WASHINGTON – ITI, the global voice of the tech sector, today announced a new initiative to convene its member companies and like-minded partners to develop a national Internet of Things (IoT) strategy. The initiative, co-chaired by representatives from Intel and Samsung, comes after leaders in the companies called for a dialogue in which the industry could work together to advance strategic recommendations for policymakers to fully realize the potential benefits of IoT applications and advances for consumers, industries, society and the economy.
“The Internet of Things promises to usher in a transformational revolution of nearly limitless economic, societal, and commercial opportunities,” said ITI President and CEO Dean Garfield. “Our goal is to present strategic recommendations to the next Congress and Administration that are a proactive, enabling vision for Internet of Things technologies to develop and thrive. With a clear strategy, we can harness the internet’s next evolution to tackle our biggest challenges—from curing diseases, to addressing our changing climate, to creating smart cities and transportation systems, and improving the quality of our lives.”
An estimated 30 billion devices will be connected through the IoT by 2020, underscoring the need for a national strategy. Garfield said the initiative will convene ITI member companies and stakeholder thought leaders over the course of the next several months to develop strategic recommendations around an initial set of issues addressing:
- Privacy and security
- Internet infrastructure investment
- Enabling interoperability for global adoption and integration
- Promoting voluntary, industry-led global consensus-based standards and best practices
- Leveraging public-private partnerships
- Enabling innovation to flourish
ITI has been actively engaged in creating an enabling a policy environment for IoT over the past two years. Garfield called for the formation of a national IoT strategy while testifying before Congress last summer. In addition, the organization developed IoT principles for advocacy outreach with government officials.
