News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Ms. Emily Sopensky
esopensky@therfidfoundation.org
Mr. Harry P. Pappas
1.610.357.0990

Newly Formed Charitable Foundation to Focus on RFID Education and Research

Dallas, Texas- March 28, 2007 - The International RFID Business Association (RFIDba) today formally announced the formation of The RFID Educational Foundation. Launched earlier this year in Washington D.C. as a non-profit, charitable foundation, the organization is devoted to promoting and funding education programs and research on radio frequency identification in the workplace in order to spur acceptance and adoption of RFID in the global business community.

The announcement of this new organization coincides with the 5th Annual RFID World, the
industry’s signature conference and trade show event being held this week in Dallas, Texas. According to the RFIDba, the mission of the foundation is to seek educational grants from industry and other institutions and to underwrite the development of educational programs and research studies on the application of RFID across a number of industries. The RFIDba, itself a not-for-profit trade association, is a sponsor of RFID World and the publisher of RF-Global Guides, an educational handbook being distributed at the event.

“RFID is emerging as the foremost enabling technology for managing industrial commerce,
authenticating products and automating many aspects of every-day life,” stated Harry P.
Pappas, CEO and Founder of the RFIDba. He continued, “It’s imperative that business leaders, our elected officials, workers in all fields and consumers everywhere be given the means to easily understand how RFID works, its benefits and its limitations. We’re honored to be able to contribute to this important educational mission of the Foundation.”

Also announced today was the appointment of Emily Sopensky as the Foundation’s Chief
Operating Officer. Sopensky, an RFID industry veteran whose experience includes some six
years as a consultant to Texas Instrument’s earlier RFID group, TIRIS, is also General Chair of the IEEE RFID 2007 conference and a former IEEE-USA Fellow to the US State Department. According to Sopensky, “Educating and empowering our workforce on how RFID can be leveraged is vital to national and global economic interests.” She added, “I am proud that our work to sponsor and fund industry-specific RFID educational programs will demonstratably help establish and sustain America’s competitiveness in the global “RFID-enabled” economy of tomorrow.”

The Foundation, which will accept and distribute grants from its offices in McLean, Virginia, will collaborate with industry, government and academia to sponsor the development of a variety of education and training programs. These programs will foster employment related to RFID and promote needed public awareness about the technology. The Foundation will also underwrite research and testing of RFID and its capacity to impact our quality of life through applications in such fields as healthcare, food processing, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, energy conservation and pharmaceutical counterfeit protection.

According to Sopensky, a Foundation Launch Advisory has been formed to guide the
organization in its initial stages of operations. Thus far, members of the Advisory includes,
Kenneth D. Porad and Susan K. Jordan on behalf of the Boeing Company; Peter Stefanou,
CPA, with RBSM, LLP of McLean, VA; Professor Madhav Pappu, representing Texas A&M
University; Professor Daniel Engels, representing the University of Texas at Arlington; and
Patrick Sweeney, CEO, ODIN Technologies. Sopensky also commented that the Foundation
would announce in the coming weeks additional members of the Launch Advisory and the
organization’s Board of Directors. As the organization expands, other educational advisory
committees and working groups will be established to help direct the Foundation’s educational focus and the development of its educational grant program.

The Foundation anticipates broad support and funding from the RFID business community,
trade groups and other educational institutions which see RFID education as key to workforce skill development and international competitiveness. Additional information on The RFID Educational Foundation can be found at www.theRFIDfoundation.org.

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About the International RFID Business Association (RFIDba)

The RFIDba is a vendor neutral trade association which serves the education and business
interests of RFID end-users around the world. Through partnerships with academia and
industry, the RFIDba produces university-level education programs tailored to specific vertical markets. The Association also fosters programs to educate government officials on RFID, sensor and wireless technologies for the formation of public policies on privacy, security, workforce training, certification and international trade. Additional information can be found at www.rfidba.org.