The Active and Intelligent Packaging Association (AIPIA)'s recent World Congress convened practically all the relevant smart packaging stakeholders to discuss the steepening adoption curve for connected packaging. This growth is due in part to regulation, especially in Europe, and in part to sheer utility for brands and retailers. More importantly, the brand owners employing smart packaging are beginning to take better advantage of the full suite of applications. One way they can do so, and perhaps take advantage of all three legs of the smart packaging stool in supply chain, consumer engagement, and sustainability, is by adopting a 2D barcode, called Digital Link.
GS1’s Digital Link is a standard 2D code barcode architecture that, when printed on a package, singularly accomplishes a lot of parallel tasks for supply chain stakeholders and consumers alike. At AIPIA, Dominique Guinard, VP of Innovation at Digimarc and founder of EVRYTHNG, which Digimarc acquired, explained that Digital Link is about ready for prime time. The standard has matured over the six years since its 2018 launch, emerging out of the mission-specific workgroup that Guinard co-chaired, and has graduated into normal standard maintenance for standardizing body GS1.
