Veranstaltungsbericht  |  07.07.2017

Workshop "Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity Standards"

On April 25, 2017, the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition held the workshop "IoT Connectivity Standards" at its venues in Munich. The workshop was the first of a series in the context of the research project "Standards for the Internet of Things".

With the workshop series the Institute seeks, first, to discuss with experts and practitioners in which direction the Internet of Things will develop with regard to standardization, and second, to identify the economic and regulatory implications of those changes.


The workshop focused on connectivity standards enabling interoperability between multiple devices and across different communication networks. It consisted of three distinct panels:

  • Technology and Market Landscape: The objective of this panel was to get insights from indus-try representatives on the evolving landscape of current and future technologies providing machine to machine communication as well as on how the IoT is changing the business and market environment, both in general and with regard to the IoT connectivity market.
  • Standardization Landscape: Representatives of different standard setting organizations, industry consortia and technology companies explained the current stage of standardization activities in the field of IoT connectivity. Beyond this mapping exercise, more fundamental questions were addressed, such as how technology and market complexity affect the standardization process and what are the optimal roles of standard setting organizations, industry allianc-es and stakeholder groups in the IoT standard development.
  • IPRs Landscape: IP lawyers from different stakeholders presented their views on the role that Intellectual Property Rights will play in the IoT context and, more specifically, on the challenges that the increased need for connectivity and interoperability creates with regard to access to patented standardized technology.

The presentations and discussions at the workshop provided useful insights for the assessment and analysis of the economic, legal and regulatory implications of standardization in the field of IoT con-nectivity. Among them, the event’s organizers, Dr. Beatriz Conde Gallego and Dr. Fabian Gaessler of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, highlighted that “the need for wide common standards is less pronounced at the connectivity level than at higher levels (e.g. semantic interoperability), mainly because no single connectivity technology will be able to satisfy all industry needs. Various connectivity standards will coexist and complement each other in the future. At the same time, a successful implementation of these standards will certainly require transparent, predictable and flexible licensing schemes which reflect the heterogeneous conditions of IoT applications and the diversity of stakeholders involved in the IoT value chain.”


See Program