Linux Foundation establishes LF Edge for IoT edge devices

The Linux Foundation is doing its part to ensure the Internet of Things market succeeds, launching LF Edge, an umbrella organization to establish an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud or operating system.

LF Edge is initially comprised of five projects that will support emerging edge applications in the area of nontraditional video and connected things that require lower latency, faster processing and mobility. It includes Akraino Edge Stack, EdgeX Foundry and Open Glossary of Edge Computing—formerly stand-alone projects at The Linux Foundation.

The initiative also includes a new project contributed by Samsung Electronics, which aims to create a hub for real-time data collected through smart home devices, and another project from Zededa, which is contributing a new agnostic standard edge architecture.

"The market opportunity for LF Edge spans industrial, enterprise and consumer use cases in complex environments that cut across multiple edges and domains. We're thrilled with the level of support backing us at launch, with more than 60 global organizations as founding members and new project contributions," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager at The Linux Foundation, in a press release. "This massive endorsement, combined with existing code and project contributions like Akraino from AT&T and EdgeX Foundry from Dell EMC, means LF Edge is well-positioned to transform edge and IoT application development."

Basically, the hope is that LF Edge will help ensure greater harmonization to accelerate deployment among all those edge devices out there—which are expected to exceed 20 billion by 2020. The thinking is that in order for the broader IoT to succeed, the currently fragmented edge market needs to be able to work together to identify and protect against security vulnerabilities and advance a common, constructive vision for the future of the industry.

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According to the foundation, industries that stand to be transformed by edge computing include industrial manufacturing, cities and government, energy, transportation, retail, homes, building automation, automotive, logistics and healthcare.

Among those supporting LF Edge are AT&T, Ericsson, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Juniper Networks, Nokia Solutions, NTT, Qualcomm Technologies, Radisys, Red Hat, Samsung Electronics, Tencent, WindRiver and Wipro.