Smart House

The overall objective of the SmartHouse^? project is to grow and sustain convergence and interoperability of systems, services and devices for the SmartHouse that will provide the European Citizen with access to increased functionality, accessibility, reliability and security that a SmartHouse, with common and open architectures, will deliver in an expanding broadband infrastructure throughout Europe.

Since 2001, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Commission DG ENTR have been working together to develop understanding of requirements for the SmartHouse and have recently completed work on a Code of Practice for SmartHouse operation.

The SmartHouse Standardisation Initiative aims to support initiatives ensuring that Service Providers, Government, Health, Learning and local community Services can interact with all the citizens of the EU. They will then be confident that their systems are communicating into homes with networks, systems and equipment that are constructed, installed and set up to known standards, are interoperable and interactive and will deliver predictable information and receive intelligible responses from any home in the EU.

It is the contention of the SmartHouse Standardisation Initiative that while currently the majority of connected (to the Internet with or without broadband) citizens are reasonably well informed and can manage the multiple inconsistencies and incompatibilities of current services and broadband delivery, when the objectives of eEurope i2010 and beyond are achieved, every citizen will have access to a range of Broadband services and applications. Of these, many will be uninformed, many will be in demographic groups that find the use of new systems non-intuitive, many will be disadvantaged by disability, poor health, poor education and by old age.

One of the objectives of SmartHouse is to make the new technology of the connected home accessible to all.

SmartHouse Phase I

SmartHouse Phase I consisted of work to understand the SmartHouse and the standards involved in it. Much work was carried out to catalogue and organise all the standards, stakeholders and systems involved in any SmartHouse. The main deliverable was a comprehensive report which led to the establishment of Phase II.

SmartHouse Phase II

The specific objective of this second phase of the SmartHouse mission was to deliver a Code of Practice that informs all actors, systems, networks, protocols, applications and services involved in the SmartHouse of all (or as many as possible) the methods, issues (commercial and technical) and the trade-offs when they are involved or operating in the SmartHouse or its environment. It had a more specific aim of discussing the issues, recommending and referencing appropriate standards. This work was completed in November 2005 by the delivery of the SmartHouse Code of Practice in the form of the first CENELEC homegrown Workshop Agreement.

The SmartHouse Code of Practice structure

Terms of Reference of the Code of Practice

The Consumer interest in SmartHouse is defended by ANEC

The relevance of the SmartHouse Standardisation Initiative to eSAP and i2010

In its introduction to i2010 the EU Commission proposes a new strategic framework, i2010 – European Information Society 2010, laying out broad policy orientations. It promotes an open and competitive digital economy and emphasises ICT as a driver of inclusion and quality of life. A key element of the renewed Lisbon partnership for growth and jobs, i2010 will build towards an integrated approach to information society and audio-visual media policies in the EU.

Many of the population that the new digital economy will serve, will need equipment, systems and networks in their newly “Smart Houses” that are easy to use, interoperable, provide intuitive interaction, are secure, safe and conform to open and transparent standards. Furthermore, their specifications should be compatible with public procurement rules since a significant proportion of the “Smart Houses” of the future will be equipped with help from public funds.

Similar requirements obtain for the services and applications provided by Service Providers. For both equipment and service providers there must be structure in their provision if the objectives of eEurope 2005 are to be met.

The European Standards Organisations have the remit under eEurope - an Information Society for All to develop action plans for standardisation of the new digital economy and the SmartHouse and services to it are major areas of concern for delivering standardisation and interoperability of the many converging technologies. These are outlined in the European Standards Action Plan (eSAP) and overseen by the ICTSB.

ICTSB

The ICTSB has established the SmartHouse Standards Steering Group (ICTSB/SHSSG) to act on its behalf as a forum, with the participation of market players, to make recommendations to the standards bodies, industry and the regulatory authorities on SmartHouse systems and services standardization issues. It focuses on strategic coordination of standardization programmes, taking into account the need for longer-term planning of standards issues.

Terms of Reference ICTSB/SHSSG

-- BinLi - 01 Mar 2007

The SmartHouse^? is one that is built in anticipation of newer technologies. With the advent of FTTH (Fiber Optic to the Home), homeowners are seeking means to access the technologies in the most expeditous manner. In many cases, that means that the house is pre-wired with structured wiring, which combines RG59 cable, Cat5e cable, and fiber optics. The structured wiring runs to a cabinet that acts as the "command center" of the house, routing networks, satellite feeds, and telephone to parts of the house.
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