The Zigbee Alliance has just announced the launch of its new Europe Interest Group, where volunteer members can discuss and collaborate on everything connected with the European market and Zigbee Alliance technologies – including the open-source Connected Home over IP smart home project, aka Project CHIP.
All Zigbee Alliance Participants and Promoters can become members of the group, which is chaired by Ulf Axelsson of IKEA Home Smart, and IoT Architect and member of the Alliance board. In an interview, Axelsson said he was looking forward to closer collaboration with other Alliance companies in the EU and more interaction between members with interests in the commercial or residential IoT markets in Europe.
The group’s goal is to strengthen Zigbee Alliance standards worldwide and formally bring a European voice into the Alliance’s standards work. Its structure promises to improve visibility into developments throughout the Alliance and to facilitate information exchange and dialogue between countries, organisations and individuals pursuing similar technology goals.
Under the supervision of the Alliance’s Board of Directors, the Group’s activities will include:
- Keeping the Board up to date on European tech needs and current affairs
- Gathering and disseminating information on EU legislation to the various Working Groups in the Alliance to help them develop open, global IoT standards
- Updating EU member companies on Project CHIP
- Facilitating conversations on pan-European interoperability for Project CHIP
- Providing useful insights on the European landscape to inform future endeavours
- Working with Alliance marketing teams to provide support for EU speaker programs and events
Bruno Vulcano, the Zigbee Alliance’s Board Chairman and R&D Manager of Legrand, welcomed Axelsson’s appointment, saying he brought an ideal balance of peer leadership, regional expertise and technical expertise to the job. The group will be crucial to Zigbee’s launch of Project CHIP in early 2021.