A group of major technology companies, including AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel have revealed the formation of a new industry group: the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC).
An open membership group, the IIC will reportedly focus on breaking down the barriers of technology silos to support access to big data, reports MBTMag. The group, which is not-for-profit, hopes to take the lead in establishing interoperability across the industry.
As to how it will encourage innovation, the IIC has said that it will deliver best practises, reference architectures, case studies and standards to ease new tech deployment. It also aims to facilitate an open forum for firms to exchange ideas and insights and build confidence around innovative approaches to security.
Fitting the pieces together
Founding members AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel will all hold permanent seats on a committee along with four extra elected members. The committee hopes to provide leadership to businesses looking to capitalise on the IIC.
The IIC is open to any business, organisation or entity with an interest in the industrial internet and improving critical relationships with leaders in technology, the Government and academia, the website states.
"As leaders we have come together to drive the ecosystem and market development of Industrial Internet applications and ensure organizations around the world can more easily create better services, access better data, and most importantly, seamlessly connect all the pieces together," said Bill Ruh, vice president, GE Global Software.
