The Great Tomato Chase

Perhaps it had been a while since I was in the grocery store but the notices and warnings about tomatoes took me by surprise. So, we find ourselves yet again faced with the problem of a food-borne illness.

InformationWeek provides two references to how Hawaii is using RFID technology to trace this problem from "farm to market" according to an article in the Denver Post. The work by the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation to mitigate the problem was also detailed and cited for a ComputerWorld Honors program. From the citation: "With RFID systems in place, product traceability and feedback loops using a variety of temperature, humidity or biological sensors may be established to measure product safety and quality status through flow points using a variety of computer based sensor technologies."

I am often asked what the next big thing is with respect to location technology. I feel that sensor networks and RFID have enormous potential to allow citizens to better understand how to protect themselves. Whether it is a food-borne illness or a biological terrorist attack, location technology can support information flow to the general population in helping them understand dangers in greatest proximity to them.