Chris LaPre

ADT, a provider of security, automation and smart home solutions serving consumer and business customers, has joined the Zigbee Alliance and the Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP) working group. ADT will help to develop and promote the adoption of Project CHIP, a new royalty-free connectivity standard to increase interoperability among smart home products, with security as a fundamental design tenet. “As a member of the Zigbee Alliance, ADT will collaborate with others who are developing the Connected Home over IP initiative to give our customers an even more seamless smart home experience with security and privacy at its foundation,” said Bob Kupbens, President, Chief Innovation and Product Officer at ADT. “Our participation in the Zigbee Alliance and our recently announced partnership with Google demonstrate ADT’s commitment to help develop the next generation of helpful smart home security.” Compatibility across smart home devices The Project CHIP protocol aims to increase compatibility across smart home devices and to define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. ADT’s participation in Project CHIP will provide customers with more seamless and secure ways to curate their smart home. Project CHIP has the potential for wide adoption across smart home devices through an open-source approach that will allow ADT systems to easily connect with a growing pool of smart home devices creating a more unified smart home ecosystem. Interoperability and security “The more we connect things around us within home and business settings, the more we need to consider interoperability and security – and through the Alliance community hundreds of companies are working alongside each other to raise standards and expectations around IoT connectivity,” said Chris LaPré, IoT Architect, Zigbee Alliance. “Having ADT join and get involved in Connected Home over IP is a perfect pairing as security is a core design principle of this important member-driven initiative that will transform smart home connections tied to safety, security and everyday digital living.”

Essence Group, a provider of IoT solutions for security, connected home and healthcare, has joined Zigbee Alliance as a member in the “Project Connected Home over IP” initiative. In doing so, the company will contribute to developing and promoting the adoption of a new, royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility among smart home products, with security as a fundamental design tenet. The goal of the Connected Home over IP project is to simplify development for manufacturers and increase compatibility for consumers. The project is built around a shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use. By building upon Internet Protocol (IP), the project aims to enable communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services and to define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. Unified connectivity protocol The industry working group will take an open-source approach for the development and implementation of a new, unified connectivity protocol. The project intends to use contributions from market-tested smart home technologies from various member companies. The decision to leverage these technologies is expected to accelerate the development of the protocol and deliver benefits to manufacturers and consumers faster. “Essence is excited to join in and contribute to the standard by bringing its vast 25 years of experience and knowhow in developing and manufacturing radio IoT devices for the security, connected home and health care markets, currently producing over 10 million such devices per year,” said Dr. Haim Amir, CEO of Essence Group. “As a global Software & IoT provider with a history of developing disruptive technologies Essence has always believed in the holistic vision of ’better life made possible‘ while building solutions at scale that emphasize security and, privacy together with an intuitive user experience.” Participating in the Connected Home over IP Project is important in strengthening and accelerating a global standard. Through it, Essence will demonstrate new abilities across different segments over the next decade. Smart homes with IoT “Industry players are working alongside each other through the Alliance to shape the future of the IoT using open, global standards,” said Chris LaPre, Solutions Architect, Zigbee Alliance. “Our members together drive meaningful connections throughout the smart home, and we welcome new additions like Essence Group to our roster of IoT visionaries.” Essence is a global provider of IoT connected-living and cybersecurity solutions for communication, security and healthcare service providers. Leveraging 25 years of experience and innovation with a global presence and more than 50 million devices deployed worldwide. Essence has strong strategic relationship with Verisure, the European provider of professionally monitored security systems and has a vast deployment in senior monitoring products in the US. Essence specializes in the IoT segment driven by deep R&D and systems integration including embedded Cyber security. Zigbee Alliance suite IoT solutions The Zigbee Alliance is the foundation and future of the Internet of Things. Established in 2002, their wide-ranging global membership collaborates to create and evolve universal open standards for the products transforming the way they live, work, and play. With the members’ deep and diverse expertise, robust certification programs, and a full suite of open IoT solutions – including the recently announced Project Connected Home over IP – they are leading the movement toward a more intuitive, imaginative, and useful world. The Zigbee Alliance board of directors is comprised of executives from Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, IKEA, The Kroger Co., LEEDARSON, Legrand, Lutron Electronics, MMB Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Schneider Electric, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Silicon Labs, SmartThings, Somfy, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Wulian.