© DIN

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the German national standards body, DIN, have agreed on formal cooperation in the identification of standards related to Industry 4.0. The two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 17 in Berlin. The objective of this agreement is to coordinate the activities of DIN and the Industrial Internet Consortium in support of standardization efforts in areas impacting Industry 4.0.

The Industrial Internet Consortium is a globally active, not-for-profit organization currently boasting over 180 members, including small and large technology innovators, vertical market leaders, researchers, universities and governments. The Consortium was founded in 2014 by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel. The Industrial Internet Consortium creates Industry 4.0 use cases and testbeds for real-world applications, develops best practices and reference architectures, and plays a key role in defining standardization needs for internet and industrial systems.

"The success of Industry 4.0 depends on the secure, intelligent merging of virtual processes with real production. Concentrated, coordinated standardization is an essential success factor here. We welcome our cooperation with the IIC," said Dr. Torsten Bahke, Chairman of DIN's Executive Board.

“The IIC is pleased to have signed this liaison agreement with DIN,” said Dr. Richard Soley, Executive Director of the Industrial Internet Consortium. “As our members continue to develop testbeds, we will generate various requirements and priorities for Industrial Internet/Industrie 4.0 standards. We are pleased that – through this liaison – DIN will take these requirements into advisement through their own standards work.”

DIN and DKE published the German Standardization Roadmap on Industry 4.0 in November 2013, which lays out recommendations for action and identifies the standards work needed to successfully integrate the digital and real worlds. The second edition of the Roadmap will be published in the autumn of 2015. This groundwork is being brought into the new "Industry 4.0 platform" launched by the Federal Ministries for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and of Education and Research (BMBF).