Conclusion

The industries and uses discussed in this report suggest that 2D barcode technology can be used in a wide range of scenarios. However, it is apparent that the most natural use would be in business-to-consumer transactions.

Such technology is extremely useful for marketers and creates a bridge between the physical and online worlds that they can exploit to their benefit.

This does not however limit or constrain the technhology's potential. The scenarios presented within this report for other transaction types (B2B, C2B, C2C and eGov) highlight that the flexibility, size, data capacity and ease of adoption can prove to be useful outside of B2C transactions.

It is envisaged that the increasing influence of user generated content and convergence of the physical and virtual domains will only create more opportunities for 2D barcodes to be deployed in innovative ways.

The number of camera equipped mobile phones in-use today has created a market waiting to be tapped. 2D barcodes could prove to be one way to unlock this market's potential.

C2B

Consumer-to-Business transactions do not offer many opportunities for 2D barcodes. One potential scenario is referral hiring.

Fast Access Contact Information

As the age of the free-agent starts to emerge and we enter an era of resource exchanges, a mechanism for quick retrieval of contact information will become an advantage.

The standard information for contact details, name, address, phone number(s) and email address can be easily encoded into a 2D barcode. Further, the data capacity of these barcodes formats also allows for a succinct resume and a truncated skill set to be included as well. This allows for a quick retrieval of pertinent information from a business card and defers the need to look up a CV from file.