'Smart chip’ to decrease crime

The microscopic chip, called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID can also be attached to objects, animals and people to track their location at all times using radio waves or frequencies.

According to TATT Board Chairman, Khalid Hassanali, the chip has the potential of offering a wide range of personal safety and security solutions and is capable of having a deeper penetration rate than mobile phones. “RFID systems can facilitate object-to-object communications which can impact the creation of a ubiquitous networked society,” Hassanali said. He said this will eventually lead to new demands on telecommunications networks.

“We thought that cellular systems and cable television were technological revolution but RFID will revolutionise the whole technology industry,” he added. In terms of the security of children, TATT Compliance Analyst, Karyl Gajadhar said, “When the child leaves the school either on foot or via a vehicle, the network of readers can monitor the child in transit,” he said.

He said from the moment the child is in transit to the end of his journey, e-mails are sent via the cellular network, informing the parent on the child’s exact location. “In the event the child does not arrive at his destination, the parent will know exactly where to find him,” Gajadhar said.

The RFID chip can even be used in the agriculture sector, Gajadhar said.

“With RFID, you can trace the item from the time it leaves the farm to the time it reaches the consumer,” he said.