There sure is a buzz in standards this week, especially in standards that can help change our relationship to the built world: buildings, systems, and energy. I’m watching them and trying to put things together. I haven’t yet, but this is what I am seeing.
- A new OASIS group has started to standardize web services for device discovery (DD), Device Profiles (DP) and SOAP over UDP. DD and DP are already used by many printers. The committee includes the Operating System (OS) makers (of course), the Printer makers (of course), the enterprise software makers (well that’s more interesting) and other device makers, including Schneider Electric, one of the largest makers of building systems, meters, and electric grids. When the oBIX committee (the Open Building Information Exchange) was formed, we had numerous industry-specific sub-committees. Several of these had to disband after Schneider had bought up a quorum. It is intriguing to see Schneider now back, in enterprise web services standards, working with such players as SAP and Microsoft.
- IPSO is a new industry alliance promoting the use of IP (Internet Protocol) for smart objects, where smart objects are all the systems sensors, meters and so on that make up the hidden world of engineered systems. They are creating what they are calling “the Internet of Things” connecting physical objects with the global Internet. IPSO aims to tackle energy distribution and consumption, home automation, and work environments.
- I see these converging with the Internet 0 efforts to bring full connectivity and networking to devices “too small to be networked”
- NIST, as I have written before, is fast-tracking efforts to define interoperability around the power grid.
- SOAP over UDP is an effort to bring the full power of compositional messaging, with all that means for the enterprise to a lighter weight stack appropriate for small devices. Interoperability to me means interoperability with the business and people that inhabit the homes and offices.
I do not know where these fit together. I do think they are pursuing the same goals in the same way.
To me, these initiatives will become more interesting when they start using more compositional technologies. Perhaps Service Component Architecture (SCA), will be used to connect disparate systems together into common service definitions. Perhaps Policy Based Event Management will be used to let companies craft fine-grained responses to external conditions.
Right now, I wake up every day and wonder what will be in my in box.