RFID Journal LIVE! 2026 is just days away, with the industry’s flagship conference and exhibition set to run May 19 through 21 at the Rio in Las Vegas. The event brings together more than 100 exhibitors from 26 countries across nine dedicated conference tracks, making it the largest gathering of RFID, NFC, BLE and IoT professionals anywhere in the world.
This year’s programme promises a packed agenda of product launches, live demos and deployment case studies from companies operating at the cutting edge of automatic identification. Attendees can expect major announcements from exhibitors spanning retail, logistics, healthcare and industrial IoT, with several vendors teasing new hardware and software platforms ahead of the show.
The conference tracks cover the full breadth of the RFID ecosystem, from UHF and RAIN RFID deployments through to NFC-based consumer engagement, sensor integration and emerging ambient IoT applications. Training and certification sessions are also on offer, including dedicated RAIN Alliance courses for professionals looking to validate their technical expertise.
Among the stories generating buzz ahead of the event is Walmart’s connected store deployment with Vusion in Mexico, which highlights how major retailers continue to push RFID adoption deeper into store operations. The formation of the Ambient IoT Alliance is another key talking point, signalling growing industry alignment around ultra-low-power, battery-free wireless devices that could open up entirely new use cases in supply chain and asset tracking.
Sponsors for this year’s show include AsReder, Pragmatic Semiconductor, TAGEOS and the RAIN RFID Alliance, reflecting strong support from both established players and innovative newcomers in the chip and tag manufacturing space.
For those who can’t make it to Vegas or want to continue the conversation, IEEE RFID 2026 follows shortly after, running June 16 to 18 at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza in New Mexico. The 20th annual IEEE International Conference on RFID features keynotes from Mark Roberti, founder of RFID Journal, speaking on barriers to mass RFID adoption, and MIT’s Dr. Richard Ribon Fletcher on the evolution of chipless RFID. Early-bird registration for the IEEE event closes May 15, so interested attendees should act quickly.
The IEEE programme also includes workshops, tutorials, an RFID certification course from RFID4U and networking events including a dinner and tours of Los Alamos and the Very Large Array. To mark the conference’s 20th anniversary, organisers are distributing 100 complimentary BLE commemorative badges to attendees.
Whether you’re heading to Las Vegas next week or planning for Santa Fe in June, the next few weeks represent the most concentrated stretch of RFID industry activity on the calendar. Both events offer unmatched opportunities to connect with peers, evaluate new technology and get a clear picture of where the industry is heading.
Read more at https://rfidjournallive.com/