Industrial internet, network groups complete merger

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the OpenFog Consortium (OpenFog) announced they have finalized the details to combine their international consortia in Industrial IoT, fog, and edge computing. The organizations will work under the IIC umbrella to drive future industrial internet projects including the development and promotion of industry guidance and best practices for fog and edge computing. The first formal meeting of the unified organization will in Raleigh, N.C., from February 11-14.

The IIC also announced the IIC Steering Committee, which guides the strategic direction of the organization, has elected two OpenFog principals:

• Ron Zahavi, Chief Strategist for IoT Standards, Azure IoT, Microsoft. Mr. Zahavi is focused on IoT standards and consortia and also leads Microsoft’s Worldwide IoT Architecture Community. Mr. Zahavi has extensive experience in all aspects of technology management and solution delivery, 18 of those related to IoT solutions.
• Mung Chiang, John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, Purdue University.  Dr. Chiang was previously the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor at Princeton University and founded the Princeton EDGE Lab in 2009. The lab bridges the theory-practice gap in edge computing/networking research.

“This agreement brings together the two most important organizations shaping the Industrial Internet of Things. The combined organization offers greater influence to members, more clarity to the market, and a lower-risk path to the future for end users. We will be the center of gravity for the future of Industrial IoT systems across industry verticals,” said Stan Schneider, CEO of Real-Time Innovations (RTI) and vice chair of the IIC Steering Committee. “We welcome the experience and vision that Ron Zahavi and Mung Chiang bring to our Steering Committee.”

– Edited from an IIC press release by CFE Media. The IIC is a CFE Media content partner. See more Control Engineering industrial networking stories.

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