NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[Drmyke3]

what is this?

Europe, which hit a home run with mobile phone technology, aims to take the lead in setting standards for the future Web.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
ALU 1.84 -0.14
Chart for ALCATEL LUCENT
GOOG 347.70 -5.59
Chart for Google Inc.
IBM 94.15 -4.63
Chart for INTL BUSINESS MACH
NOK 11.79 -0.31
Chart for NOKIA CP ADS
SAP 35.32 -2.45
Chart for SAP AKTIENGESELL ADS
{"s" : "alu,goog,ibm,nok,sap","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""}

The European Commission, which funds research and industrial projects, in October issued a call to arms. It released a study outlining what steps Europe needs to take to be a leader in the future Internet. The Internet of Things will be a key part of the future Web, the EC study says.

In the 1990s, the EC backed GSM mobile phone technology, which now dominates worldwide. More than 80% of cell phones use GSM.

Some of Europe's tech companies say the Internet of Things will be a big moneymaker, just like GSM, and could boost Europe's economy.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - News) is one European company pushing for EC research funding.

"The intent is to come up with a global standard spearheaded by Europe following the same philosophy as in GSM, where if we want to connect mobile phones it's easier if they all follow the same standard," said Lutz Heuser, vice president of research at SAP, the No. 1 seller of business software.

Key standards would identify smart objects and let them communicate on the Web. Standards for next-generation radio frequency ID (RFID) tagging systems are needed as well.

"European stakeholders including the European Commission are very eager to push forward, to have Europe in the driver's seat to create a new standard for identification," Heuser said.

As part of its future Web strategy, the EC this year is expected to propose policies on radio spectrum, consumer privacy and data security, and network structures.

Europe's strength is early funding of promising technologies, says Michael Gold, senior researcher at SRI Consulting Business Intelligence in the U.S.

"Europe funds early stage research. Their governments collaborate to fund research that could have an impact on the long-term future," Gold said. "They do that with (commercial) markets in mind more so than the U.S. government."

An SRI report to the U.S. National Intelligence Council, a high-level government center that studies national security issues, identified the Internet of Things as one of six disruptive civil technologies. The others were biogerontechnology, energy storage materials, biofuels, clean-coal and service robotics.

One of the report's concerns, said Gold, is that the U.S. "would not be a source of Internet of Things technology. We have a labor-cost disadvantage, and that feeds into a manufacturing technology disadvantage," he said.

Europe is buzzing with industrial projects and academic research for the Internet of Things. It has reached out to China in hopes of collaborating on IoT- and RFID-related projects and standards.

European companies such as SAP, Siemens (NYSE:SI - News) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK - News) dominate the agenda of an international Internet of Things conference slated for March 26-28 in Geneva. A few U.S. firms will also take part, including IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) and Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News).

IBM has many Internet of Things research and early-stage business projects under way in Europe.

"We're doing a lot that you could classify as Internet of Things in Europe," said Bernard Meyerson, vice president of strategic alliances at IBM Systems and Technology Group. "Some companies we work with there, like Airbus and Metro Group, are true pioneers in this area."

The U.S. is also active with early Internet of Things projects, Meyerson says.

"A growing number of pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. are working with us to use RFID technology to make drugs safer by making them traceable across the entire supply chain, from the manufacturing floor to drugstores," he said.

Like IBM, Germany-based SAP provides information technology services to large companies.

SAP says a wide swath of Web-based services will be enabled by smart objects and sensor networks that communicate with corporate or Internet databases. SAP says retail, manufacturing, supply-chain logistics and energy will be the first sectors to adopt new Web technologies.

In March, SAP expects to launch a joint venture that helps companies crack down on counterfeit products through item-level identification. Along with German retailer Metro Group, SAP is developing a retail store of the future, with walk-through, checkout and other features.

"Some things, like smart houses, have been talked about for a long time, but this isn't science fiction any longer," said Heuser. "The Internet of Things isn't just a vision, it's happening now."

Europe's mobile phone prowess may help. Nokia has opened an IoT research center in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nokia says it's exploring technologies that let mobile phones soak up information about their surroundings and locate smart objects.

An online service from Belgium-based Tikitag, an Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU - News) spinoff, lets anything with stick-on RFID tags be read by mobile phones.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Europe-May-Lead-Next-ibd-14752622.html

Dr. Mike