I COULD not understand why the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are failing in our Metro Manila tollway systems. The RFID system is not rocket science, and it is already a very stable technology.
At the risk of oversimplifying it, all it really takes to operate an RFID system are four elements namely tags or chips, antennas, readers and backend software.
In theory, the RFID system is more expensive and more sophisticated than Quick Response (QR) codes, but their functions are very much similar.
As I see it, the probable reason why an RFID system could fail is if one of the elements could fail. For example, the tags or chips could get eroded, the antennas could be broken, the readers could malfunction, and the backend software could be affected by viruses or malware.
But considering that the RFID systems that were deployed were supposedly high-end, it is unlikely that these would easily fail.
Pardon me for saying so, but sometimes I think that the reason why our local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems are failing is because many of our good ICT practitioners have gone abroad, because of the brain drain.
I am saying that, because even the most advanced ICT systems are only as good as the ICT people who are managing them. In other words, the systems could fail, because the people running them could fail.
Aside from RFID chips and QR codes, Near Field Communications (NFC) is another technology that our tollway operators could use for entry and payment purposes. Although NFC could do most of the functions that RFID and QR could do, it is somehow limited in the sense that device-to-device transactions could only work within a range of four centimeters or 1. 6 meters.
Generally speaking, QR and NFC are used in Point of Sale (POS) transactions.
Since slow traffic is already a big problem in Metro Manila, our tollway operators should do their part in making sure that their payment systems in their toll gates will not cause any more slow downs in their own areas.
Good providers of RFID, QR and NFC systems are a dime a dozen now, and they are everywhere now. But if the tollway operators still need help in locating them, I could help by introducing them./PN
