On Tuesday, June 21st, Karen McCabe, Senior Director of Technology Policy and International Affairs at IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), led a panel with several global leaders on Open Standards and the Internet of Things (IoT) at the International Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC) forum at the 2016 OECD Ministerial on the Digital Economy. Joining her were:
- Monique Morrow, CTO, Evangelist for New Frontiers Development and Engineering, CISCO
- Laurent Liscia, CEO and Executive Director, OASIS
- David Conrad, Chief Technology Officer, ICANN
- Roberto Minerva, Research Coordinator at Telecom Italia Lab; Chair of the IEEE IoT Initiative
- Luis Kun, Professor of National Security at the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) at the National Defense University
- Elsa Chan, Co-Founder, Jetlun
In addressing the great promise of the IoT, the panel sought to address the benefits and ramifications of a future, fully interconnected “smart world” where relationships between people, objects and our environments are increasingly interconnected and intertwined. Moreover, the panel sought to ask and answer key questions regarding how to address key issues related to security, privacy, interoperability, standards, legal, regulatory and rights issues — as well as the inclusion of emerging economies. Some of the key questions that were asked included the following:
- What is the value of open and voluntary standards in sustaining innovation in the IoT domain?
- What is the economic rationale that goes into choosing between a particular set of competing standards?
- What are possible frameworks and solutions for creating an enabling environment for IoT to flourish as a positive force for inclusive economic and social development?
- Who should take such standards forward?
- With IoT’s multifaceted nature that allows it to cross over many disciplines and vertical markets, how do stakeholders ensure a path that supports convergence and interoperability?
The discussion explored the promises and potential economic benefits of the future IoT, from cars as IoT hubs to the explosion of IoT startups. Panelists highlighted the $341 billion dollar waste in investment of non-standardized IoT solutions, the expanding demand created by a a rapidly growing population and changing cultural climate in making a case for open standards for IoT. They highlighted the need for a balance of proprietary and open standards, emphasizing the for the common values of the Internet (in the OpenStand tradition) to govern the IoT domain. They also addressed the current “chaos” and the many platform challenges presented by the evolution of IOT, in addition to the practical, social and economic dynamics of this “Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
You can view the panel yourself, below.
Among the champions for Open Standards, it is significant to note that both IEEE and CISCO are affirming partners of the OpenStand Principles.