Google Promotes Open Standards to Advance Internet of Things
Google is reaching out to the academic community to submit proposals for an Internet of Things (IoT) open standards program to be called the 'Open Web of Things.'
The initiative’s goals are to further the development of open standards, facilitate ease of use and ensure that privacy and security are fundamental values in the evolution of the IoT.
"Imagine a world in which access to networked technology defies the constraints of desktops, laptops or smartphones," blogged Vint Cerf, Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, along with Roy Want and Max Senges of Google Research.
"A future where we work seamlessly with connected systems, services, devices and 'things' to support work practices, education, and daily interactions."
To that end, Google is offering two options:
Researchers interested in the Expedition Lead Grant should establish a team and submit a proposal outlining a draft research roadmap both for their team(s), as well as how they propose to integrate related research that is implemented outside their labs (e.g., Individual Project Grants)
For the Individual Project Grants, Google is seeking research proposals relating to the IoT in user interface and application development, privacy and security as well as systems and protocols research
According to Google's Research team, the nascent promise of the IoT will never be realized without open standards and Google specified its interest in "new and unorthodox research proposals."
Cerf was instrumental in building today’s Internet as his 1969 project culminated in the first message being sent from computer-to-computer on the ARPANET which preceded the Internet.
"We plan to bring together a community of academics, Google experts, and potentially other parties to pursue an open and shared mission in this area," the blog post says, a "cross-disciplinary expedition intended to address the complex challenges and opportunities before us as we explore the next generation of systems, services and Internet-connected devices."
