The Global Potential of RFID - opening remarks by Thomas J. Donohue

Remarks by Thomas J. Donohue
President & CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Washington, D.C.
June 14, 2005

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the Chamber. Welcome.

You've noticed that this meeting has a very international flavor to it. Representatives from multi-national companies and E.U. policymakers have joined in this very important dialogue.

This conference represents what should be a more common approach to the development of new technologies such as RFID - an approach that includes greater cooperation between the United States and Europe and between government and the private sector when it comes to setting standards and regulations.

With that as a backdrop, we hope this conference will bring us closer to achieving two important objectives.

First, that the United States and Europe, as the world's leaders in technological innovation, can work toward common RFID standards.

Differing standards and regulatory regimes will significantly diminish the tremendous potential of this technology to improve supply chain management and make our retail, manufacturing, health care and pharmaceutical industries, to name just a few, more productive.

As many of you know, the U.S. Chamber, along with the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, is focusing on ways to spur - and if necessary, mandate - regulatory cooperation between the U.S. and Europe.

We have been one of the main proponents of developing shared U.S.-EU approaches to regulating the Transatlantic market based on shared values and shared consumer expectations. RFID is a part of this broader initiative.

Second, with RFID, we must avoid the mistakes we've made in the past with technology-that is, allowing government to suffocate development and innovation by imposing restrictive policies.

We've seen this happen in the U.S. telecommunications industry. A recent independent study of that industry released by the Chamber shows that job losses and a dramatic cutback in investment is the result of an obsolete regulatory system.

In telecommunications, as with many other forms of technology, the regulators and policymakers often seem to be either a step behind or lacking the vision to foresee the widespread economic benefits that technology brings.

We can't allow this to happen with RFID. Yes, there are issues surrounding RFID, such as privacy, that must be dealt with-but in such a way that does not discourage businesses from developing and using this important technology.

I appreciate all of you contributing to this dialogue and bringing us one step closer to the day when RFID will be a widely used technology on both sides of the Atlantic.

Thank you very much.