IoT security specialist Identiv will manufacture 25 million IoT Pixel tags for Wiliot’s Ambient IoT ecosystem for global supply chains. The deal is the first part of a larger order for Wiliot’s ambient computing IoT Pixel tags for a major new global supply chain customer.

Ambient IoT builds on ambient computing technology – computing that is self-powered by harvesting energy from surrounding radio waves. It connects nearly everything in the global supply chain to the internet by transmitting item-level information including location, temperature, fill rate, and carbon footprint.

Ambient IoT devices can sense and protect data with encryption and privacy controls and can be embedded into other products because there are no batteries that need to be changed. The tags continuously communicate in real time and do not require employees or consumers to tap or scan in order for them to communicate.

“The Ambient IoT builds on the foundational work done by the RFID industry and takes it to the next level, demonstrating that sophisticated devices can be made in large quantities and offered at a low cost,” stated Steven Humphreys, Identiv CEO. “We’re proud to be working with Wiliot, leveraging our existing RFID manufacturing processes to help build an ecosystem that promises tremendous potential in making businesses more intelligent and connected on a global scale,” added Humphreys.

“Global demand for our IoT Pixels is surging and the collaboration with Identiv will ensure we’re well-positioned to deliver,” said Tal Tamir, Wiliot CEO. “The agreement demonstrates the enormous manufacturing scale the industry offers to us, while also bringing a leading producer of smart, specialised tags into the Ambient IoT ecosystem, a market that is growing to include many of the world’s largest IoT and telecommunications companies.”

Wiliot plans in time to extend Ambient IoT into the home and offer item-level insights into expiry dates and when consumers need goods. Once attached, companies are equipped with real-time, item-level visibility into every product within their supply chains, which has a profound impact on both profits and the planet. Produce stays fresher longer, reducing the amount wasted due to rot and spoil; delivery routes are more efficient, requiring less fuel and emitting lower greenhouse gas; stock-checks transition from daily to real-time, resulting in supply chains both with lower carbon footprints and that can respond in real-time to online orders.

Identiv and Wiliot will announce further purchases shortly to meet the needs of customers that will scale significantly beyond this initial purchase.

Identiv embeds tags, inlays, and labels in billions of everyday objects, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, luxury brands, specialty retail, athletic apparel, industrial applications, smart packaging, library media, toys, wine and spirits, mobile devices, cold chain items, and perishables.

Wiliot is a SaaS company whose platform build on its IoT Pixel tagging technology, computers the size of a postage stamp that power themselves through ambient radio energy and provide automation and data collection to sectors such as reusable packaging, pharmaceuticals, food, and other products.