CSI 422 Systems Development Project Preliminary Proposal Subject Area: Security, RFID

Project Title: Student Name: Registration #:

Monitoring logging through the usage of RFID tags. . Shane Cornelius 09/0719/1897

Proposed Supervisors: (Primary) (Secondary) : :

Statement of Problem: In June 2009, the Guyana Government formulated the Low-Carbon Development Strategy with the aim of creating a low-deforestation, low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. Additionally, on November 9th, 2009, Guyana and Norway signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreeing that Guyana will receive performancebased payments from Norway for limiting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (A Low Carbon Development Stratgy- Transforming Guyana's economy while combatting climate change, 2010). Ideally, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) should be able to monitor all logging activities taking place within the regions of Guyana. Unfortunately, due to the magnitude of Guyanas rainforest, this is no easy task and as such, a number of illegal logging takes place. This contributes to a loss in revenue to the Government and can further lead to deforestation, loss of Biodiversity and the emission of greenhouse gases. As a result, a log monitoring model should be able to keep abreast of all logging activities, thereby, maintaining Guyanas commitment of limiting deforestation.

Previous Work: While RFIDs are popular in many Industries, the Forestry Industry is still yet to be penetrated by this technology (Timpe, 2006) and the possibilities and/or probabilities that lies ahead are seemly endless. Malaysia, being one of the largest exporters of wood resources, under the Forestry Department, completed a trial of timber tracking and forest management using RFIDs. This was necessary to ensure that wood products are harvested locally while combating illegal logging thus, improving transparency and traceability in the supply chain (Friedlos, 2009). Further, British Firm, Helveta, announced that it will be accelerating the deployment and development of the RFID technology to tackle illegal timber shipments. The company's software uses a combination of satellite technology, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcode, and asset tracking to ensure that timber has not been illegally sourced (Murry, 2010). Additionally, according to Elizabeth Wasserman in her article RFID in the Forest, RFIDs has the ability to assist in sustainable forest management. In fact, she stated that the technology can be used to identify each tree and track it from forest to sawmill and onto its manufacture into wood products (Wasserman, 2011). The MOU that was signed between the Government of Guyana and Government of Norway required that a system of Independent Forest Monitoring (IFM) be established so that any illegalities within the forestry sector can be detected. Moreover, the IFM will be applied to all the stages of the chain of custody as it relates to logs and lumber, namely: harvesting, transportation, processing, and export. In this regard, a scoping (preassessment) was carried out by a team of specialists of GFA Consulting Group to determine if GFCs monitoring system and its implementation meet the requirements of the IFM criteria

(Guyana- Independent Forest Monitoring Scooping report, 2011). This report discovered a number of GFCs strengths and weaknesses. As a result, the development of a monitoring model using the RFID technology will be able to work in conjunction with Governments IFM in order to better monitor our pristine forests ultimately reducing carbon emissions.

Proposed Solution: To investigate and develop a model that aims to monitor logging by using RFID tags so that deforestation activities such as illegal logging can be detected in keeping with Guyanas Low Carbon Development strategy.

References: A Low Carbon Development Stratgy- Transforming Guyana's economy while combatting climate change. (2010). (2011). Guyana- Independent Forest Monitoring Scooping report. GFA Consulting Group. Friedlos, D. (2009). Malaysian Forestry Department Studies RFID. RFID Journal. Murry, J. (2010, April 06). British firm vows to use software and satellites to track down illegal timber shipments. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from BusinessGreen: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/1805085/british-firm-vows-softwaresatellites-track-illegal-timber-shipments Timpe, D. (2006). RFID in Forestry: Prospects of an RFID-based log tracking system as an alternative to stamping. Fibre Science and Communication Network. Wasserman, E. (2011). RFID in the Forest.