Last Friday, The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) announced it is joining forces with the Trusted IoT Alliance (TIoTA) to combine memberships and drive industry collaboration.
Members of the two organizations will now work under the IIC to research, develop and promote practices relating to internet of things (IoT) systems including blockchain.
Founded in 2014, US-based IIC fosters the use of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), while TIoTA has been working on integrating distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and IoT.
TIoTA started three years after the IIC and boasts members such as the IOTA Foundation, Chronicled, ConsenSys, Bosch, Siemens, Cisco and KPMG.
“This consolidation will strengthen the ability of the IIC to provide guidance and advance best practices on the uses of distributed ledger technology across industries, and boost the commercialization of these products and services,” said Csilla Zsigri, Senior Analyst, Blockchain & DLT, 451 Research.
The two consortiums have previously collaborated on Trusted IoT Global Design Challenges, Trusted IoT Reference Architecture working group, and a few other initiatives. A few months ago, Ledger Insights reported on the Smart Buildings Challenge for blockchain and IoT projects, co-run by the two organizations.
“The combined organization will offer a single stop for IoT industry guidance and a larger ecosystem for end users looking to improve their bottom line with IoT and DLT. This will enable the Consortium to become the center of gravity for the future of Industrial IoT systems across industry verticals,” said IIC Executive Director Richard Soley.
TIoTA has been working on developing IoT systems which are interoperable, scalable, and based on blockchain.
The TIoTA has been running several challenges to develop applications and bolster innovation. Last year, it announced competitors for its Smart E-Mobility Challenge which included Bosch and Siemens. Other initiatives include — Smart Logistics, Smart Buildings, Smart Construction and Blockchain and the City.
“We are looking forward to bringing these into the IIC portfolio to further develop practices around multi-stakeholder innovation strategies,” said Anoop Nannra, Founder and Chairman of TIoTA.
Blockchain and IoT systems can complement each other, and industry participants seem keen on utilizing the technologies together. Last month, Gartner published a report which found that 90% of IoT adopters plan to integrate blockchain.
