AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel have announced the formation of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), an open membership group focused on breaking down the barriers of technology silos to support better access to big data with improved integration of the physical and digital worlds. The consortium will enable organisations to more easily connect and optimise assets, operations and data.
Specifically, the IIC's charter will be to encourage innovation by: utilising existing and creating new industry use cases and test beds for real-world applications, delivering best practices, reference architectures, case studies and standards requirements to ease deployment of connected technologies, influencing the global standards development process for internet and industrial systems, facilitating open forums to share and exchange real-world ideas, practices, lessons and insights and building confidence around new and innovative approaches to security.
As founding members, AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel will each hold permanent seats on an elected IIC Steering Committee along with four other elected members. The federal government is investing over USD 100 million per year in research and development related to cyberphysical systems, and has been partnering with the private sector on a series of testbeds in areas such as healthcare, transportation, smart cities and increasing the security of the electric grid.
