The IoT continues to evolve and take us down exciting new paths of possibilities. It’s all about connection and deriving value from the things around us. These new possibilities provide us with numerous amounts of new data. Advantages of this new data are considerable, but first and foremost it requires us to collaborate as an industry. We should collectively strive to raise the bar concerning performance, data security and privacy.
The Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA) launched a year ago in fall of 2018 with a mission to gather market players to collaborate on an open industry ecosystem. Over the past 12 months, experts from around the globe worked through OSSA to build an ecosystem and collectively create a framework that allows the trapped – and nowadays often unused – data to be unleashed. This vision is anchored by the use of a common  market approach including agreements on high levels of trust and the right levels of performance. This vision gets accompanied by the creation of a shared software and hardware platform which includes (1) a vendor-agnostic Operating System (OS), that is entirely based on open standards and (2) a corresponding IoT infrastructure that includes a digital market place and a software development environment. Together, these  components will reduce friction when conceiving, deploying and maintaining security and safety devices, systems and settings.
Once working with this common framework, industry participants can focus on real differentiation instead of fixing the basics. They can then innovate and differentiate working through apps delivered by way of a digital marketplace. We’re all familiar with this concept as it’s the approach taken by well-established tech categories such as the smart phone.  Downloading apps to a device is intuitive and an open, digital marketplace allows for players from all walks of tech and non-tech to enter and contribute to our security universe.

Companies with Foresight
Since GSX 2018, OSSA has steadily attracted innovative companies of all sizes and across various business backgrounds to join together to shift our industry in a new, necessary direction based on the Internet of Things. The alliance is working alongside 30+ inventive international players that currently make up the OSSA member roster. They have achieved significant strides in a very short timeframe by focusing on unifying the market first through an advanced – yet familiar – technique of a common OS and apps. Throughout 2019, OSSA member companies showcased prototype cameras based on the commonly defined Technology Stack-, including the OS.

Coming Soon: A Thriving Digital Marketplace
A common, unified platform makes life easier for application developers and opens the door to new technologies from companies within and outside of the security space. In addition, it enhances trust, usability and choice for integrators, customers and consumers.
In early 2020, one of OSSA’s members, Security and Safety Things, will launch a digital market place – which will take the industry into a completely new era. Businesses will thrive as apps are sold onto cameras, and technologists will relish in the newfound functionality and fervor afforded by this modern approach. Soon, everybody will be able to more easily imagine, invent and gain value from interoperable security and safety systems.

A Baseline on Data Security and Privacy
In a connected world, data security and privacy will become even more valued than today. By joining (extra-)industry forces, OSSA intends to continuously enhance these factors from within the alliance.
‘If an attack happens to your cameras today and then to mine, it would be easier to solve the issue together, save time and money, and move forward to other important things. We need to work together in the end anyway. So, let’s make the industry better together,’ states President of the Open Security & Safety Alliance, Johan Jubbega, to GIT SECURITY.
‘If we look at Microsoft, for example, nobody sees Windows as a threat. Or smartphone users, they download the best apps to use their phone with the best setting for themselves. And that’s something we would like to achieve for the security industry. Having the best security solutions for each individual application,’ adds Pieter van de Looveren, Director Marketing Communication at Bosch Building Technologies.

Be Part of What’s Next in Security
Organizations with foresight for the security market realize the need to unify first and differentiate second. This understanding is what’s attracting forward-looking entities to the Alliance as OSSA steadily grows and enjoyed tripling its membership in the first year. Encouraging more companies to join their mission will be a goal, as it is a pivotal point in this industry. To prosper, security players must cater to the requirements of commonality and make security systems intuitive, interoperable and frictionless.
Van de Looveren sees great potential in it: ‘We want to talk about solutions and the pain points of end users. That’s why we want more partners in the whole ecosystem. You need other vendors, distributors on board – that’s what we are doing right now. Partners are a motor for news ideas, so in the end we can attract more innovation. Right now, the greater part of the data is not used. How can we revolutionize the industry if only two percent of data is used, and the rest is still untouched?’
Any company involved in the access control, building automation, intrusion or video surveillance markets – including adjacent industries – should be part of this important movement. Already, member organizations include device manufacturers, software developers, system integrators, device component manufacturers such as system on a chip (SoC) manufacturers, installers and commissioners, service providers, management software providers, distributors, specifiers, consultants and others.
Over the next two years, OSSA goals include further growing our ecosystem of member companies and producing and driving the adoption of new standards and specifications for products and solutions in the security and safety market. The Alliance will provide guidance on interpretation of these standards and specifications to promote more intelligent, useful solutions for users.
Another component on the Alliance’s roadmap is the setup of a certification program for hardware and software solutions. This effort will ensure offerings meet the agreed-upon standards and specifications set forth by OSSA to further enhance quality and trust within the market.
To exchange thoughts about this new direction and exciting transformation within the security space or to get involved and connect with other market-movers and visionaries, you can reach OSSA executives at communications@opensecurityandsafetyalliance.org or visit www.opensecurityandsafetyalliance.org.