ECHONET Consortium activity report (FY2019 4Q)
1. The Twelfth ECHONET Forum
- On February 7, the Twelfth ECHONET Forum was held at the Large Hall, Seavans S Building.
This year, we worked intensively to promote ECHONET Lite promotion activities overseas, including international standardization activities for ECHONET Lite AIF specifications and our participation in overseas exhibitions.
We gave lectures and presentations on this forum about a focus on our efforts to promote increased use of the specifications overseas.
The forum was a success with 93 total participants from 58 companies, including lecturers and staff.
2. Exhibited at ENEX/Smart Energy Japan 2020
- Exhibited at ENEX/Smart Energy Japan 2020 (Jan 29–31, 2019) held at Tokyo Big Sight.
At the exhibition, we co-sponsored a booth with the Smart House Research Center, Kanagawa Institute of Technology, with the support of the Japan Federation of Housing Organizations (JUDANREN) and the Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (JEMA).
At the booth, the products and technologies of 18 companies including member companies were exhibited and free consultations on compliance certification for AIF specifications were held.
3. Released the “Guidelines for ensuring the reliability of the entire ECHONET Lite system
- Released the “Guidelines for ensuring the reliability of the entire ECHONET Lite system installed with ECHONET Lite devices, First Edition”.
4. Published the ECHONET Detailed Requirements for Device Objects Release M
- Published the ECHONET Detailed Requirements for Device Objects Release M with newly added “Kitchen range hoods class” and “Dishwasher and dryer class” for the general public.
5. In response to the current outbreak of COVID-19
- In response to the current outbreak of COVID-19, we are trying to hold the Consortium meetings and talks (Board of Directors Meeting, Committee, and working groups) via phone or online.
Our secretariat is also taking measures to work remotely.
ECHONET Consortium activity report (FY2019 3Q)
1. Exhibited in the CEATEC 2019
- The ECHONET Consortium exhibited at CEATEC 2019 (Oct. 15-18, 2019 at Makuhari Messe)
Introduced a world outlook where ECHONET specifications help achieve various Society 5.0 services, and ECHONET Lite devices enable a wide variety of service providers and manufacturers of related products to enter markets with the aim of “strengthening the approach to service providers”. The booth was a great success with about 400 visitors.
At the venue, examples of services to be realized by the spread of Web API were introduced (e.g. energy management using actual air conditioners, healthcare simulating blood pressure measurement data, remote maintenance of home electric appliances, and security for locking doors and windows). As a part of the exhibition, a presentation to show the present and future of ECHONET was given at the lounge theater in the special exhibition area.
2. Exhibited in the Smart City Solutions Week 2019 in Thailand
- Exhibited a booth at Smart City Solutions Week 2019 in Thailand.
Schedule: October 28-31, 2019, Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC)
Co-hosted by a Thai government agency (the Thailand Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA)), a Thai public power distributor (the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA)), Messe Frankfurt, and EXHIBIZ, the exhibition showed Smart City-related technologies and solutions.
Beginning with this exhibition, the Consortium aims to raise awareness of ECHONET Lite in the ASEAN region and make the adoption of ECHONET Lite mandatory for various national-level projects.
There were around a hundred visitors including the director of PEA, executives of DEPA, and people from Japanese and foreign corporations working in the ASEAN region.
3. The Second Home Appliance Open Innovation Symposium
- December 16, 2019 at the Large Hall, Seavans S Building 1F, in Hamamatsu cho.
The Home Appliance Open Innovation Symposium was co-sponsored by the Keio University Cyber Civilization Research Center.
Dr. David Farber (co-director of the Keio University Cyber Civilization Research Center) gave a keynote speech. A lively discussion was held under moderator Dr. Masaki Umejima, Project Associate Professor (Keio University Cyber Civilization Research Center), with panelists Mr. Ozaka, deputy director of Information Economy Division (Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry), Dr. David Farber, Hiroaki Taniguchi (director of NTT Anode Energy Corporation), and director Suzuki (ECHONET Consortium)
Mr. Nagasawa, Chairperson of the Promotion Committee, gave a presentation focusing on overseas activities to promote ECHONET. The symposium was very well-attended by 87 members and visitors, and was a great success.
ECHONET Consortium activity report (FY2019 2Q)
1. Holding of the Eleventh Forum
- On July 11, the Eleventh Forum was held at the Large Hall, Seavans S Building 1F.
The forum was a success with 109 total participants, including lecturers and technical exhibitors.
As a special lecture, Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) introduced a smart home subcommittee for building the smart home market. Further Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation gave a presentation closely related to the establishment of ECHONET 2.0 including “ Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation’s Vision of the Smart Life ” .
2. Exhibited in the IFA 2019/IFA NEXT
- ECHONET consortium exhibited at IFA 2019：IFA NEXT held in Berlin, Germany (Messe Berlin) September 6-11.
IFA NEXT (Global Innovation Hub) is a place for exhibitors from universities, R & D institutions, and cutting-edge IT private companies around the world. This time, Japan was chosen as the first partner country, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) also exhibited a booth at the venue.
The ECHONET Consortium exhibited a booth at the venue to present WebAPI, which enables linkages between clouds to prepare for the upcoming IoT society that the ECHONET Consortium is looking to get involved in.
During the seven-day exhibition, the ECHONET Consortium’s booth had 150 visitors from various national and international companies, standardization organizations, and news organizations. The exhibition was a success, with a number of favorable inquiries from standardization organizations on facilitating consultation for data linkages and requests from private companies to join the membership.
Also, a member from ECHONET member companies gave presentations to introduce ECHONET initiatives on a stage constructed at the center of the exhibition hall.
3. Activities to make the ECHONET Lite AIF specifications into a international specification standard
- Since 2017, the ECHONET Consortium has been working to make the ECHONET Lite AIF specifications (between home air conditioners and controllers) an international standard in collaboration with the Kanagawa Institute of Technology and with the help of METI.
The submitted Committee Draft (CD) was approved at the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC25 international conference held in Nagasaki September 23–27 of this year, and transferring the Committee / Draft for Vote (CDV) for the next stage has also been approved.
ECHONET Consortium activity report (FY2019 1Q)
1. The sixth regular general meeting was held
- On June 5, the sixth regular general meeting was held at the Large Hall, Seavans S Building 1F. A report on the business plan and account settlement of the fifth fiscal year (April 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019) was approved and adopted, and selection of four board members were selected in line with the expiration of their terms of office and replacement.
2. Study on ECHONET 2.0 Vision
- The “Study Problem Working Group to Realize ECHONET2.0” was established directly under the Board of Directors, and the study of issues for the realization of the ECHONET2.0 vision announced in 2018 was started.
3. Survey on the state of shipments of ECHONET Lite products
- Conducted a survey on the state of shipments of ECHONET Lite products during fiscal 2018. The survey revealed that 7.36 million units of home appliances and home fixtures were shipp8ed, making the cumulative total shipment of 24.76 million units since fiscal 2013. As of the end of fiscal 2018, 51.82 million units of ECHONET Lite smart electric energy meters were installed. In total, 76.58 million units of ECHONET Lite devices have been made commercially available.
4. Status on devices acquired ECHONET Lite specifications certification
- During the second half of 2018, 41 devices acquired ECHONET Lite certification (cumulative total of 666), while 67 devices and controllers obtained AIF certification (cumulative total of 417). As a result, over 1,000 devices acquired the certifications.
◆ ECHONET Consortium activity report (detailed version) (2019 4Q)[PDF：253KB]