The Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA), an industry body comprised of leaders, influencers and innovative organizations from all facets within the security, safety and building automation space, celebrates its one-year anniversary. Within its first 12 months, OSSA attracted 30+ members, ranging from device manufacturers, software developers and system integrators to distributors and system on a chip (SoC) companies – helping lay the groundwork for improved security, safety, building automation and business intelligence solutions.

“Through OSSA, we have competing and complementary institutions reaching across aisles and stepping outside of their brands to work together to push our whole industry into a new, more prosperous and efficient direction,” said Johan Jubbega, President, Open Security & Safety Alliance. “We’re truly pleased at the progress achieved in just our first year by establishing an open security and safety ecosystem comprised of 30+ renown companies, and having a market-changing digital marketplace and first commercially available video security camera offerings underway for year two as the Alliance continues to provide guidance and interpretation of common standards and specifications to promote more intelligent, productive solutions for users.”

OSSA’s mission is to work with market players to all start from the same "recipe" when it comes to the development, deployment, operation and maintenance of products, software and services. The Alliance’s vision is that the majority of the security and safety industry works with a common, vendor-agnostic operating system (OS) and IoT infrastructure – and agrees to implement or adhere to common approaches defined for common challenges like data security, privacy, product performance and easy consumption of data across multiple solutions.

Within its first year,  OSSA member companies created the first common Technology Stack specification including the definition of a common operating system for video security devices. They also started to define the common approaches and establishment of a shared IoT infrastructure, including a digital marketplace. The framework allows the trapped – and mostly unused – data captured by any brand of device to be unleashed and available for good purpose. It also reduces friction when conceiving, deploying and maintaining security and safety devices, systems and settings and inspires innovation by opening the doors to data interpretation and possibilities. 

Significant outputs from Alliance work groups over the past 12 months include:

• Documentation of a common Technology Stack, including the definition of a common vendor-agnostic OS.
• First description of a common market approach to data security and privacy.
• OSSA member Security and Safety Things GmbH (SAST) realized a first version of its OS as set forth in the common Technology Stack defined by OSSA – enabling the creation of prototype cameras. Together with SAST’s first open app store for security cameras, various applications were showcased this year at ISC West 2019 and IFSEC 2019. The commercial launch of the platform is planned for Q1 2020.
• OSSA members fulfilled their first prototype cameras based on the commonly defined Technology Stack and OS, and showcased them throughout 2019 at ISC West and IFSEC.