IIC publishes the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework

March 2, 2017

Guidance to enable communications interoperability for IIoT solutions.

The Industrial Internet Consortium(IIC), the global, member-driven organization that

promotes the accelerated growth of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), announced the publication of the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework (IICF), a reference architecture for IIoT system and solution architects to evaluate connectivity technologies as they design IIoT solutions and help unlock data in isolated systems, enabling interoperability between previously closed components and subsystems, and accelerating the development of new applications within and across industries.

“Seeking to unlock the full potential of the global IIoT marketplace, the IICF offers a framework to help simplify the complexity of proprietary technologies and standards which businesses face,” said John Tuccillo, IIC Steering Committee chair and senior vice president of global industry and government affairs with Schneider Electric. “The IICF will help accelerate the creation of new value streams with its broad applicability across multiple industries, IIoT systems and applications.”

“As the Industrial Internet of Things continues to evolve, a common connectivity architecture is critical in enabling the seamless data-sharing required to unlock the potential of the IIoT,” said Dr. Rajive Joshi, co-chair of the IIC Connectivity Task Group and principal solution architect at RTI. “The IICF provides this common architecture, clarifying the connectivity stack and defining criteria for core connectivity standards. The framework provides the roadmap IoT practitioners and system architects need to navigate the complex IIoT connectivity landscape.”

The IICF provides an assessment template as a practical tool for evaluating any connectivity technology and placing it correctly on the IIoT connectivity stack. It defines a connectivity reference architecture to enable horizontal interoperability and establishes the criteria for core connectivity standards. The IICF offers a catalog of connectivity standards and identifies potential core connectivity standards to accelerate IIoT initiatives. The IICF paves the way for a marketplace of connectivity gateways and core gateways that will create more choices and readily available solutions for IIoT system developers.