By J. Clarke Stevens, Shaw Communications
Perhaps the biggest problem with the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) is that there are so many standards and proprietary systems. Apple, Google and Amazon each have proprietary approaches. Standards on relevant IoT topics are available from IEEE, IETF, W3C, ISO/IEC and virtually every other standards body. Even organizations trying to comply with standards are forced to choose between incompatible options. The integrated Smart Home and other IoT applications and systems cannot achieve their promise if the billions of connected things can only connect with a limited subset of the other devices. This paper will outline a number of principles that can enable interoperability, scalability and security while including all of the devices that need to be connected. The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), as one of the premier standards organizations trying to solve the interoperability problem, will be measured against these principles. The SCTE IoT working group is investigating OCF and several other IoT topics to determine if there is work for SCTE to do to provide guidance for its members.