IPSO Alliance member Michel Kohanim of Universal Devices recently contributed to EE Times, discussing the paradigm shift needed in how we represent data objects is needed to avoid building Silos of Things.
The IPSO Alliance is a group of highly motivated individuals and organizations who are passionate about IoT interoperability. Since our inception, we have analyzed IoT interoperability, published white papers based on our findings and—more importantly—produced data model specifications that define the most comprehensive set of interoperable IP-Based Smart Objects.
However, we recently discovered that, as good as our current IPSO Smart Object Model is, much more is needed.
For the past three years, we have been analyzing trends, strengths and shortcomings in the IoT space. What we discovered can only be described as Silos of Things. Unfortunately, the extent to which things in each silo can communicate with things in other silos is a function of human relationships and mergers and acquisitions, rather than technical endeavors.
It’s as if we all decided that the best method for IoT interoperability was the predefinition of things and their every possible permutation. In other words, for things to understand each other, they must literally be programmed to understand everything about each other using some common vocabulary. And, with every change, things must literally be reprogrammed.