ID@URI was initially devised by the DIALOG research project of the Helsinki University of Technology as a universal identifier format for identifying and linking tangible objects ("things") to their information sources on the Internet (the "Internet of Things").

ID@URI has similar properties to the EPC/ONS standards proposed by the AutoID Center at MIT, i.e. it can be guaranteed to be globally unique and it indicates where the information about the item is located. ID@URI can be printed as text, barcode or programmed into a (programmable) RFID chip. In a tracking application, URI is normally set to the company that needs the tracking data. In product data access applications, it could be the manufacturer of the product. The URI can be a URL-format computer address (e.g. 'www.some_company.com') and ID is a serial number or any other unique number at the URI indicated.

The DIALOG software components were initally developed as the result of a project to develop a forwarder-independent tracking-and-tracing system for worldwide product deliveries. An Open Source Community was established in 2003 for further development of the DIALOG Java-based software components, which cover driver architecture for RFID and barcode readers, client-server communication and information fetch/update to company databases. Commencing in June 2006, the concept of ID@URI was also used and further developed by the TraSer EU project consortium.