Emerging Technologies – Threats and Opportunities

I have been considering emerging technologies and developments that are likely to have an impact on the tax stamp and traceability industry. For the purposes of this presentation I have grouped these under seven (albeit overlapping) headings: digital printing, sustainability, smart packaging, smartphone validation, robotics in logistics, distributed data systems, and new players.

As we consider each of these technologies, it is important to keep in mind that they have the potential to bring both opportunities and threats to our industry.

Digital printing

Digital printing is already becoming important for tax stamps – whether in the form of inkjet or toner printing – and it is likely to become even more so. This will have the effect of opening the door to new players in the printing world – which can be both a threat and an opportunity.

I suggest here that we take a broader view of digital printing, by rather thinking of it as material deposition, which effectively means taking a material and putting it down on something. There are numerous technologies in this field which I believe are going to make a difference to what we do.