// EXPERT PROFILE //
What SMEs need to know
ABOUT THE INTERNET OF THINGS AND STANDARDS
The growth of the Internet of things ( IoT ) ecosystem has been a technological revolution and is expected to generate € 12.5 billion for the global economy by 2030 . In an effort to meet increasing customer demand for IoT products , a record number of businesses across industries and sectors are increasing their IoT capabilities to advance efficiency and deliver better outcomes for their customers . Mike Sax , Founder and Chairperson of The App Association , explains what SMEs need to know about the IoT and standards .
“
STANDARDISATION ENABLES
COMPANIES TO BUY OFF-THE-
SHELF PRODUCTS IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT STANDARDS , GIVING THEM
AN INNOVATION HEAD START BY ENSURING THEIR PRODUCT CAN INTERACT
WITH OTHER IOT DEVICES AND
NETWORKS .
MES ENTERING THE IoT
S space must understand the intellectual property ( IP ) rules that underpin IoT technology , especially where they relate to technology standards . There are real-world consequences to small businesses that fail to successfully navigate standards and the licensing of standard-essential patents ( SEPs ), including discriminatory fees or court-ordered market exclusions for the production or sale of products , both of which can impose major setbacks to an SME ’ s plans for growth .
Why standards matter
Technology standards are agreed-upon building blocks for specific technologies that provide seamless connectivity and interoperability to products across various markets . For example , Wi-Fi is the technology standard that allows your smartphone to connect to any Wi-Fi network worldwide ( if you have the password ). This is because the Wi-Fi standard is always the same wherever it is implemented . Good examples of other standards relevant to IoT include 4G , 5G and Bluetooth .
Standardisation enables companies to buy off-the-shelf products in order to implement standards , giving them an innovation head start by ensuring their product can interact with other IoT devices and networks . The standardisation process empowers innovators , including SMEs , to efficiently build innovative connected technologies without reinventing a new connectivity system . This process is also good for consumers because the resulting product will be able to communicate with other technologies that use the same technology standard ( e . g . Wi-Fi ).
Standard-essential patents ( SEPs )
A technology standard relies on the contribution of several innovations ( e . g . hardware , chips , ports and code ), many of which are patented . The patented technologies contributed to a technology standard are called SEPs , which are declared necessary to access the technology standard . The fair licensing of SEPs is important because companies that are building exciting innovations may be disrupted by SEP infringement claims simply because they use the standardised technology ( for example , 4G technology needed to connect their IoT innovation to the Internet ). You can ’ t use a standard like 5G without licensing the necessary SEPs . Therefore , SEP licensing is an essential part of developing IoT-connected products .
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