NCITS 256 defines a standard for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for use in item management. This standard is intended to allow for compatibility and to encourage interoperability of products for the growing RFID market in the United States. Because the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations do not restrict physical configuration options, this is an enabling standard that supports and promotes several RFID implementations without making conclusions about the relative technical merits of any available option for any possible application.

This standard defines a single Application Program Interface (API), which will serve as a unifying platform shared by all compliant RFID implementations and provide a common interface to application programs. This common API will help to encourage widespread manufacturer competition and subsequent market expansion while the market for RFID for item management becomes established.

The item management applications this standard addresses typically require ranges greater than one meter. Item management spans a wide range of applications, from simple item identification to the accumulation and transfer of dynamic information of the item throughout its useful life. Items may vary in size and value, may be mobile or static, may pass through a portal or be arbitrarily located within a large volume, and may be few or many in number.

Design of a single system to cover this wide range of possible application requirements would require many compromises for an individual application. Such disparate needs are better addressed by multiple systems offering varying levels of price and performance. Furthermore, availability, price, and performance of RFID implementations will change with time. RFID technology is evolving rapidly. As observed in personal computing and network connectivity, advances in memory size, communication speed, and other technical performance features often exceed expectations.