The chaotic Internet of Things (IoT) space just got a bit less fragmented as an Australian consortium chose to back the Hypercat technology standard.
The Hypercat Australia group recently launched its efforts as a counterpart to the UK-based alliance pushing the Hypercat standard. This comes against the backdrop of competing standards vying for dominance in the relatively new field of IoT.
Hypercat Australia supporters include KPMG Australia, Flexeye, Giant Ideas and the University of Technology Sydney.
“It’s early days given the launch yesterday was the initial call for local membership, but in less than 24 hours we have received more than 40 registrations of interest for membership of Hypercat Australia,” said KPMG Australia’s IoT point man Piers Hogarth-Scott.
Meanwhile, the standard is supported globally by such industry giants as Intel, IBM, Huawei, Cisco, ARM, Broadcom and Fujitsu.
“The goal of Hypercat is to accelerate the global explosion of the Internet of Things – by enabling connected devices and data to work together to improve how cities work, and how people live,” said Justin Anderson, founder of the Hypercat Alliance.
The open JSON-based Hypercat standard is used for exposing IoT device information via the Internet.
“The Commonwealth is exploring relationships with different jurisdictions to build smart cities that improve our lives,” added Angus Taylor, Australia’s assistant minister for cities and digital transformation. “Hypercat Australia is one such partnership which will allow a platform to facilitate cutting edge technology solutions to be applied to urban problems.”
Taylor was on hand for the launch event of Hypercat Australia.
Aussie smart city efforts key to renewal
Last month he announced that the Australian government’s $50 million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program would stage a series of stakeholder roundtables. The first of these roundtables is set to take place in Melbourne on September 14.
This follows the April publication of the government’s Smart Cities plan which cited “Smart Technology” as one of its three main pillars. The document promoted the approach of infrastructure renewal through the lens of such emerging technology as IoT.
“The Australian Government has strengthened its assessment of infrastructure projects and now examines the extent to which new technologies are used to improve the efficiency, sustainability and services of infrastructure networks,” it said.
