The IPSO Alliance is off to a great start in 2012. The solid foundation of our 2011 work has set the stage for another landmark year. Our marketing team has been busy getting the message out. We are increasing our global presence and are continuing the extension of our interoperability efforts.

Our Marketing Committee has been busy this quarter. Three press releases in the first two months have highlighted our new members, our latest interoperability efforts, and increased participation at industry events. The IPSO Alliance was a sponsor for the recent Parks Associates' Smart Energy Summit. In addition we have had representatives speaking at key industry conferences, such as SICS' Internet of Things Day in early February, the Amphion Forum in March, (hosted by IPSO member Mocana) and the IET Smart Metering Conference in April.  In April, the Alliance is sponsoring the North American IPv6 Summit and, in June, TIA 2012 in Texas and European Demand Response and Dynamic Pricing in the United Kingdom. 

In response to our members' requests, we are excited to be hosting our first European Members Meeting -- our Spring 2012 meeting is being held in Paris, France. A great step forward in our growth, we hope to take this opportunity to further spread our message to the European community. In addition to strengthening our European ties, we hope to extend our efforts in the Asia/Pacific region this year through partnership with our current member companies.

Leveraging industry partnerships, we are proud to be partnering with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), in their first "IoT CoAP Plugtest". The Plugtest will be held March 24-25, preceding the IETF and IPSO Spring meetings in Paris, France. This commitment to interoperability testing will continue with our own members-only Interoperability Test and Demonstration following the Spring Member Meeting. Building on past efforts, our interoperability event will focus on multi-vendor, application level interoperability. 

A very large part of promoting "IP to the edge" is done through speaking at various conferences. Your participation in these conferences allows us to reach a very large audience while keeping organizational expenses in check. As an industry alliance, we continue to have membership and participation fees well below those of our peers. We are able to do this because of your continued commitment and active participation on the TAB, on various committees and in promoting IPSO through your company participation at industry events. With your continued support, the IPSO Alliance will be able to reach new milestones in 2012.

We are certainly off to a promising start!

Pete St. Pierre

President, IPSO Alliance