Dive Brief:

• Dean Garfield, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, presented testimony about the potential of the Internet of Things at a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet on Wednesday

• Garfield said the IoT market has enormous potential. "There is much action happening in this space... It is in our business interest to be aligned both with you and with consumer interest on these issues," he said.

• Garfield also called for a strategic national IoT plan to be developed that encourages public-private partnerships. 

Dive Insight:

Garfield also suggested the creation of an IoT advisory board that would include government and industry partners. He urged that timelines should be fast in order to maintain U.S. leadership in the IoT.

“IoT is in its very nascent stages and presents us with limitless possibilities if we have the vision and environment to achieve them,” said Garfield.

One major reason for a collaborative national plan: security. “Security must be built into both hardware and software at the outset to ensure there are redundancies, to prevent intrusions, and to create secure and trusted IoT systems,” he said.

IDC predicts that the IoT market will grow 19% in 2015.