GS1 and Open Mobile Alliance Team Up to Bring Intelligent Bar Code Scanning to Mobile Devices

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM and SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - May 20, 2013) - GS1 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) are collaborating to enable bar code scanning features built directly into mobile devices. This will make it easier for application developers to allow their apps to scan and link to trusted content.

"Mobile data is growing exponentially and bar code scanning is a key driver for consumers to access data and media owners to engage users. Today, the industry is working with a bar codes ecosystem that is fragmented by non-standard solutions. This specification will enable application developer innovation for the mCommerce and mobile advertising industry, allowing companies to develop interoperable and scalable applications," commented Bryan Sullivan, OMA Board of Directors Vice-chairman.

GS1, the supply chain standards organisation, manages the system of product barcodes used by close to 2 million companies on billions of products across the world. OMA, the mobile standards organisation, is recognised for a wide range specifications and application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable mobile services. These include OMA DM (device management), which has been deployed on over 1.4 billion devices. The two organisations have been working together since 2011.

GS1 and OMA will develop a new specification leveraging existing GS1 and OMA standards. It will allow mobile device manufacturers and operators to build mobile devices with the following key bar code scanning capabilities:

• universal scanning of standardised bar codes
• built-in code scanning capability accessible to users manually through the device camera, and also to applications thanks to a Web API exposed on the device
• intelligent linking of bar codes with trusted content provided by the owners of the bar codes
• support for collection of user analytics including location on an opt-in basis

For application developers the specification will simplify and accelerate deployment of applications that use code scanning by providing:

• more flexible integration of code scanning into applications
• seamless and more consistent user experience reduced time to market: common standards and enablers will reduce both complexity and development costs

Ultimately consumers will benefit through a new generation of more intuitive applications.

"Our consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to research and purchase products. This new specification will allow more consumers to access accurate and trusted product information to help them with their daily lives," said John Phillips, SVP Customer Supply Chain and Logistics at PepsiCo.

The two organisations aim to launch the new specification in 2014 and encourage companies to actively participate in the development process this year. The initial list of companies participating includes Fujitsu, NEC and AT&T. To participate in this activity, contact Cameron Green (cameron.green@gs1.org) or Kennie Kwong (kennie.kwong@att.com).

Mobile Codes and NFC Panel Discussion: 6 June 2013, Dublin, Ireland

On June 6, GS1 will participate in a panel discussion on Mobile Codes and NFC as part of a seminar hosted by OMA at the Burlington Hotel Dublin, Ireland. The OMA seminar is designed to bring together thought leaders in the area of Big Data as it relates to mCommerce and Mobile Advertising to discuss the ecosystem and make recommendations about the potential for new standards or best practices, which might help stimulate innovation, market growth and greater end-user satisfaction. Panel participants will examine the way in which tags such as QR codes and NFC, combined with functionality on the mobile device, can lead to enhanced services. Attendees can join in person or over the interactive live-streamed webinar, which will enable viewers to present questions to the panel. Attendance is free for OMA members and a select number of invited guests. Interested parties should contact Elizabeth Rose at erose@omaorg.org. See http://www.omaevents.org/ to register for the webinar.

About GS1

GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit, international organisation that develops global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply chains across industries. It engages a global community of trading partners, industry organisations and technology providers to understand their business needs and develops global standards in response to those needs. GS1 is driven by close to two million user companies, which execute more than six billion transactions daily in 150 countries using GS1 standards. GS1 has local Member Organisations in over 110 countries. More information at www.gs1.org.

GS1 has standardised barcodes and radio frequency (RFID) technologies for the supply chain and mobile commerce. It is developing the GS1 Source framework to enable these bar codes to link to rich content provided directly by brand-owner companies. More information at www.gs1.org/source/.

About Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)

OMA is the wireless industry's focal point for the development of mobile service enabler specifications, which support the creation of interoperable end-to-end mobile services. OMA drives service enabler architectures and open enabler interfaces that are independent of the underlying wireless networks and platforms and that work across devices, service providers, operators, networks, and geographies. More information at www.openmobilealliance.org.

In July 2012, OMA announced its specification for encoding, decoding and resolution of mobile two-dimensional (2D) barcodes. Along with a centralised and open registry to assign a virtually limitless number of barcode management servers, the OMA specification allows retailers and advertisers to create sophisticated marketing, advertising and mobile commerce campaigns using cameras on mobile phones. More information at http://technical.openmobilealliance.org/Technical/release_program/MobileCodes_v1_0.aspx.