October 27, 2003
(Computerworld)
LAS VEGAS -- Tony Scott, chief technology officer at General Motors Corp., last week predicted that companies in the auto industry will adopt radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by 2008 to manage their supply chain operations.
"It will happen," Scott said after a keynote speech at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless IT and Entertainment 2003 conference here. But he added that the use of RFID tags will require the backing of the entire industry. Scott noted that GM is already working with MIT's Auto-ID Center on development of proposed RFID standards.
On other technology matters, Scott said that GM is rolling out a remote access system that will provide about 20,000 mobile workers in 150 countries with dial-up, broadband or Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. He also disclosed that the company plans to upgrade 100,000-plus desktop PCs to Microsoft Corp.'s new Office System 2003 applications, although he didn't say when that will happen.
The remote access deployment began in May, according to Scott. GM is using virtual private network (VPN) and end-user access technology developed by Redwood Shores, Calif.-based iPass Inc. as part of the project.
John Sidline, an iPass spokesman, said the company is adding 1,500 to 2,000 GM workers to its system on a monthly basis. GM employees can use their notebook PCs to tap into the iPass network through a "dialer" that gives them access to about 16,000 dial-up numbers, 3,000 Wi-Fi hot spots and 1,000 wired broadband connections, Sidline said.
He added that to ensure security on the Wi-Fi links, iPass provides the users with VPN connections and relies on exchanges of digital certificates for authentication purposes.
Scott said GM decided to upgrade all of its desktop PCs, which number between 110,000 and 120,000 worldwide, to Office System 2003 because of the software's built-in XML capabilities. The automaker has "a lot of XML-enabled applications," he noted.
GM doesn't plan to change the operating system on the PCs as part of the upgrade to the new Office release, which was announced by Microsoft this month. Scott said the company will stick with Windows 2000 for now.