As global supply chains embrace digital transformation, the need for unified product identity is more urgent than ever. From Digital Product Passports to smartphone-integrated RAIN RFID readers (also known as UHF RFID), the convergence of standards and technologies is reshaping how industries track, trace, and interact with products. This shift isn’t just about innovation—it’s about building systems that are interoperable, scalable, and future-ready.

At EM Microelectronic, we’ve been at the heart of this evolution for over 35 years. As active

contributors to both industry standards and technology development, we’ve seen firsthand how collaboration across ecosystems can unlock new possibilities and accelerate meaningful change.

Standards in Motion: GS1 & RAIN Alliance

Recent joint efforts between GS1 and the RAIN Alliance—spanning industries like tires, textiles, and logistics—are a testament to the power of shared vision. Their focus on interoperability and supply chain visibility is paving the way for smarter, more connected systems.

A key milestone in this journey is the GS1 Digital Link URI update, published last month. This update allows binary-encoded EPCs to be embedded directly in URLs sent to GS1 resolvers – a simple yet powerful change that moves us closer to a unified digital identity framework.

In practice, this update shortens the EPC portion of the URL message, streamlining the NFC encoding process and improving efficiency—especially in high-volume manufacturing environments.

EM Microelectronic’s Role: Building the Bridge

At EM Microelectronic, our dual-frequency product line—combining RAIN RFID and NFC—not only supports these new capabilities, but enhances them.

Thanks to shared memory architecture, our solution can automatically substitute the EPC code into an NDEF message template, effectively removing the need for serialization on the NFC interface. This enables significantly faster encoding on manufacturing lines, which is especially critical for applications like pharmaceutical tagging, where speed and precision are paramount.

While GS1’s implementation is a powerful example, our approach is resolver-agnostic—meaning it can be implemented with any resolver system, bringing the benefits of fast NFC serialization to a wide range of industries.

Looking Ahead: A Converging Ecosystem

With the Digital Product Passport regulation approaching, and the RAIN Alliance exploring smartphone integration for UHF, the boundaries between technologies are dissolving. GS1’s consideration of NFC as a valid data carrier reflects this convergence.

After years of pioneering work, Dual-frequency RAIN RFID + NFC solutions became the backbone of modern supply chains. By bridging ecosystems, they liberate GS1 Digital link from legacy technology constraints and enabling B2B and B2C convergence across industries.

Let’s Shape the Future Together

Curious how dual-frequency RFID can streamline your NFC encoding process or support your digital identity strategy?

Let’s connect and explore what’s possible.


EM Microelectronic is Gold Sponsor of RAIN in Action – meet us in Amsterdam, September 23-25