Asset tracking

Tracking technology may make incarceration a thing of the past
The United States is facing a prison problem: there are many people in prisons — more than two million, a population the size of Houston; here is an idea: how about releasing most of them so they can lead productive lives — but make them wear something like the ExacuTrack from Anderson, Indiana-based BI Incorporated: the combination ankle bracelet and GPS transponder keeps real-time tabs on those who wear the gear, making sure they do what they are supposed to do and stay away from places where the state does not want them
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U.K. abandons DNA retention project
At present in England and Wales, DNA is taken from every person arrested; at the last count the National DNA Database contained 986,000 profiles belonging to people never convicted of a crime; the DNA records were supposed to be kept for twelve years; the Home Office says it is now reconsidering this policy
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Guarding the guardians: GuardTrax introduces GT2
It is not enough to place guards in and around your facility — you also have to monitor them to make sure they do their work, and help them during emergencies; GT2 from GuardTrax offers a solution
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Mandatory automated tracing of food stuffs nears
There indications the the FDA may soon require food companies to maintain lot and batch information records electronically better to facilitate forward and backward traceability
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Sweden builds a new Baltic Sea surveillance system
After the mysterious disappearing of a Maltese-flagged cargo ship with a Russian crew in Swedish waters, Sweden decides to deploy a maritime surveillance system which will become operational in October
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ImageID tracks and traces cargo -- for better business and tighter security
ImageID’s Visidot system uses high-powered cameras and lighting that scan tags and barcodes more quickly and efficiently than hand-held scanning systems do — and at a much lower price than RFID systems
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DARPA looks for inertial-nav to be embedded in smart boot's heel
DARPA is funding the development of smart shoes: soldiers and first responders will be equipped with shoes with embedded inertial navigation sensor; sensor will help in keeping track of soldiers, special operatives, and first responders in harsh environments
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Start-up offers technology to stop spread of communicable diseases
Israeli start-up CartaSense has a monitoring technology — a tag that integrates a sensor, battery, micro controller, non-volatile memory, and a radio frequency circuit that transmits to a control unit — that allows farmers to know each animal’s vital statistics
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New sensor system protects ports, bridges, and distribution centers
Sensor networks are an efficient, cost-effective way to monitor critical infrastructure facilities, distributions centers, and more; trouble is, to work effectively you need a very large number of them, and they all have to work collaboratively; a Dutch university researcher offers a better way of achieving this
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Securing the homeland: Asset tracking in a layered security environment // by Ted Langhoff and Nishant Pillai
The need to effectively secure and track cargo, not just at the port, but throughout the supply chain — long before its arrival in the United States — has become an important priority and factors significantly into efforts to ensure U.S. national security
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Big problems with RFID deployment at Los Angeles-Long Beach ports
The first day of using RFID tags caused a reported 1,500 trucks to be turned away from the Port of Los Angeles and delays of more than an hour at the Port of Long Beach
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Saving money and increasing security by using guard tracking device
New Jersey-based company offers GPS-enables guard tracking device which can tell, and keep record of, where guards are at any moment in time; such tracking increases companies’ security and may also reduce their insurance premiums and their legal exposure
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Qinetiq to lead effort to reduce friendly fire accidents
Qinetiq, General Dynamics United Kingdom, and Rockwell Collins have been awarded £3 million by the U.K. Ministry of Defense to develop the Joint Data Network Combat Identification Server Technical Demonstrator
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Reducing casualties from friendly fire
With all the advances in information gathering and precision, instances of death and injury from friendly fire still occur; U.S. Army awards BAE Systems and Thales a contract to develop a millimeter wave-based identification system
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New first response RFID system developed
In a scene of a disaster, first responders want to make sure they know where each member of the rescue team is; they often also need to tag and monitor the whereabouts of equipment and gear; long-range RFID is the solution
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