The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is positioning itself to take a lead role in IoT standardisation, in a white paper setting out principles on IoT standardisation that it wants to see universally adopted and in which it proposes a role for itself coordinating and overseeing widespread collaboration on IoT standardisation.
This white paper IoT 2020: Smart and secure IoT platform claims to provide an overview of today’s IoT, including its limitations and deficiencies in the area of security, interoperability and scalability.
It contends that bringing the ambitious visions connected with the Internet of Things to fruition will require significant efforts in standardisation and to that end presents “a desired future IoT standardisation ecosystem environment.”
The white paper calls on all standard development organisations, consortia, geopolitical entities and others involved in IoT definition, development, deployment and operation to “publically adopt as a guiding principle the desired future IoT standardisation ecosystem environment” it sets out, and for all involved in IoT standardisation to “look for opportunities to foster increased levels of cooperation and collaboration.”
It also wants government to increase funding support for “unrestricted research” into technology requirements it has identified.
Formal MoU proposed
The white paper sees a lead role for the IEC saying that, as one of the globally recognised de jure standards organisations, it is in a unique position to drive the IoT forward and help make the smart and secure IoT platform a reality.
It wants the IEC to work with recognised leaders of the other organisations “to establish a formal MoU recognising the proper roles of named SDOs and consortia, government entities such as the European Community, and individual governments.”
The MoU should include establishment of an overarching MoU management board of participants “to collaborate as much as possible towards creating the desired environment.”
Beyond legacy IoT platforms
The 181 page white paper, developed by the IEC market strategy board with contributions mostly from SAP and Fraunhofer AISEC includes several use cases from industry, public and customer domains that point to requirements for a smart and secure IoT platform. It also discusses next generation platform-level technologies in the field of connectivity, processing and security.
The white paper also claims to provide an outlook on what the next big step in IoT – the development of smart and secure IoT platforms – could involve. “These platforms offer significant improvements in capabilities in the field of security and bridge the gaps between different existing IoT platforms, which usually consist of ‘legacy’ systems that have not been designed for IoT purposes,” it says.
Dr Timo Kubach, vice president cloud platform strategy at SAP, said: “IoT is an important topic that requires careful consideration by standards organisations and others if we are to realise its true benefits. Recognising this, we aimed at identifying the future state of IoT and providing recommendations on what actions IEC, and the broader standards community could take to support the anticipated dynamic growth of IoT solutions.”
