The Wi-Fi Alliance is expanding its reach into the “Internet of Things.” The trade group announced a new “Implementer Membership” program designed to help companies that don’t specialize in connectivity to get a foothold in the rapidly expanding IoT space.
“Implementer Members will be able to certify products for Wi-Fi interoperability, legacy compatibility, and secure operation with billions of devices in the installed base at an entry-point level of membership investment,” a release from the alliance said.
The alliance said the new implementer group can receive the “Wi-Fi certified” logo and be listed in the certified Product Finder by including unmodified Wi-Fi modules and test systems in their products; however, they are not allowed to help develop new Wi-Fi technology, marketing or regulatory programs.
The organization is looking for a simple and safe way to connect and configure devices for the growing smart home market. Oftentimes these devices don’t have a display or input mechanism.
“Manufacturers in the Internet of Things and smart home industries increasingly rely on Wi-Fi to connect their products, and interoperability for those products remains as important as ever,” Wi-Fi Alliance President and CEO Edgar Figueroa said. “The Implementer Membership will ensure that the terrific Wi-Fi user experience of the last 15 years extends to these new device categories and market segments, and that buyers will only need to look for the Wi-Fi Certified seal of approval when they shop.”
A Juniper Research study expects there to be 38.5 billion connected devices by 2020. The alliance’s new membership will help the organization increase its role in developing use cases for energy efficiency standards in wearables, sensor networks and industrial automation.
An update to“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac” stamp is due out in 2016 will include several performance-enhancing features that will enable service providers to keep pace with the growing bandwidth demands from activities like video streaming.”
The Wi-Fi Alliance’s current membership includes Comcast, T-Mobile US, Nokia, Cisco, Apple, Microsoft and many more.
