Korean Government to Work on New Smart Home Standards

The Korean government will update its national smart home standards to prepare for the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). The idea is to come up with a comprehensive protocol by checking the current status of smart home components in the fields of construction, home electronics, and information security. 

During the course of the research, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is going to conduct online and offline surveys with 100 or so construction firms, electronics manufacturers, home networking companies, research institutes, and the member organizations of the Korea Association of Smart Homes. Then, it will analyze the results and prepare improvements at a committee of public and private experts. Also, it is planning to look into the international standards of JTC1/SC25, ZigBee Alliance, Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), AllSeen Alliance, and the like in deciding on its policy direction. 

“A protocol for wire communication-based interoperability will be prepared first, and a KS certification will be adopted for it,” said the KATS, adding, “The KS certification will take the place of the current voluntary certification of the Korea Association of Smart Home.”

The government is expecting the research to help Korea retain the initiative in the establishment of international standards in the IoT and smart home sectors. Korea chaired the IoT standardization working group at the 29th ISO/IEC JTC 1 Plenary Meeting held in Abu Dhabi in November last year. 

In the meantime, major Korean electronics manufacturers are working actively on the IoT and smart homes, too. For example, Samsung Electronics took over Smart Things, a U.S. IoT platform developer, in August 2014, and LG Electronics applied for 139 patents in the field last year to follow Ericsson, Intel, and Qualcomm.