By Lynne Canavan, Senior Program Manager, Industrial Internet Consortium
Last week the Industrial Internet Consortium marked its 3-month anniversary and welcomed its 58th and 59th members -- Microsoft and Tech Mahindra -- to its ranks. This came right on the heels of our second quarterly members meeting, which had 120 member representatives convene for two days in Boston. At our first quarterly meeting in March, all of our members sat around one long table for dinner. This time, they filled a ballroom.
Clearly the mission of the Industrial Internet Consortium is resonating with companies who are eager to help shape, and benefit from, the innovation to come.
So what, exactly, are IIC members doing?
At a high level, they are applying internet thinking to the industrial market. We have several active Working Groups which meeting weekly around testbeds, technology, security, use cases, and marketing. While each group has its own charter, collectively they are building towards the goal to spin out innovative new products, services and processes in a robust, interoperable and secure environment.
What's it like to be part of an IIC Working Group? It's collaborative. Spirited. A bit chaotic at times. Educational and energizing. It is, essentially, immersion into the ultimate Industrial Internet think tank. No one company has the combined talent of these collaborative teams: Senior scientists, distinguished engineers, solution architects, researchers, chief strategists, CTOs, CEOs, VPs of Marketing and more, who interact and engage in ways that previously had been one-off efforts between a limited number of companies. It's not work for the faint of heart. But it is work that will transform industry as we know it.
Looking forward to the next three months, the IIC will approve testbeds and evaluate new ones; work through several use cases; test architectural frameworks, evaluate standards and develop new content around the Industrial Internet.
Yes, things are coming together.