The IEEE Council on RFID (CRFID) has officially announced that IEEE RFID 2026, the 20th Annual IEEE International Conference on RFID, will take place from June 16 to 18, 2026, at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The announcement marks a significant milestone for the RFID community as this flagship event celebrates two decades of advancing radio frequency identification research and innovation.
Since its inception, the IEEE RFID conference has served as a critical gathering point for researchers, engineers, and industry professionals working across the RFID spectrum. Reaching the 20-year mark underscores just how far the technology has come, from early supply chain pilots to the pervasive deployments we see today in retail, logistics, healthcare, and beyond. To mark the occasion, organisers will be providing complimentary BLE-enabled badges to the first 100 registrants, a fitting nod to the convergence of RFID and Bluetooth technologies that continues to shape the Internet of Things.
The keynote lineup for IEEE RFID 2026 promises to be one of the strongest yet. Dr. Richard Ribon Fletcher of MIT will deliver a keynote titled “The Evolution of Chipless RFID,” exploring the trajectory and future potential of chipless tag designs that could dramatically reduce per-unit costs and open up new application areas. Dr. Rafael Pous from Universitat Pompeu Fabra will present “RFID Everywhere, All the Time,” a talk likely to address the growing ubiquity of RFID-enabled systems in everyday environments. Rounding out the keynote sessions, Dr. Paul Ransom of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will speak on spectrum management as part of a dedicated NRDZ Workshop on Spectrum Coexistence, tackling one of the most pressing challenges facing dense RFID deployments.
Beyond the keynotes, the conference programme features workshops covering motion capture applications, flexible electronics, and 3D-printed electronic components. These sessions reflect the expanding boundaries of RFID hardware development, where printed and flexible form factors are enabling entirely new use cases in wearables, smart packaging, and industrial sensing. The event also includes a call for papers, special sessions, and tutorials aimed at both seasoned RFID professionals and newcomers to the field.
Early bird registration is currently open and runs through May 5, 2026. Attendees can also take advantage of a discounted hotel rate of $189 per night at the conference venue. For those looking to submit research or participate in workshops, full details are available on the conference website.
Whether you are deep in RFID R&D, deploying tags at scale, or exploring what the technology can do for your sector, IEEE RFID 2026 is shaping up to be an essential event on the calendar this year.
Read more at https://2026.ieee-rfid.org/