Internet of Things Think-Tank Highlights Need for National Strategy

Sydney, 8 May 2015  - The Communications Alliance Internet of Things (IoT) Think- Tank has resolved to push for the development of an IoT national strategy to position Australia to harness the benefits of this globally disruptive trend.

The first meeting of the Think Tank’s Executive Council in Sydney today, highlighted the need to encourage industry interoperability and collaboration, based on secure and open IoT solutions.

The meeting was attended by senior representatives of Alcatel Lucent, Creator Tech, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, IBM, Intel, RoZetta Technology, Telstra and Communications Alliance – a powerful grouping of many of the world’s most expert and active players in the IoT space.

The Federal Government’s Bureau of Communications Research (BCR) also attended the meeting as an active observer. KPMG is also a member of the Executive Council.

The Think Tank is refining the scope of an initial research project, expected to commence by early June, that will:

• describe and map the Australian IoT eco-system, taking account of evolving international developments;
• examine the fitness of the Australian regulatory framework to deal with the
• new challenges it will face as the IoT growth curve accelerates in the near future;
• focus on areas of opportunity for the Australia economy, including within specific industry verticals and through cross-sectoral collaboration; and
• prepare recommendations for policy and industry initiatives designed to generate measurable economic outcomes.

“The Think-Tank kick-off meeting revealed strong alignment among service providers, equipment vendors and others as to the criticality of creating an activated, globally- aware IoT community in Australia that can grab the opportunities and minimise the risks inherent in the Internet of Things,“ Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said today.

A broader workshop of industry and other stakeholders is planned for mid-June in Sydney, with the final release of the study and recommendations targeted for September/October, prior to commencing the downstream work.

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE

Communications Alliance is the primary telecommunications industry body in Australia. Its membership is drawn from a wide cross-section of the communications industry, including carriers, carriage and internet service providers, content providers, search engines, equipment vendors, IT companies, consultants and business groups.

Its vision is to provide a unified voice for the telecommunications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services. The prime mission of Communications Alliance is to promote the growth of the Australian communications industry and the protection of consumer interests by fostering the highest standards of business ethics and behaviour through industry self-governance. For more details about Communications Alliance, see www.commsalliance.com.au.

Media information contact:

Kreab
Lucy Chamberlain lchamberlain@kreab.com 0402 106 613