Taiwan announces smart lighting standards, hopes to spur industry

Aug. 16, 2012
New standards for lighting range from luminaire functionality to both local- and wide-area networks that can connect smart lighting.

A combination of Taiwan's six major lighting associations and two government-funded technology organizations announced five new standards related to intelligent lighting. According to a press release issued by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA), the motivation is creation of a more integrated supply chain that can compete in the evolving area of LED-based lighting.

The government institutes involved in the announcement include the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute. The standards cover "system functions, wide-area networks, field-area networks, design guides for field area networks, and lighting device specifications."

Gary Tsai, research director at the III, said, "To maintain our technological edge and overall value, Taiwanese companies need to develop higher-value smart lighting systems and improve product compatibility based on these new standards."

The standards have not yet been approved by the Taiwanese government. The partners in the standards-creation process will take that as a next step. Presumably the standards will give Taiwan a voice in the global lighting-standards development process.

Taiwan considers itself the leader in the manufacture of LED components. But the III and other partners want to increase the reach of Taiwanese companies in terms of supplying the entire lighting system.

The CNA release didn't mention the fact that Taiwan's LED output has been more focused on display backlighting than on general illumination. Clearly the country will also need to boost its component-manufacturing technical prowess to deliver top-quality, lighting-class LEDs.

The new standards have yet to be published in a publicly-accessible forum. Neither of the institutes has acknowledged the work on their websites to date.