New Partnership Will Drive Faster, More Efficient Communication and Payments Between IoT Devices

(BERLIN, GERMANY — December 5, 2018) — IOTA Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and permissionless ecosystem development, today announced a new partnership with eCl@ss to standardize and simplify communication used across connected devices in the Internet of Things (IoT). This strategic alliance is yet another milestone in the IOTA Foundation’s development of Industry 4.0. For more information on the collaboration and to try it with a live transaction, visit: https://eclass.iota.org

“We look forward to collaborating with IOTA towards the development of new standards of device communication and complex payment processes in the Internet of Things,” said Thorsten Kroke, general manager at eCl@ss. “In conjunction with eCl@ss, the IOTA Tangle offers a clear and standardized description for IoT devices and products, meaning that IOTA and eCl@ss can be used together for any industry transaction.”

eCl@ss has established standards for the classification and description of connected devices with a worldwide consortium of leading companies including Lufthansa, Siemens, Staples, PBS Network and Medtronic among many others. The organization’s standardized catalogue allows companies to quickly introduce trusted identification and simplified communication between IoT devices, while simultaneously lowering costs associated with device management. By implementing a universal standard between devices, eCl@ss also enables organizations to develop new methods of machine-to-machine payments.

“After we first learned of IOTA and its data marketplace, the idea of a joint implementation between eCl@ss and IOTA was a natural fit,” said Gerhard Treitinger, senior expert product data management system and standardization at BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group. “Both eCl@ss and IOTA are key players in the development of the industrial IoT and digitized world, as the leading standard in their respective industries. By exploring several use cases, we found that a cooperation between eCl@ss and IOTA would be a win-win situation for both.”

eCl@ss and IOTA will also explore how IOTA’s Data Marketplace can be leveraged in combination with eCl@ss’ IRDI (International Registration Data Identifier) system to purchase product data across various IT systems, businesses and industries. IRDI is based on international ISO standards, and uses globally-unique identifiers for every device to securely share data on its status and attributes.

The integration would allow organizations to collect a host of valuable new information on their products and other connected devices. For example, companies could collect data on the current and average power consumption of their microprocessors, to determine needed software updates and fixes for the next generation of the product. Machines of different vendors could also request attributes of their peers, to directly identify compatible machine partners and their needs, such as current engine power consumption or whether certain modules/capabilities are present.

“We are excited to team up with such a strong and trusted organization,” said Holger Köther, director of partnerships at the IOTA Foundation. “It is an exceptional opportunity to shape how the next generation of devices, across all industry landscapes, can communicate through data and micropayments, truly empowering a machine-to-machine economy for the Internet of Everything.”

About eCl@ss

eCl@ss is internationally established as the only ISO/IEC-compliant industry standard, and is thus the worldwide reference-data standard for the classification and unambiguous description of products and services. More than 3,500 customers are already successfully using the 44,000 classes and 17,000 features in 16 languages from eCl@ss for digital data exchange. In addition to traditional applications in procurement, controlling, production and distribution, eCl@ss demonstrates its particular strengths when used for cross-enterprise process-data management and in engineering functions. A standardized master-data system is the key to enterprise-wide improvements, producing benefits along the entire value chain. https://www.eclass.eu/

About IOTA Foundation

IOTA is a not-for-profit foundation incorporated and registered in Germany. The IOTA Foundation’s mission is to support the development and standardization of new distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including the IOTA Tangle. The IOTA Tangle is an innovative type of DLT specifically designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) environment. It is an open-source protocol facilitating novel Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interactions, including secure data transfer, fee-less real-time micropayments, and the collection and dissemination of sensor-based and other data. www.iota.org