http://www.rcg.tv Liftoff to Space Exploration. en-us 18 May 2010 03:17:13 GMT 18 May 2010 03:17:13 GMT http://www.rcg.tv/html/eng/about/newsroom/tech_corner/2010_details_4.jsp With benefits of operating in geographic areas less affected by the financial crisis and receiving major supports from governments’ technology Randamp;D, RCG, a biometrics and RFID integrated solution provider, has recorded a sales increase of 22.4% or to HK$2.45 billion in 2009 when compared to 2008. When facing the clouded economic condition, newly appointed CEO, Dato’ Lee holds positive but cautious view for the future. He explained that RCG will continue to explore new revenue sources through acquisitions and new products and solutions launches in order to attract more contract wins such as those from government sectors. As indicated by Dato’ Lee who was appointed CEO in February 2010, although global economic seems to be under recovery with various governments proposed all sorts of economic stimulating projects, but he sees some economic instability happens around while the economic development China is also appear to be over-active. RCG holds an optimistic but cautious attitude for the business future. In order to reserve sufficient cash flow for business development, the Group decided not to distribute dividends for 2009. He believes that for long term, the Group’s development plan will bring considerable returns for its shareholders. Fig 1. RCG's CEO, Dato' Lee, explains the company's business strategies. 1,800 sales network over the globe Established in 1999, RCG is an international provider of biometric and RFID products and solution services with a primary focus in the Asia Pacific markets. It is publicly quoted and its shares are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2009 and admitted to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004. Together with its operational headquarter in Malaysia, RCG has also established regional offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Macau, Dubai and Thailand. Besides, around 1,800 global sales and distributors work together with RCG, these scattered throughout USA, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Australia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman and UAE. RCG has relocated its operational headquarter to RCG Tower in Malaysia, which will bring substantial benefits to the Group. As Malaysia and countries in Southeast Asian region suffered less impact from the global financial crisis, economy in the region has experienced continuous growth, which brought business opportunity to RCG. Besides, Malaysia government’s support to high technology companies such as RCG, offered beneficial measures including tax incentives, construction facilities and equipments, all assisted RCG in long time cost saving and the potential to develop its business in the region. As indicated by Dato’ Lee, in the upcoming years, RCG will continue to expand its business through various strategies, including acquisition, new products and solutions launches, as well as actively securing government contracts. He believes those markets that RCG has been focusing, such as Mainland China and Southeast Asia countries, will undergo positive economic status, which the Group can further gain benefits. Expanding business through acquisition In previous years, RCG has completed considerably successful acquisitions. Expanding the Group’s market share, consumer products such as FxGuard Windows Logon, facial recognition software was successful recognised by global branded computer manufacturers such as Acer and NEC and was adopted for bundling with their computer products. The software has successfully entered PRC’s entertainment and network market through RCG’s acquisition exercise. Besides, RFID anti-counterfeit ticketing management system, RFID hospital management system and other RCG’s RFID solutions have been widely accepted by highly expanding industries, including banking, entertainment, government sectors, construction and logistics. These prove that RCG has administered the suitable channels to expand its business with apprehensible strategy, and also have prepared the Group for next step of development. Dato’ Lee explained that RCG will follow three main criteria in seeking acquisition targets in the future. First, such company’s business operation can be integrated with RCG’s existing business. Second, such company should hold a network of sales channel. Third, such company should possess existing project contracts. Fig 2. Consumer product segment is one of RCG's major business segments. RCG’s biometrics and RFID identification products and solutions possess extensive applications Since its establishment, RCG has been concentrating on the development of biometrics and RFID identification technologies. Overall major business can be categorised into three major segments, namely Consumer segment, Enterprise segment and Solution Project segment. A wide range of products have been launched to the market, including biometrics access control device, biometrics fingerprint access control and biometrics consumer products. RFID products and solutions include asset management system, ticket anti-counterfeit and management system solution, hospital management solution, Point-of-Sales (POS), guard tour monitoring solution, and containers tracking system. RCG actively develops Internet of Things (IoT) to explore new business opportunity RCG’s Randamp;D department has been focusing on new products, and certain technologies that have reached maturity, Dato’ Lee indicates, and he expects new products will be continuously launched in the upcoming years. At the same time, RCG will also proactively develop IoT, Machine to Machine application system and security, as well as green technology products. As for IoT technology, RCG has been developing solution which offers monitoring of electric-generating tower operation status. He indicates, in the past, workers are required to climb to the top level of the tower to perform monitor and repair duties. Through IoT solution, workers can remotely monitor the situation. This is both labour saving and cost efficient. Such solution has been widely adopted in US and Europe countries, he believes it will also be welcomed by the Middle East and Asian markets. Actively secure government contracts Apart from the strategies mentioned above, RCG will also target in securing more government contracts to expand Indonesian market, in order to improve its revenue. After years of efforts, RCG’s solutions have been adopted by many large scale organisations, such as in 2009, RCG has successfully deployed its RFID IT asset and data management solution at China Construction Bank. Several RCG’s self-developed solutions are also quickly secured contracts soon after their launch, such as MTR Corporation installation of RCG’s RFID document management system, RCG’s RFID Guard Tour Monitoring Solution based on M2M communication technology for the Malaysian Ministry of Education, as well as a spectrum of security related solution contracts for the public sectors, namely Thailand Information and Communication Department, Malaysian National Registration Department, the Malaysian Department of Environment of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the China Science and Technology Museum, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. These set down foundations for RCG to achieve more contract wins. Dato’ Lee, whose career was originated from marketing and sales of IT-related business, along with his proficiency in Asian market and and strong support from RCG’s Randamp;D team, holds great confidence in market development and securing new contracts. Fig 3. A wide spectrum of RCG products and solutions showcased to draw customers' attention. In March 2010, RCG has appointed a retired Air Vice Marshall (Two Star General) of Indonesian Air Force, Mr. Pieter Lambert Diaz Wattimena as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company. With his professional knowledge in security and government contract sectors, he will be offering effective monitoring on the Group’s government related contracts awarded from the Southeast Asian regions. RCG’s achievements in biometrics, RFID and solution projects have been widely recognised by the industry after years of efforts. In the future, RCG will continue to expand its market share, build up brand image and improve returns for shareholders through launching of innovative technology products, as well as outstanding solution services. (This article was a translation from Dato Lee’s interview with Economic Digest, April 2010) 16 May 2010 16:00:00 GMT News Room - 10552 http://www.rcg.tv/html/eng/about/newsroom/tech_corner/2010_details_2.jsp IBM’s “Intelligent Earth” is based on the Internet of Things (“IoT”), and the construction of an IoT platform is now even considered a matter that calls for a national-level strategy. US President Barrack Obama places both IoT and green energy on the same level of importance and believes that these two key strategies can bring about short and long term benefits. Premier Wen Jiabao also proposed the task of setting up “Experience China” centers. Premier Wen said that when computer and internet industries were developing on a mass scale, we ended up taking some long and winding roads because we did not grasp the core technologies; during the development of the Internet of Things we must plan for the future earlier and make a breakthrough in core technologies earlier. IT industry’s each and every step is not a technological invention by chance but is the result of national development strategies. What should companies do as they ride on this big IoT current? An interview with Dato’ Lee Boon Han, the Executive Director and Deputy CEO of RCG Holdings Limited, a HK Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange AIM-listed company, regarding IoT reveals a lot of insights. Dato’ Lee talked about IoT and its future, and went over already existing IoT applications; he also revealed RCG’s future development plans. Dato’ Lee believed that, first, through IoT, object and service functions experienced a significant improvement, and these new functions bring to users a higher degree of efficiency, convenience and safety, and will form emerging industries based on these new functions. Furthermore, these industries are not the current manufacturing industry and service industry. In the service economy-focused industry structure, there is already in display industry integration, and after the appearance of IoT it will achieve a more deep and more complete user experience. Second, IoT will become the engine to informatisation that drives industrialisation, and relying on this network technology will make production elements and supply chains undergo a deep level of reorganisation, by realising lower investment which results in fewer waste, costs falling even lower and efficiency becoming even greater. The so-called new industrialisation is in fact industrialisation based on informatisation and service industrialisation, and is industrialisation with less waste, more energy efficiency and greater intelligence. During the process of new industrialisation a modern industrial system will be formed from an integrated agricultural, manufacturing and service industry. Although this industrial system still cannot be classified, it does in fact already exists. According to Forrester Research, the world market value of technologies, products and applications related to IoT will increase from USD2 billion in 2008 to USD11.5 billion in 2015. The development prospect for IoT is very positive and the market potential is enormous, but this is not something that can be achieved overnight and cannot be dependent on only one or two companies to complete: it needs government, companies, industry associations, media and the public to work together. Dato’ Lee said that RCG is delighted that it can be a member of this united front and will do its utmost as always to contribute. Excellent understanding Dato’ Lee said that IOT is a type of network where information transmitting equipment such as RFID, infrared sensors, GPS, laser scanners and the like, (based on agreed agreement), links any object to the internet to perform information exchange and transmission by realising intelligent recognition, positioning, tracking, surveillance and management. There are three layers in IoT applications: first is the sensor network mainly consisting of barcode, RFID and sensors, which performs the identification of the “thing” or object; second is the transmission network; in other words, through the existing internet, broadcasting and TV network, telecommunication network or next-generation internet, which realises data transmission or calculation; third is the application network, namely terminals that control input/output including mobile phones. From the three layers of IoT application we can see that there is little difference between the transmission and application in the transmission network, application network and the internet and the key is the identification of the “thing” or object. Fig 2. General concept of Iot. (source: www.techcn.com.cn/index.php?doc-view-205) He also believed the following two points: first, through IoT, object and service functions experienced a huge improvement, and these new functions bring to users a higher degree of efficiency, convenience and safety, and will ultimately create emerging industries based on these new functions; these industries are not the current manufacturing industry and service industry. In the service economy-focused industry structure already in display is industry integration; after the appearance of IoT it will achieve a deeper and more complete user experience. Second, IoT will become the engine to informatisation thus driving industrialisation, and relying on this network technology will make production elements and supply chains undergo a deep level of reorganisation, by realising lower investment which means fewer waste, even lower costs and greater efficiency. So-called new industrialisation is in fact industrialisation based on informatisation and service industrialisation, and is industrialisation with less waste, more energy efficiency and greater intelligence.  During the process of new industrialisation it will form a modern industrial system of an integrated agricultural, manufacturing and service industry. Although this industrial system has yet to be classified, it does in fact already exists. According to Forrester Research, the world market value of technologies, products and applications related to IoT will increase from USD2 billion in 2008 to USD 11.5 billion in 2015. The development prospect for IoT is very positive, market potential is enormous, but this is not something that can be achieved overnight and cannot be dependent on only one or two companies to complete: it needs government, companies, industry associations, media and the public to work together. Dato Lee said that RCG is delighted that it can be a member of this united front and will do its utmost as always to contribute. Practical Application Dato’ Lee said that, as early as 2007, RCG offered the view that RFID’s influence on the China economy will eventually be greater than the Internet. The Internet is a platform for information sharing but RFID is the source of information collecting; RFID will have direct impact at the very forefront of the Chinese economy, collecting information automatically and in real-time. If the collection of the original data is inaccurate then the subsequent information would be worthless even if the information sharing were to proceed smoothly. The trillions of corporations are the source and destination of IoT. RCG realises the identification of things to satisfy the requirements of industries through developing the software, providing RFID solutions and integrating the system and technologies. RCG, as a solution provider, always emphasises its principle of success: “We must achieve mastery through a comprehensive study of customer’s requirements, that’s the only way to build a good solution”. RCG is always devoted to going beyond the limitations of traditional technologies and providing customers with integrated solutions by using a variety of cutting-edge technologies and products as well as hardware and software.As a solution provider, RCG has accumulated rich experience in system integration and also accumulated strong technology know-how on RFID-related hardware and tags and developed a strong knowledge-base for different industries. All of them will play an important role in achieving the identification of things. “Leverage RCG’s professional knowledge and practical experience to meet customer requirements”: this is the standard that RCG provides as a one-stop service to customers. As a solution provider, RCG is the link that is the closest to the client in the business-relationship chain and can fully grasp customer requirements; we are the link that is closest to the source and destination of IoT. Fig 3. Concept usage of IoT technology (source:www.american.com/graphics/2007/november) We gather the objects’ data by automatic identification then make physical objects as active participants of the business process through network transmission; thereby we can accomplish the automation of the business work flow. We can make customers fully understand the convenience and efficiency brought about by IoT and enhance their understanding of IoT. Expanding the applications for requirements is the key to the industry’s development. RCG is right at the forefront of promoting IoT application development. Requirements create applications, through applications we generate requirements and thus propel the establishment of standards and industry development; industry development in turn brings about further creation of requirements – this creates a healthy cycle for the industry. Medical, financial, entertainment, logistics and construction industries are verticals we intend to focus on. Dato’ Lee said that in fact there are many RFID applications that fall under IoT applications such as those deployed in asset management in a bank’s datacenter, document management system in government and corporations, container management in ports and docks. He explained a bit about the document management system: the system identifies objects by affixing them with RFID tags, such as tagging important documents / reports; data communication through the Internet notifies the relevant party about document properties and deadlines, allow remote control and workflow management of the document being identified via email and at the end enable improvement of business process efficiency by decreasing submission of late reports and preventing document misplacement. The following shows the actual work flow: Stage 1: Object’s automatic identification– Tag important documents / reports with RFID tags– Embed information related to the document in RFID chip (e.g. scheduling, reviewer, actions required etc)– Place in tray equipped with RFID readersStage 2: Data communication or calculation through Internet or mobile network– A software application will consolidate the activities of the document– Send to the centralised server via InternetStage 3: Remote control or management of the workflow of the recognised objects via mobile devices or computer– Inform end-user on the status of the document via email– Users remotely control the action via a web pageStage 4: Enabling business process automation and decision-making Continue to further promote RCG has always endeavored to maintain a good working relationship with companies at all levels, and Dato Lee has revealed the company will further develop in terms of business expansion and that plans are underway. RCG will cooperate with government departments and share with industry RCG’s experience in IoT applications, and provide guidance in the education and cultivation of markets; with regard to creating IoT requirements, RCG will continue to maintain close ties with its local customers by fully understanding their needs to create relevant IoT applications; during the application process steadily deliver well each project, and present to customers a reliable solution, and by using applications to push forward requirements, speed up establishment of industry standards in order to promote the development of the entire industry. At the same time, RCG will further strengthen its cooperation with other companies linked to the industry such as Motorola, HP and IBM, thereby providing satisfactory solutions to customers by deploying a greater spread of good resources. Dato’ Lee directly expressed his great expectations for the China market: “We are greatly appreciative of the Chinese government’s determination and efforts in the development of IoT, and we believe that with the government’s great support the prospect for IoT’s development in China is extremely positive. We hope that government departments and industry associations aggressively work toward the establishment of industry standards. On the other hand, with currently no one unifying standard for the industry, we hope that the government can actively promote some pilot runs so that applications in a closed environment can further kick start IoT application and allow more people to appreciate the benefits of IoT. Fig 4. Global activities connected through internet. (source: http://sustain.cs.washington.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11) At the end of the interview, Dato’ Lee said that as a leading provider of RFID solutions, RCG has responsibility in educating the public about IoT. He introduced RCG’s latest effort in promoting IoT: on 16 December 2009, RCG organised in Beijing The 2009 Forum on Development and Application of Internet of Things that invites experts from the government, industry associations, RandD organisations, IoT-related companies and the media to discuss the current and future development of IoT application in China. This forum will cover the current situation of China’s IoT development, potential problems, development bottlenecks, market prospects, industry partners, competitive circumstances as topics in a friendly and constructive exchange of views among participants. From different angles interpreting IoT, the summit will allow the public to have a more comprehensive understanding of IoT and from there help to promote the development of IoT usage in China. In 2007, RCG, together with the State Golden Card Project Office and RFID China Alliance organised an RFID roadshow that took place in major cities around China. This RFID roadshow became a platform to promote the concept of RFID and share actual RFID applications. In 2008, with the cooperation of the China Association for Healthcare Industry, Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, RCG organised “The New Wave in the Informatisation Drive of China’s Healthcare Industry Summit”. The summit established the platform for government associations, hospitals and enterprises to share and discuss the healthcare industry and informatisation in China. RCG delved into the process of health informatisation and shared its experiences in overseas health informatisation. In 2009, after Premier Wen Jiabao proposed the task of establishing “Experience China” centres, RCG as the promoter of IoT application was at the forefront of the industry again. We wish The 2009 Forum on Development and Application of Internet of Things every success. 11 Jan 2010 16:00:00 GMT News Room - 9946 http://www.rcg.tv/html/eng/about/newsroom/tech_corner/2009_details_5.jsp "The advantages for introducing RFID technology into financial industry are apparent, which include improvement of management and work efficiency, reducing dependency on manpower and ability to identify any potential errors at early stages”, according Mr James Shen, Senior VP of Sales from RCG Beijing, when speaking to Computer Business Information (CBI), a leading IT magazine in PRC. Targeting at different business requirements in financial industry, RCG offers three different solutions for financial industry by integrating unique features of biometrics and RFID, namely RFID asset monitoring solution (or RFID data centre management solution), high-value asset management solution and VIP service solution. The RFID data centre management solution will be the first solution to implement RIFD technology into bank data centre to handle IT asset management. RFID technology integrated into new generation data centre At a leading commercial bank’s data centre, technical manager Mr Ji was sitting in front of a main control monitor, drinking a cup of coffee, and checking the status of each system in the control room. Everything was running properly, he sat back and relaxed. According to Mr Ji, when compared to the conventional manual system, the new RFID data centre management solution has brought improvements in overall efficiency and accuracy throughout the bank’s daily operation. The demand for manpower to run the operation has also been significantly reduced since the solution installed and implemented. The number of IT equipment in the major commercial bank’s data centre where Mr Ji works has doubled with the skyrocketing demand in recent years for funds, credit loans and other financial instruments. But similar to other large local banks, Mr Ji’s bank spends considerable labor costs on recording on paper the equipment inspection for its data centre’s IT asset management. “The shortcoming for such inspection recording forms is not only an increase in manpower: the key issue is that we cannot achieve real-time surveillance, so our workers need to be on alert all the time,” says Mr Ji. Figure 1. Data Centre in Financial Industry includes a series of servers and IT equpiments which conventional management involves intensive manpower The banking industry has a higher level of sensitivity towards data security than other industries. It's commonly known that the assets in a bank’s data centre are not your typical IT assets – even any minor mistake can result in immeasurable damage. To tackle this problem, some data centres have attempted in recent years to use barcodes in their daily management of IT assets, but barcodes have many disadvantages: they are easily torn or become dirty, can be duplicated, need accuracy to pinpoint, and so on. Such drawbacks result in barcode users having to allocate greater labor resources to manually complete IT asset management. Since the barcode method cannot provide actual real-time tracking and surveillance, fundamentally it cannot release managers from the original binding nature of IT asset management in data centres. After Mr Ji found out Hewlett-Packard (HP) have introduced RFID technology into the next-generation data centre solution, he finally chose an RFID data centre management solution which was suitable for them to use in their data centre. "The system uses RFID technology and integrates with an existing network and software platform which makes the daily management of important business assets such as servers and storage equipment more convenient, more detailed and more accurate. Moreover, the system can provide real-time monitoring, real-time positioning, auto recording and auto stocktaking. It also can reduce potential security risks," Mr Ji explained. Figure 2. RFID found its place as effective track and trace tools in data centre management System automatically updates management As a strategic partner of HP in next-generation data centres, RCG is a true solutions and service provider of RFID data centre management solutions. The bank where Mr Ji works is just one successful case of the practical use of such a solution in China’s financial industry. “Through constant contact with our clients in the financial industry we have found that the basic conditions of data centres provide an excellent environment for the actual application of RFID technology and its popularization,” said James Shen, Senior Vice-President of RCG China Limited. According to Mr Shen, a majority of the data centres in the financial industry has a large concentration of highly expensive equipment limited to one area, so if the area maintains a good environment for these equipment such as stable temperature and precipitation, then this could help to lower the cost of RFID application and even increase efficiency. “RFID data centre management solution consists mainly of RFID tags, readers, and a tracking server. Using the principle and features of RFID technology, RCG affix RFID tags to fixed assets such as server cabinets and other equipment in the data centres of banks, install RFID equipment at the entrance or exit ways of the server room and inside cabinets, and integrate an asset management platform that includes software to monitor the environment, an automatic alarm system, and access control system – we can completely monitor assets and upgrade information on a real-time basis,” said Mr Shen. At the same time, through the statistical analyses and real-time monitoring of information such as the positioning of equipment inside data centres, their movement and actual condition, and based on the actual condition of the equipment in real-time, workers will apply the appropriate follow-up action, and workers in data centres can know anytime, anywhere the positioning of the hardware equipment and its working condition and can find out in advance problem areas and eliminate the need for potential repairs. Figure 3. IT Equipments tagged with RFID In this regard, Mr Ji has great experience: the RFID system has replaced managers in automatically recording operations within the server room. This has not only changed the way managers supervised and monitored other workers inside server rooms, but also boosted work efficiency and decreased the number of errors in manual operations. Ascertaining customers’ real requirements “As a solution provider, we are the closet link in the industry chain to the end user. Besides providing the customer with a suitable solution, we also must ensure its smooth implementation and application,” Mr Shen pointed out. Take the above banking industry customer’s case as an example: the RFID readers and antennas installed inside the server cabinets were customized according to the bank data centre environment and server cabinet features. “It seems easy to install an antenna into the cabinet to read data, but many factors influence the reading results. We have to consider the effect of the outside environment on the antenna, like temperature, humidity and cabinet material as well as interference from other equipment, and also must consider the proper condition of the antenna itself such as adequate ventilation and heat elimination as well as the antenna’s effect on other equipment. In this regard, project execution experience is absolutely crucial.” Figure 4. RCG RFID Data Management Structure In Mr Shen’s point-of-view, due to the industry’s constant need to maintain a high-level of confidentiality and security, customers from the financial industry choose solutions and partners with extreme care: every step must be audited, evaluated and tested by different departments before being confirmed acceptable. What’s more, customer requirements are at times not very clear. Thus it is necessary for the solution provider to guide the customer to better understand their situation, and from there find out the customer’s true requirements Furthermore it takes time to cultivate a customer’s understanding. One the one hand, it is the lack of understanding of the technology – for many, RFID technology is a new concept and knowledge about this technology is limited, therefore time is needed to develop a level of acceptance. On the other hand, it is the lack of understanding of return-on-investment (ROI) – the solution provider should assist customers on calculating the ROI and make them see the future savings made with their initial investment. “In short, before a solution provider gives a solution to a customer, they need to spend a great effort in fully understanding the respective applications of customers in the industry as well as their workflow and other areas, and work with the customer to find ways to solve problems. The solution provider should also look for areas that the customer may have ignored as well as potential requirements. Only by doing all this can the solution provided be closely matched to customer needs and become more useful,” Mr Shen emphasized. RFID Data Centre Management System vs Conventional Data Centre Management System RFID Data Centre Management System Conventional Data Centre Management System Level of management Automatically records every time positioning of equipment is changed. Management capabilty can be achieved at server level Change in equipment positioning rampant unless managers observe workers all the time. Management capability can only reach data centre level Efficiency RFID system automatically records operations within the server room, thus greatly boosting efficiency Managers have to directly supervise workers, resulting in lowered work efficiency Manpower RFID system automatically manages and greatly reduces manpower of managers Direct supervision of personnel increases manpower of managers Repairs RFID system automatically alerts and find errors in advance, eliminates potential repairs Greater occurrences of manual operation, human error and potential repairs Source: CBI Magazine (June 2009) 17 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT News Room - 9424