Dive Brief:
- Microsoft announced Friday the formation of the Open Connectivity Foundation, a group committed to furthering IoT industry standards.
- Cisco, Electrolux, General Electric, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung and others are also founding members of OCF.
- OCF “will create a set of open specifications and protocols to enable devices from a variety of manufactures to securely and seamlessly interact with one another,” according to Microsoft.
Dive Insight:
The company said an array of open standards and closed company protocols have slowed adoption and innovation in IoT, but “standardization can help consolidate industry attention and create opportunity, via an agreed upon set of protocols that move industries and the world forward.”
Once OCF specs are both agreed to and adhered to, Microsoft said, devices will work together “regardless of the manufacturer, operating system, chipset or transport.”
Several open industry groups have sprung up in recent months. Experts say because it encourages crowdsourcing and collaboration, an open source approach can enable faster advances in a wide variety of computing platforms.
