IBM joined AT&T, Cisco, GE, and Intel as backers of the newly-formed Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), a 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 promote ways for organizations to more easily connect and optimize assets, operations and data to drive agility and to unlock business value across all industrial sectors.
The IIC is a not-for-profit group with an open membership that will take the lead in establishing interoperability across various industrial environments for a more connected world. Specifically, the IIC’s charter will be to encourage innovation by utilizing existing and creating new industry use cases and test beds for real-world applications, and delivering best practices, reference architectures, case studies, and standards requirements to ease deployment of connected technologies.
“IBM's vision of a 'smarter planet' is being realized as we connect more of the physical world with the Internet, pairing the Internet of Things with advances in analytics, mobile and cloud computing in ways that lead to new insights and efficiencies that can be harnessed for competitive advantage,” said Ron Ambrosio, distinguished engineer and CTO for smarter energy research at IBM. “Smarter cities, utility grids, buildings, and machines are becoming more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, and through this consortium we will accelerate both innovation and technology advancement.”
IBM and the other founding sponsors will each hold permanent seats on an elected IIC Steering Committee, along with four other elected members. The IIC is open to any business, organization or entity with an interest in accelerating the Industrial Internet. The fee structure and membership application forms are available at www.iiconsortium.org.