Academia offers RFID training and certification across Canada

[12/01/06] Canada ‘s first RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology) Training and Certification Centre opens its doors in Montreal , Qc . Without missing a beat, the educational provider announced that it’s offering courses all across Canada .

Academia has set up a cross-country calendar which includes courses in Vancouver , Calgary , Toronto , Ottawa , Quebec City, Saint-John, Halifax and of course at their head-office, which includes a classroom and state-of-the-art RFID lab, in Montreal .

“With the industry running around scrambling for answers and solutions”, the company’s academic founder, Harold Boeck says “companies need a credible authority with a Canadian perspective.” That is why university researchers, all CompTIA RFID+ Certified Professionals, from the University of Montreal’s ?cole Polytechnique, University of Sherbrooke and University of Qu?bec joined together to offer completely bilingual courses in RFID Technology for beginners, executives, analysts, managers, project leaders and engineers.

Ygal Bendavid and Samuel Fosso Wamba round out the educational board as Instructors, researchers and courseware developers. The group offers its consulting services, site surveys, assessments and has developed RFID best-practices through its on-site experience with large corporations such as Hydro-Qu?bec, the Soci?t? des Alcools du Qu?bec and Siemens. On November 9th 2006 , at the RFID Journal Live! Canada Conference in Toronto, Wal-Mart’s VP of Information Systems, Carolyn Walton, who attended Academia’s forty-five minute presentation on Supply Chain Management, went on to reference comparable results between Academia and Wal-Mart’s own case studies.

One of Canada ‘s leading RFID software and solutions provider, Ship2save, has already begun offering Academia’s project management (RFID PRO) and fundamentals (RFID101) courses to their clients. “What we’ve decided to do is include the cost of the courses in our solutions package, which allows for the customer’s organization to have their own internal RFID specialist. By empowering our clients with the knowledge they need to move forward on a RFID project, it reduces the long periods of time between idea and application” says Ship2save’s Business Development Director, Sam Falsafi.

“Academia is not just a centre to train and certify professionals” says Anthony Palermo , Academia’s Administrative Director, “it’s an institution that is focused on research and development that provides results for companies all across Canada to better understand the benefits of early-adoption and help measure the potential return on investment of a RFID solution.” Academia is already working with IT associations and trade-show partners to offer on-site certification and is now a CompTIA Learning Alliance Partner. The company’s presence now adds a viable initiative to help boost the development of the Canadian manufacturing market, as well as facilitating the supply chain management of RFID projects to Crown Corporations.