Industrial consortia exist for several reasons and are essential for the promotion, governance, and construction of standards. The IoT industry is similar to other technologies and has its fair share of proprietary and open standards. This section covers the various consortia across Personal Area Networks (PAN), protocols, WAN, fog and edge computing, and various umbrella consortia. A detailed and categorical description of each alliance will be detailed to help the IoT architect decide which, if any, organization is worth the time and investment to associate with. It should be noted that an organization doesn’t need any involvement with an industrial alliance; many great products and businesses have been built without reliance on a consortium. However, some organizations will require corporate membership for logo usage or even the ability to productize certain standards.

A growing market segment like the IoT will spawn alliances early on in its hype cycle as a number of players vie for a stake in setting standards. This is a natural phenomenon during the rapid growth phase of any business. Oftentimes, alliances form when one similar standard competes with another, and organizations will align themselves across competitive lines. Other times, standards are defined for the industry through non-profit and academic venues. If for no other reason, the list of consortia in this chapter should help steer an architect to the resources and technical collateral needed for their design.

This chapter will provide context, history, and membership information for various organizations and consortia in the IoT space, including communications, cloud, and fog standard bodies.