Zigbee Alliance Rebrands As Connectivity Standards Alliance

From the Alliance’s founding technology, Zigbee, to its most recent IP-based standard, Matter, the Alliance has been on a mission to simplify and harmonize the IoT.

The Zigbee Alliance, an organization of hundreds of companies creating, maintaining, and delivering open global standards for the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced its organizational rebrand to the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). The Alliance will continue to develop Zigbee technology and will retain the Zigbee technology brand.

Zigbee

With nearly 20 years operating as a global, open standards organization, the Alliance has continued to expand in scale, scope and impact. From the Alliance’s founding technology, Zigbee, to its most recent IP-based standard, Matter, the Alliance has been on a mission to simplify and harmonize the IoT. Matter (formerly known as Project CHIP, for smart homes) joins the Alliance’s growing portfolio of leading connectivity standards, including specialized protocols like Smart Energy, Green Power, rf4ce, and others.

The Alliance’s technologies are built on solid foundations: openness principles, a common data model, and the expertise of Member companies from across the industry. With this, the Alliance is elevating its brand identity to better align with this role in shaping the future of the IoT by creating world-wide standards that impact the market.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance board of directors is comprised of executives from Amazon, Apple, ASSA ABLOY, Comcast, Google, Huawei, IKEA, The Kroger Co., LEEDARSON, Legrand, Lutron Electronics, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Schneider Electric, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Silicon Labs, SmartThings, Somfy, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Tuya, and Wulian.

“This year is historic for the Alliance as our growth and efforts flourish with the demand for smart home and building connectivity,” said Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. “It’s the perfect time to both unveil our new brand, positioning the Alliance as the home for collaboration and development of IoT standards with our Members, and launch these trusted marks recognizable by the market we collectively serve.”

Zigbee
(Image: Getty Images)

More connected objects in more places

In 2020, more than 560 Zigbee technology devices certified, an increase of more than 30% from the year prior. Over half a billion Zigbee chipsets have been sold and nearly four billion are expected to ship by 2023. Consumer and commercial demands for simple, connected experiences continue to grow, as Q1 2021 certifications exceeded Q1 2020 by more than 50%. With ongoing evolution of the Zigbee standard, and device certifications further increasing with the addition of Matter devices later in 2021, we expect this positive trend to continue.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance’s membership continues to expand its global reach as the leading organization at the center of the IoT, with Members in over 37 countries. CSA Members come together from across the value chain — silicon, software, device, ecosystem, service provider and retail — and from across the connected home, commercial and multiple industry domains.

There are now more than 350 Member organizations of all sizes, across a range of business categories, and over 3,000 Member individuals who are participating in bringing use cases, specifications, reference implementations, testing tools, and certification programs to life.

Driving a connected world

The Connectivity Standards Alliance has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Council on the Connected World on an impactful new initiative to help build a global connected future that is more sustainable, resilient, and equitable for all. The Alliance is proud to have a seat on the Council on the Connected World with the goal of strengthening global governance and innovation of IoT.

These connections aren’t just unique to planet Earth, as recently the world saw Zigbee on Mars! The Alliance Members have accomplished exciting wireless possibilities over the decades and the Alliance was excited to have an organization like Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) choose Zigbee for their mission-critical radio communications from Ingenuity to Perseverance this year.