TIA Signs MOU with Georgia Tech to Develop Smart Device Standardizations

The Telecommunications Industry Association inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation to explore areas of mutual interest involving research, testing and outreach in the area of global information and communications infrastructure.

According to official sources this collaboration will be through Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), a department of the Georgia Institute of Technology (News - Alert) (Georgia Tech). The idea behind this MOU is to establish an industry-supported center at Georgia Tech that focuses on the science, engineering and testing necessary to advance telecommunications standards.

In a release Grant Seiffert (News - Alert), president of TIA said, “This MOU marks an important step for TIA as the scope of our standardization activities is expanding and the related demand for standards is rapidly increasing. The collaboration with Georgia Tech will give TIA (News - Alert) access to state-of-the-art research capabilities on top of the strong and broad experience already offered by the TIA members.”

“Combining leading hands-on industry expertise with support from a premier institution of higher learning and research will strengthen TIA’s voluntary standards process throughout our engineering committees,” Seiffert added.

Dr. Jeffrey O. Smith, chair of the TIA TR-50 Engineering Committee on Smart Device Communications and chief technology officer of Numerex (News - Alert) explained that Georgia Tech will be able to contribute in the areas of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

It will focus on efficiently addressing major concerns in smart device standardization as in security. GTRI’s Information and Communications Lab will be able to offer resources such as that of the newly-created Cyber Technology and Information Security Laboratory and the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, added Dr. Smith.

The MOU is also expected to establish a mutually acceptable cooperative programmatic arrangement that will help achieve the strategic goals of both organizations.

Dr. Robert T. McGrath, director of GTRI and Georgia Tech vice president remarked, “The cooperation with TIA will bridge our research competence with industry experience. We are looking forward to collaborating with a preeminent standards development organization that can provide advice and guidance as we advance Georgia Tech’s research mission in global communications and information technologies.”

Recently the Telecommunications Industry Association (News - Alert) (TIA) released a white paper entitled, “Smart Grid Policy Roadmap: Consumer Focused and Technology Driven” that outlines key recommendations to policymakers on how the Smart Grid can fully reach its potential.

Shamila Janakiraman is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Shamila’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell