journal in an interview. 'So MIT will do the first draft of the system and then coordinate with the other Auto-ID Labs from around the world to build a distributed version that will span country boundaries.'

The lab will use the system to predict the flow of data from RFID tags, and to develop data protection and privacy controls. The information will be used to guide the design of the EPCglobal Network. "

The other Auto ID labs around the world are located at: University of Cambridge, University of Adelaide, Keio University, Fudan University and the University of St. Gallen.

From Food Production Daily, hat tip Peter Dawson.

Additional details can be found at the original RFID Journal article, which notes:

"When the project is completed, by October 2006, it could be part of a reference implementation for software vendors that want to develop EPCglobal Network applications, and for end user companies that want to model their own systems before deploying EPC technologies. Williams hopes RFID vendors, end users and EPCglobal will provide funding to develop a more robust version."