GAO: U.S. agencies eye RFID to save money, improve service

Computerworld - As radio frequency identification (RFID) technology continues to mature, some federal government agencies are eyeing it as a way to save money and improve services.
In a report released late last week (download PDF), the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 13 of 24 federal agencies are implementing or exploring RFID initiatives for a number of uses. The other 11 agencies have no plans for now to explore or use RFID technologies.
The 37-page report, "Information Security -- Radio Frequency Identification Technology in the Federal Government," was prepared in response to requests from members of Congress.
The GAO focused on a variety of government agencies, including the departments of State, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Labor, plus the Environmental Protection Agency. Also included were the Treasury and Transportation departments, General Services Administration, NASA and the Social Security Administration.
Other agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture, are not taking an active stance on the use of RFID. But agriculture officials told the GAO that private-sector participants are using RFID to track farm animals. Also under review are initiatives at the Food and Drug Administration to use RFID technology to help prevent counterfeit drugs, according to the report.
According to the GAO, agencies are using or planning to use RFID technologies for logistics support, shipment tracking, tracking of inventories, border patrol, immigration and customs, electronic screening, document tracking and tracking and identification of baggage on airplanes. The technology is getting more interest from government officials as costs fall and the uses to which it can be put expand, according to the report.
But agencies interested in the technology will have to deal with several issues that stand in the way of seamless RFID use, including multiple operational standards, a lack of global interoperability and concerns about privacy and legal issues, the report said.
Security and legal concerns could be addressed through the encryption of data to reduce the risk of unauthorized use or of changes being made to it, according to the report. Authentication measures could also be incorporated to make RFID more secure.
The report also raised another issue facing government agencies -- what to do with RFID tags once they have been used. Because the tags can contain silicon, adhesives, nickel, copper, aluminum and silver, proper disposal is important to keep the materials from leaching into the environment, the report stated.
"According to one agency official, proper disposal of a tag, including reuse and recycling, remains a challenge," according to the GAO.