The International Telecommunication Union, ITU, has agreed to create a new research committee for the Internet of Things, a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data, during the consultative group meeting for the telecommunication standardisation sector.

The focus is on implementing the Internet of Things to smart cities and communities in order to meet the needs of standardisation of the Internet of Things' technologies. This is to be achieved by creating a single platform combining engineers and experts from industry, telecom operators, ITU member states and relevant organisations, to exchange visuals, examine the challenges and solutions while coming up with recommendations and unified global standards in this field.

The United Arab Emirates was nominated for the presidency of the committee, with Nasser Al Marzouqi, representative of the UAE at the ITU, as the Chairman of the committee. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Japan, Spain, South Korea, Argentina, Italy, and China were all nominated as Vice-Chairmen of the Committee, reflecting the great interest by ITU member states in the work of the new research committee.

With regard to the UAE's ascension to the committee leadership, Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, Director-General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, said, "The move is another indicator of the UAE's privileged place and strong trust the world has for the nation under the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. The leadership has always been keen to emphasise the development of plans and strategies to reach a sustainable environment, infrastructure and integrated telecommunications network that is both smart and sophisticated. The concept of the Internet of Things, machine to machine communication, and big data analysis as part of the important issues that will affect vital sectors including health, education, transport and other sectors, will be one of the most important pillars of the shift to smart and sustainable cities."

He added, "The UAE's presence at this high-profile international forum is an embodiment of the support the UAE leadership provides towards national excellence in all fields. And it reflects the competence and strength of national expertise and confirms that it is truly deserving of trust and appreciation of other members of the ITU."

In his role as chairman of the new research committee, Nasser Al Marzouqi said, "The technology networks of the Internet of Things will improve our understanding of how modern cities are facilitated and managed, providing a lot of opportunities to increase efficiency.

"With participants representing many stakeholders in the ICT field, the new research committee will have an active role in the advancement of converting existing systems to high-efficiency systems, helping to bridge the digital divide and to increase global communication and the transition to smart sustainable cities," he added.

The ITU defines the Internet of Things as "a global infrastructure for information acquisition, enabling advanced services through the interconnection of things (physical and virtual), based on information and communications technologies, operating on existing and evolving technologies. The things are objects of the material world (material things) or from the information world of (virtual things), with the potential to be identified and incorporated into telecommunications networks.

The name of the new research committee is "Internet of Things and its applications, including smart cities and communities". It is expected that the application of the Internet of Things' technology will lead to the interconnecting of an estimated 50 billion devices to the web by 2020. This will affect almost all aspects of daily life and The Internet of Things will contribute to the convergence between the industrial, public utilities, health care and transport industries amongst many other industries that represent the pillars of Internet of Things' technologies, and their various applications.

In related developments, the ITU agreed on 5G-network speed, in principal, at a conference in the U.S. city of San Diego, California, which was attended by a 12-member UAE delegation. They decided that the speed of the 5G networks should reach up to 20 Gbps, which is 20 times faster than the currently available 4G networks, although the actual speed will vary from user to user, effectively ranging between 100 and 1000 Mbps, depending on various factors.

The 5G networks will boost the Internet of Things market growth significantly, providing great speeds as well as the control of a million devices working on the Internet of Things, allowing better control of smart home devices.

All the details concerning 5G network standards will be determined in October after the approval of the 193 member states of the ITU. The launch of the 5G networks will take place in 2019, and it is expected to enter commercial service in 2020, due to the necessary commercial approvals.
Source: WAM