According to the research conducted by the Institute for Information Industry (III), the number of smart home worldwide was about 55.4 million in 2016 and is expected to quadruple to 230 million in 2021 with over 15% of household penetration, representing tremendous business opportunities.

However, in terms of the development of smart home IoT, rapid consolidation of common platforms in Taiwan is still required, which involves connection service for equipment and devices, various communications modules, and related products, services, and applications. In other words, the most pressing problem faced by Taiwanese companies when tapping into the global market is to develop application equipment in accordance with international standards.

As a result, under the support of the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, the International Conference on IoT for Smart Home was organized by the Industry Development Augmentation Division (IDAD), III, today (Jun 1), where the III, TATUNG, TECO, SAMPO, Taiwan Optical Platform, Gunitech, and well-known smart home vendors were gathered to form the “Smart Home Task Force,” whose mission is to create a common smart home platform in line with international IoT standards and to connect with the global smart home market.

“The goal of the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) Smart Home Project is to provide a common set of open standards, or building blocks, that smart home device makers can leverage to ensure customers have the device interconnectivity experience they’re looking for,” said Dr. John Joonho Park, executive director of the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF).

According to Dr. Hsien-Tang Ko, Director General of IDAD at III, the Smart Home Task Force formally established today will contribute to the acceleration of domestic smart home development. With the cross-device common platform developed by the III, this task force will assist the SMEs in Taiwan to follow international standards, catalyze diverse innovative application services, and open up considerable business opportunities.

“The OCF will keep working with the III to develop a common smart home framework, build an innovation center in Taiwan, and expedite the development of Taiwan’s IoT industry,” said Mr. Richard Brown, Chair of the OCF Asia Marketing Task Force.

Partner alliances, technology providers, and testing units from home and abroad were invited to this conference, including the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), a leading IoT standards body, Allion Labs, etc. The managing directors of three major appliance vendors in Taiwan also attended the conference. With the exchanges of IoT technologies, testing, and certification, it is hoped that the convergence of standards will be facilitated, and more potential of smart home IoT in Taiwan will be unlocked. This conference also serves to invite more companies to join the Smart Home Task Force, help interdisciplinary enterprises to launch diverse value-added products and extended innovative services, and provide comprehensive smart home solutions.

Media contact:
Ted Cheng
Industry Development Augmentation Division (IDAD), III
Email: [email protected]