Open Interconnect Consortium Adds Electrolux, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Changes Name

The Open Interconnect Consortium brought into the fold new members ElectroluxAB, Microsoft and Qualcomm and gave itself a new name, Open Connectivity Foundation, it said Friday. The consortium said it hopes to help unify IoT standards so developers and companies can create products that “work seamlessly together.” OCF will accelerate solutions leading to a single, open IoT interoperability specification, it said. Other members of the cross-industry group are Arris, CableLabs, Cisco, GE Digital, Intel and Samsung. The OCF’s vision for IoT is that “billions of connected devices (appliances, phones, computers, industrial equipment) will communicate with one another regardless of manufacturer, operating system, chipset or transport.” If it meets its goal, OCF said, anyone -- from a large technology company to a maker working out of a garage -- could adopt OCF’s open standards, innovate and compete ensuring “secure interoperability for consumers, business and industry.” Samsung’s Seung Hwan Cho, deputy head-software R&D center, said in a statement OIC had been working to develop a standard spec for IoT devices while developing IoTivity as an open-source reference implementation, and it welcomes the new members to OCF. Also in a prepared statement, Michael Wallace, president-Qualcomm Connected Experiences, said Qualcomm helped develop the AllJoyn framework to drive a similar goal, “and now we look forward to collaborating with leading IoT-focused companies to form the OCF for precisely the same reason.” Qualcomm, Electrolux and Microsoft are listed as premier members of the AllSeen Alliance, whose stated AllJoyn-based mission is to “enable industry standard interoperability between products and brands with an open source framework that drives intelligent experiences for the Internet of Things,” the website said. The AllSeen Alliance is "encouraged to see companies coming together to build new technologies through collaboration," AllSeen Board Chairman Danny Lousberg emailed us Friday on our queries about the relationship between OFC and AllSeen. "It accelerates development and innovation," Lousberg said. "Many of the companies committed to Open Connectivity Foundation remain invested in AllSeen Alliance, so we're confident that technology integration and collaboration across efforts will be a priority and can benefit the industry at large," he said. "AllSeen Alliance continues its focus on a robust code base and devices shipping with AllJoyn. As a code-first organization we are supportive of any effort to advance open specifications. We are eager to learn more about the OCF specification and the IP policies that surround it.”