About

Introduction

The world has never been more connected than it is today. The Internet has become critical to our everyday lives, for businesses and individuals, and so too has its security. With our growing dependence on networked digital systems comes an increase in the variety and scale of threats and cyber attacks.

A variety in the protective methods used by countries or organizations can make it difficult to assess risk systematically and to ensure consistent, adequate security.

Therefore, standards have a key role to play in improving cybersecurity – protecting the Internet, its communications and the businesses that rely on it – and TC CYBER is the most security-focused technical committee in ETSI.

Our Role & Activities

TC CYBER is recognized as a major trusted centre of expertise offering market-driven cyber security standardization solutions, advice and guidance to users, manufacturers, network, infrastructure and service operators and regulators. ETSI TC CYBER works closely with stakeholders to develop standards that increase privacy and security for organizations and citizens across Europe and worldwide. We provide standards that are applicable across different domains, for the security of infrastructures, devices, services, protocols, and to create security tools and techniques. Look at the TC CYBER Road map below for more details.

The Quantum-Safe Cryptography working group is a subgroup of TC CYBER; you can find out more about their work.

In addition to TC CYBER, other ETSI groups also work on standards for cross-domain cybersecurity, the security of infrastructures, devices, services and protocols and security tools and techniques. They address the following areas and more information can be found in the related technologies pages:

Cross-domain cybersecurity Information Security Indicators Encrypted traffic integration Securing technologies and systems Mobile/Wireless systems (5G, TETRA, DECT, RRS, RFID...) IoT and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Network Functions Virtualisation Intelligent Transport Systems, Maritime Broadcasting Securing Artificial Intelligence Security tools and techniques
Lawful Interception and Retained Data Digital Signatures and trust service providers Secure elements Security algorithms

Take a look at ETSI’s annual Security Week event for more on the work of ETSI in cybersecurity or watch the video from our security week:

TC CYBER Road Map

See the details of the CYBER Road Map.

Consumer IoT security

See the details of the Consumer IoT security Road Map.

Standards

A full list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the CYBER committee page.

Introduction

Today more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this figure is expected to rise significantly in coming years.

This places new demands on key city services and infrastructure such as transport, energy, health care, water and waste management.

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) play an important role in connecting these resources, securely managing the massive amounts of data generated, and providing the relevant services that are required.

A ‘smart city’ uses digital technologies to:

engage more effectively and actively with its citizens enhance the city performance and the wellbeing of the citizens reduce operational costs and the city resource consumption generate new business opportunities and increase the attractiveness of the city enable a green and circular economy and much more ...

The creation of smart cities will only be achieved with a holistic approach, supported by globally acceptable standards that enable fully interoperable solutions that can be deployed and replicated at scale.

Our Role & Activities

We are working on several aspects of smart cities:

Smart Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications

Smart Cities has become a major interoperability Use Case for the Internet of Things since it is by default requiring a cross-domain interworking. ETSI TC SmartM2M provides (with oneM2M that collaborates with 3GGP) a comprehensive standardization-based solution including, among other, IoT Semantic Interoperability (SAREF developped by ETSI in TC SmartM2M).

Much of the work relating to M2M/IoT in ETSI takes place in our global standards initiative oneM2M and 3GPP. oneM2M is developing technical specifications for a common M2M/IoT Service Layer that can be readily embedded within various hardware and software, and relied upon to connect the myriad of devices in the field with M2M/IoT application servers worldwide.

The oneM2M standards cover requirements, architecture, application programming interface (API) specifications, security solutions and mapping to common industry protocols such as CoAP, MQTT and HTTP. By building upon well-proven protocols that allow applications across industry segments to communicate with each other, oneM2M enables service providers to combine different M2M/IoT devices, technologies and applications, a critical feature in their efforts to provide services across a range of industries. oneM2M has already been used in service provider deployments in the world and in Europe for smart city and transport system deployments.

Green smart cities

Our Access, Terminals, Transmission and Multiplexing committee (TC ATTM) and particularly the working group ATTM SDMC (Sustainable Digital Multiservice Communities) is working towards the creation, development and maintenance of standards relating to the relationship between deployment of ICT systems and implementation of services within cities and communities. This committee is working on efficient ICT waste management in sustainable communities.

Our Industry Specification Group on Operational energy Efficiency for Users (ISG OEU) is supporting development of standards for efficient sustainable communities, e.g. efficient engineering and global Key Performance Indicators for green smart cities, covering both residential and office environments.

Context Information Management

Our Industry Specification Group on cross-sector Context Information Management (ISG CIM) develops technical specifications and reports to enable multiple organisations to develop interoperable software implementations of a cross-cutting Context Information Management (CIM) layer, for smart cities applications and beyond.

Standardization to meet citizen and consumer requirements

Standards are confusing for cities in the first place, and the needs of the citizen including:

usability accessibility, or data security

are not often taken into account.

ETSI’s Human Factors Technical Committee has released a Technical Report giving an overview of standardization relating to the needs of inhabitants of (or visitors to) smart cities and communities. The Report explores how links between local communities and standardization can be improved and make appropriate recommendations to standards bodies, cities and policy-makers. See the dedicated website for more details about this project.

Standards

A list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Introduction

The number of connected devices in the Internet of Things is growing very fast. The IoT is having a transformative influence on the way we live and work in domains including connected vehicles, eHealth, home automation and energy management, public safety and industrial process control, and smart cities.

Standardizing the IoT

Smart objects produce large volumes of data. This data needs to be managed, processed, transferred and stored securely. Standardization is key to achieving universally accepted specifications and protocols for true interoperability between devices and applications.

The use of standards:

ensures interoperable and cost-effective solutions opens up opportunities in new areas allows the market to reach its full potential

The more things are connected, the greater the security risk. So, security standards are also needed to protect the individuals, businesses and governments which will use the IoT.

The ETSI IoT Week 2019 took place from 21-25 October 2019.

You missed the event? Watch the interviews and feedback in our video filmed during the event in our HQs:

 

The latest ETSI IoT (week) Conference was held on 4-6 July 2023.

Our Role & Activities

The main ETSI IoT standardization activities are conducted at radio layer in 3GPP (LTE-M, NB-IoT and EC‑GSM-IoT) and at service layer in oneM2M. A wide range of technologies work together to connect things in the Internet of Things (IoT). ETSI is involved in standardizing many of these technologies:

Smart Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications

ETSI is one of the founding partners in oneM2M, the global standards initiative that covers requirements, architecture, Application Programming Interface (API) specifications, security solutions and interoperability for M2M and IoT technologies.

IoT Semantic Interoperability

SAREF is our Smart Applications REFerence ontology that allows connected devices to exchange semantic information in many applications’ domains.

Context Information Management (NGSI-LD)

ETSI ISG CIM specifies protocols (NGSI-LD API) running ‘on top’ of IoT platforms and allowing exchange of data together with its context, this includes what is described by the data, what was measured, when, where, by what, the time of validity, ownership, and others. This is dramatically extending the interoperability of applications, helping smart cities (and other areas such as Smart Agriculture and Smart Manufacturing) to integrate their existing services and enable new third-party services.

Applications in the IoT

Within ETSI we are addressing various applications of IoT/M2M technology:

Smart appliances Smart grids and meters Smart cities – including networking, energy efficiency and accessibility Smart Energy, Smart Environment, Smart Building, Smart Industry and Manufacturing, Smart Agri‑Food, eHealth and Ageing-Well, Wearables, Smart Water, Smart Lift, Smart Escalators and Smart Maritime eHealth
Telemedicine and the Internet Clinic Medical implants Body Area Networks Pandemic protection, contact tracing Intelligent Transport Systems – including telematics and all types of communications in vehicles, between vehicles and between vehicles and fixed locations. We also address the use of Information and Communications Technologies for rail, water and air transport, including navigation systems. Wireless Industrial Automation – standards for radio equipment to be used in factories Supporting the IoT Privacy, Safety and Security for the IoT – various aspects of security such as electronic signatures, lawful interception, security algorithms and smart cards as well as cybersecurity Low power supplies in the IoT: Ultra Low Energy Digital Cordless Telecommunications (DECT™ ULE) Radio spectrum requirements – helping to find the necessary radio spectrum for connecting things wirelessly in the IoT. Embedded communications modules – We have developed a baseline specification using Surface Mount Technology. This will simplify the integration of modules from different manufacturers in a wide range of M2M applications.

Consumer IoT security Road Map

See the details of the Consumer IoT security Road Map.

Standards

A full list of related standards in the public domain is accessible via the ETSI standards search.

Introduction

Smart Appliances

Household appliances are responsible for about two thirds of the energy consumed by buildings. Industrial appliances are also major energy users.

Domestic and industrial appliances become intelligent, networked smart devices, forming complete energy consuming, producing and managing systems, based on the integration of products from different vendors and vertical industrial sectors. All these connected appliances are able to communicate among themselves and with the service platforms. This required open interfaces. Interoperability is thus a key factor in creating an IoT ecosystem, and the availability of a standardized solution, along with related test suites, it is an essential enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Smart appliances include white goods, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and storage systems.

To ensure such systems are technically and commercially successful – and widely adopted – it must be possible to combine appliances from different vendors. These systems also need to be able to communicate with service platforms from different energy service providers in order to manage and control energy use.

The EC, as a first step, identified an immediate need of the current market to reduce the energy utilization by managing and controlling Smart Appliances (for example, in a house or an office building) on a system level. In particular, the Industry and the EC raised the need for a common architecture with standardized interfaces and a common data model to assure interoperability. Without these two components, the current market would continue to be fragmented and powerless. Therefore, the development of a reference ontology was targeted as the main interoperability enabler for appliances relevant for energy efficiency.

From Smart Appliances to Smart Applications

Smart Appliances REFerence ontology (SAREF V1) was common to 3 domains (Energy, Environment and Buildings), the first core of SAREF (mapped into 3 applications’ domains) has been improved (SAREF V2, V3, V3.2.1 in 2024 and soon V4) to enable mapping of SAREF with more Smart Applications domains (Smart City, Smart Industry and Manufacturing, Smart Agri-Food, Automotive, eHealth and Ageing-Well, Wearables, Smart Water, Smart Lift, Smart Grid, Smart Maritime…). Like this SAREF became Smart Applications REFerence ontology (core SAREF) with its domain mapping extensions.

Our Role & Activities

ETSI Smart Machine-to-Machine communications Technical Committee (TC SmartM2M) actively supports the oneM2M global initiative, especially in relation to European Commission (EC) driven activities, bridging the EC’s needs in the M2M/IoT area and the technical work in oneM2M and other ETSI activities.

Our TC SmartM2M focus is on an application-independent ‘horizontal’ service platform with architecture capable of supporting a very wide range of services including among others, smart metering, smart grids, eHealth, smart cities, consumer applications, car automation, smart appliances and Smart Applications (SAREF).

Initially, Smart Appliances have been specified on request of EC DG Connect. The Smart Appliances specifications were based on the oneM2M communication framework (TS 103 267) complemented with Smart Appliance REFerence ontology that is now Smart Applications REFerence ontology:
SAREF V3.2.1 TS 103 264). SAREF work has contributed to the foundations of the base ontology of oneM2M Release 2.

Funded by EC/EFTA, TC SmartM2M is developping a European Standard (EN 303 760) SAREF Guidelines for IoT Semantic Interoperability to develop, apply and evolve Smart Applications ontologies.

Designed for Smart Applications, SAREF is recognized as key enabler of IoT Semantic Interoperability with a still growing set of enabling published standards (search ETSI standards with the keyword SAREF).

Official ETSI portal for SAREF

The official ETSI portal for SAREF contains pointers to the SAREF ontologies and SAREF-related work items to allow an open access to SAREF.