Services directory: associations and organisations

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CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association)
An international trade association whose members specialise in planning and installing electronic systems for the home. [business card]

1394 Trade Association
A trade association dedicated to the enhancement and advancement of the 1394/FireWire standard.

3D@Home Consortium
3D content developers, manufacturers, standards bodies, and educational institutions set up to ensure the best possible 3-dimensional viewing experience to the billions of consumers in today's home entertainment marketplace.

3LCD Group
A group of leading projector manufactureres, including Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sony and Epson set-up to educate the market about the benefits of three-panel liquid crystal display technology.

ACE (Association of Consulting Engineers)
The UK's leading trade association for engineering, technical and management consultancies covering the construction, environmental and infrastructure industry.

AES (Audio Engineering Society)
An international professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology.

ALMA - The International Loudspeaker Association
An not-for-profit trade association open to companies that design, manufacture, sell and/or test loudspeakers, loudspeaker components, and loudspeaker systems.

AMMP (Allied Manufacturers of Motorized Products)
A consortium of manufacturers of interior and exterior window coverings and shading, projection screens and media concealment products, committed to generating awareness of motorization products, and to making motorization products in the home automation category.

ASIMELEC (Asociación Multisectorial de Empresas Españolas de Electrónica y Comunicaciones)
An Spanish association of electronic companies.

Assodomotica
An Italian association of home automation companies.

ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions)
A technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry.

BADA (British Audio-Video Dealers Association)
An association of British hi-fi and home cinema dealers that monitors and maintains standards for the sale of AV separates.

BCD (Broadband Content Delivery) Forum
A trade association that addresses both the technology and business issues affecting the end-to-end delivery of broadband content and services.

BCDI (Belgian Center for Domotics and Immotics)
A European network of excellence for home and building automation representing products and services from state-of-the-art companies throughout Europe.

BCS (British Computer Society)
The leading body for those working in IT, with a world-wide membership of over 50,000 members in over 100 countries, BCS is the qualifying body for Chartered IT Professionals (CITP).

BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association)
A voluntary membership group open to any corporation or organisation with an interest in creating, upholding and/or promoting the Blu-ray Disc formats.

BFA (British Federation of Audio)
A federation of British manufacturers and distributors of a wide range of audio, home-theatre products and accessories.

BIDA (British Interior Design Association)
An organisation to promote and support the interior design professions, that is committed to the advancement of professional practice of interior design.

Bluetooth Special Interest Group
A trade association for the development of a low-cost short-range wireless specification for connecting mobile products.

BRE (Building Research Establishment)
Owned by the Foundation for the Built Environment, the UK's leading centre of expertise on buildings, construction, energy, environment, fire and risk providing research-based consultancy, testing and certification services.

BSIA (British Security Industry Association)
A trade association for the security industry in the UK, that ensures its members provide the highest possible standard of products and service to their customers.

CABA (Continental Automated Building Association)
An industry association that promotes advanced technologies for the automation of homes and buildings in North America.

CableHome a CableLabs Project
A project to develop the interface specifications necessary to extend high-quality cable-based services to network devices within the home.

CableLabs (Cable Television Laboratories)
A research and development consortium, founded by members of the cable television industry, to pursue new cable telecommunications technologies.

CAI (Confederation of Aerial Industries)
A totally independent, self-regulatory organisation that has evolved codes of practice relating to the aerial and satellite industry.

CAT-1q (Cordless Advanced Technology)
A technology standard for broadband home connectivity based on the mature and reliable DECT technology where frequencies are available worldwide and regulative rules are established.

CEA (Consumer Electronics Association)
A trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry through technology policy, events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships.

CEBus Industry Council
A multi-industry organisation that provides information to the design and development community about CEBus and CEBus Home Plug & Play.

CECED (European Committee of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances)
An industry group representing the household appliance industry in Europe. Membership includes producers of large and small electric household appliances, manufacturers of home ventilation, air conditioning and heating equipment, and 26 national industry associations.

CEDOM (Spanish Home Automation Association)
A Spanish trade association for manufactures, distributors, installers, system integrators, training centers, universities, and many others.

CELF (Consumer Electronics Linux Forum)
An industry group that is focused on the advancement of Linux as an open source platform for consumer electronics devices.

CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation)
A non-profit technical organisation set up under Belgian law and composed of the National Electrotechnical Committees of 28 European countries.

CEPCA (Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance)
A nonprofit corporation established to promote and continuously advance high speed PLC technology to utilize and implement a new generation of consumer electronics products through the adoption of CEPCA specifications.

CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers)
An international body which represents and provides services to the building services profession, such as lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, public health systems and lifts.

CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association)
A global trade association representing the business interests of the information technology industry. Education initiatives include CompTIA Home Technology Integrator (HTI+) certification.

CTIA - The Wireless Association
An international association representing all sectors of wireless communications Ð cellular, personal communication services and enhanced specialized mobile radio.Ê

CUHTEC (Centre for Usable Home Technology)
An interdisciplinary research base in Computer Science, Electronics and Psychology at the University of York with the aim is of ensuring that future home technologies meet real social and personal needs.

CVIA (China Video Industry Association)
A Chinese trade organization of enterprises and institutions involved in research, development, production and distribution of video related products such as digital televisions, projectors, DVD players and set top boxes.

DAA (Distributed Audio Alliance)
An organisation that serves as an educational resource for consumers, builders and installers wanting to learn about the components and benefits of multi-room audio in the home.

DALI-AG (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface Working Group)
An organisation within ZVEI, the German electrical and electronic manufacturers association, that is dedicated to promote the DALI standard, a protocol set out in the technical standard IEC 929.

DASH7 Alliance
An alliance formed to advance the use of DASH7 wireless data technology by developing extensions to the ISO 18000-7 standard, and ensuring interoperability among devices.

DECT Forum
An international industry association embracing suppliers and operators of CAT-iq/DECT based terminals, systems, and networks.

DEG (Digital Entertainment Group) Europe
A pan-industry body with the remit to promote the DVD and HD formats (HD DVD, Blu-ray and HDTV) and the benefits to consumers and trade across Europe.

DHWG (Digital Home Working Group)
Now known as the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance).

DHA (Digital Home Alliance)
An alliance of manufacturers, service providers, and installers formed to offer consumers a new generation of networkable home automation products based on Echelon’s LonWorks control networking technology.

DIVA (Digital Interface for Video & Audio) Consortium
Now known as DiiVA.

DiiVA (Digital Interactive Interface for Video and Audio) Consortium
An industry consortium whose mission is to build the next-generation interactive TV and home CE networking standard.

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)
Formerly the DHWG (Digital Home Working Group), this alliance of more than 140 companies shares a vision of an interoperable network of personal computers, consumer electronics and mobile electronics devices in and beyond the home.

DSL Forum
An international industry consortium of service providers, equipment manufacturers and other interested parties, focused on developing the full potential of broadband DSL to meet the needs of the mass market.

DVD Forum
An international association of hardware manufacturers, software firms, content providers and other users of Digital Versatile Discs.

ECA (Electrical Contractors' Association)
An association of companies involved in electrical installation work to provide a focus for the electrical industry in terms of safety, training, qualification, and technological development and industry performance.

ECHONET (Energy Conservation and Homecare Network) Consortium
An organisation for the development, standardisation and promotion of home network standards for home and small buildings control and monitoring.

EFMA (Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance)
An alliance of leading network infrastructure and service providers that promotes the use of Ethernet in the First Mile subscriber access networks and supports the IEEE p802.3ah standard process.

EHSA (European Home Systems Association)
Now part of the KNX Association.

EIBA (European Installation Bus Association)
Now the KNX Association.

EIBG (European Intelligent Building Group)
An organisation that promotes the benefits of intelligent buildings to all stakeholders in their design, construction and use.

EICTA (European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association)
An association dedicated to improving the business environment for the European ICT and CE sector, and to promoting the information and communication technology industry's contribution to economic growth and social progress in the European Union. It replaces ECTEL and eurobit.

EIPC (European Independent Programmers Council)
An independent council serving the needs and interests of systems programmers who are not employed by hardware vendors or integrators.

EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association)
An association of European magazines that runs the European EISA Awards with six categories: Audio, Video, Home Theater, Photography, In-Car Electronics Electronics and Mobile Devices.

EITO European Information Technology Observatory
A broad and unique European initiative that publishes the established yearbook for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in Europe.

EMerge Alliance
An open industry association set up to develop a global standard for commercial buildings that integrates interior infrastructures, power, controls and a wide variety of peripheral devices, such as lighting, in a common platform.

EnOcean Alliance
An alliance of European and North American companies to promote and enable intelligent green buildings through creation of a broad range of interoperable standards based wireless products.

ESPA (Electronic Systems Professional Alliance)
A non-profit organisation that will deliver high-quality education and credible certification that is universally recognised as the path to a career in electronics systems contracting.

Ethernet Alliance
An alliance to promote industry awareness, acceptance and advancement of technology and products based on existing and emerging IEEE 802 Ethernet standards.

eu.bac (European Building Automation and Controls Association)
An association of companies, internationally active in the sector Home and Building Automation, set up to provide a European Quality Assurance System in energy saving and energy performance of buildings.

European IPv6 Task Force
A volunteer organisation open to all parties interested in advancing the IPv6 deployment in the European region, in cooperation with the rest of the world and other related entities.

HAA (Home Acoustics Alliance)
A professional training organisation that promotes the correct and most effective use of acoustical design and calibration techniques specifically for the home.

HANA (High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance)
A cross-industry collaboration to address the end-to-end needs of connected, high-definition, home entertainment products and services.

HANA (Home Automation and Networking Association)
HANA merged with CEA and became the TechHome Division.

HAVi (Home Audio Video interoperability)
An association that promotes the HAVi standard that allows digital consumer electronics and home appliances to communicate with each other.

HD DVD Promotion Group
A voluntary association that promotes HD DVD format based contents and products into the marketplace and encourages the broad acceptance of HD DVD on a worldwide basis.

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
Comprised of Hitachi, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Sony Corporation, Thomson and Toshiba Corporation, the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) Founders have joined together to define a next-generation digital interface specification for consumer electronics products. HDMI is also supported by major motion picture producers, as well as satellite and cable companies.

HD-PLC Alliance (High Definition Power Line Communication)
An organization dedicated to advancing the spread of HD-PLC and raising awareness of its benefits.

HGI (Home Gateway Initiative)
An open forum launched by telcos with the aim to release specifications of the home gateway.

HiperLAN2 Global Forum
An open industry forum to drive the adoption of HiperLAN2 as the globally accepted, broadband wireless technology in the 5GHz band, providing connectivity for mobile devices in corporate, public and home environments.

HLCA (Home Lighting Control Alliance)
A consortium of lighting control manufacturers, systems integrators and industry support organisations to promote the awareness, value and benefits of lighting control products for residential applications.

HNET (Home Networking) Forum
The ATIS Home Networking Forum enables the interoperability, interconnection, and implementation of IP-based home networking systems/services by proactively examining technologies and services and developing solutions supporting the rollout of these technologies and services, when appropriate.

HNIT (Home Networks and Information Technology) Division of CEA
A forum to accelerate the adoption of networked consumer electronics products and their connection to the Internet.

HomeGrid Forum
A forum that supports the development of ITU-T G.hn next-generation single coax, powerline and phone line standard for home networking, promotes its wide adoption, and ensures compliance and interoperability.

HomePlug Powerline Alliance
An industry led initiative established to provide a forum for the creation of specifications for home powerline networking products and services.

HomePNA (Home Phoneline Network Alliance)
An association of industry-leading companies for the adoption of a single, unified, phoneline networking industry specification.

IBG (Intelligent Building Group)
An independent, open network with the mission to communicate and deliver the benefits of intelligent buildings to all stakeholders.

ICIA (International Communications Industries Association)
Now known as InfoComm International.

IEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers)
An organisation for electronics, electrical, manufacturing and IT professionals to promote the advancement of electrical, electronic and manufacturing science and engineering issues. Its activities include regulations for the safe installation of electrical and electronic equipment.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
A technical professional association that promotes the engineering process of creating, developing, integrating, sharing, and applying knowledge about electro and information technologies and sciences.

IEEE 1394 Trade Association
An ANSI standards group, dedicated to the advancement and proliferation of the IEEE 1394 high speed multimedia connection standard, which is marketed under the FireWire and i.LINK brands.

IMDA (Internet Media Device Alliance)
An industry forum that aims to develop and promote a set of open, interoperable standards and device profiles to maximise the growth of a global consumer market in internet-connected media devices.

InfoComm International
A worldwide association for the AV communications industry providing education, exhibitions, and information services.

Intellect
Association of information technology, telecommunications and electronics industries in the UK, formed following the merger between the Computing Services and Software Association (CSSA) and the Federation of the Electronics Industry (FEI).

Internet Home Alliance
A group of companies dedicated to building a market for products and services that require a broadband or persistent Internet connection

IOA (Institute of Acoustics)
A professional institute in the UK concerned with acoustics that is involved in research, educational, environmental and industrial organisations.

io-homecontrol
A consortium of companies who have decided to work together to promote the emergence of new solutions in the field of home control based on a wireless communication protocol.

IPv6 Forum
A worldwide consortium of Internet service vendors, National Research & Education Networks (NRENs) and international ISPs, with a clear mission to promote IPv6 by improving market and user awareness, creating a quality and secure New Generation Internet and allowing worldwide equitable access to knowledge and technology.

ISF (Imaging Science Foundation)
The display standards industry body dedicated to improving the quality of electronic imaging.

ISO/IEC JTC 1 (International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission Joint Technical Committee 1)
The international committee responsible for information technology (IT) standardization.

ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 25 WG 1
The working group for standards for home electronic systems, including the control of equipment for heating, lighting, audio/video, telecommunications, security or any equipment within the home. It also includes residential gateways between the internal home electronic system network and external wide-area networks such as the Internet.

Itophome
A non-profit alliance of Chinese companies for furtherance of home network system technological research and development, standardization and industrialization.

KNX Association
An association set up to develop and promote the KNX standard so that it is recognised as the worldwide standard for home and building control in industrial, commercial and residential buildings worldwide.

Konnex Association
An association of BCI, EIBA and EHSA members to promote the KNX common field bus standard for home and building electronic systems.

LA (The Lighting Association)
An trade association representing Britain's leading manufacturers and suppliers of luminaires, light sources and components.

LCD TV Association
A global, not-for-profit marketing trade association chartered to inform, promote, improve and connect the entire LCD TV supply chain.

LonMark Interoperability Association
An association of manufacturers, end-users and system integrators committed to the development and use of interoperable LonWorks products and networks.

MBOA (MultiBand OFDM Alliance)
An alliance to develop the best overall solution for the emerging market in ultrawideband-based technology based on an OFDM approach.

MCIA (Media Center Integrator Alliance)
A non-profit consortium formed to advance and administer the support, promotion, and enrichment of the media center ecosystem.

MDDP Consortium (Micro Device Display Consortium)
A membership-based industry group made up of leading companies aimed at expanding the microdisplay television market.

MoCA (Multimedia Over Coax Alliance)
An alliance with the mission to develop and promote specifications for the transport of digital entertainment and information content over in-home coaxial cable.

NEM (The Networked and Electronic Media Platform)
An industry-led initiative to ensure that Europe is among the world leaders in providing an improved quality of life offered by the explosion of opportunities in the area of networked and electronic media.

NHBC (National House-Building Council)
The world's leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes, with the primary purpose of raising standards in the new house-building industry and providing consumer protection for new home buyers.

NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting)
A voluntary regulatory body covering the whole of the UK's electrical contracting industry and serving as an independent consumer safety organisation.

ONE-NET
An independent, user-supported development community for the development of an open design standard for low power wireless connectivity optimized for residential and small business control applications.

ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum)
An open industry forum for the development of a global standard for the interface of network video products.

OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) Alliance
An alliance with the mission to specify, create, advance, and promote a truly open service delivery and management platform for the network delivery and management of advanced applications and services to all types of remote devices, including those in the home, vehicle, industrial, and other networked environments.

OSTA (Optical Storage Technology Association)
international trade association in 1992 to promote the use of recordable optical technologies and products.

PLCforum (Power Line Communications)
An international association that represents the interests of manufacturers, energy untilites and research organisations in the field of access and in-home PLC technologies.

PLC (PanelLink Cinema) Partners Program
This program is open to all manufacturers of consumer electronics devices implementing HDMI/HDCP. It assures consumers that systems bearing the PanelLink Cinema Partners Content Ready logo have been tested for HDCP functionality in conjunction with HDMI - ensuring they are interoperable and ready to receive and play premium digital content regardless of manufacturer.

RETRA (Radio, Electrical & Television Retailers' Association)
A UK trade association for electrical and electronic retailers and servicing organisations.

RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics) Consortium
A consortium formed to develop a new protocol that will further the adoption of radio frequency remote controls for audio visual devices.

RIBA (Royal Institue of British Architects)
An association that exists to advance architecture and promote excellence in the profession.

Smart Homes
Founded in 1993, Smart Homes is the (inter)national knowledge institution for the concept of home automation and smart living.

SmartHouse
An EU funded intiative, managed by CENELEC, to develop standards and codes of practice for the SmartHouse.

Soft at Home
A joint venture between Orange, Thomson and Sagem Communications to publish software that facilitates the deployment and interoperability of digital equipment in the home and makes it possible to combine it with enhanced and innovative services.

TAHI (the Application Home Initiative)
A UK initiative, led by major players in the home automation, services and media provision sectors, to accelerate the adoption of networked applications and services by home-based users.

TEAHA (The European Application Home Alliance)
A consortium of major European key players of the connected home field set up to define a suitable middleware platform for seamless interworking of home devices and to find very low cost communication solutions to encourage network solution adoption by white and brown good manufacturers.

TechHome Division of CEA
Represents the entire channel for home control and networking products in order to increase sales and support of consumer electronics products by professional integrators.

TGn Sync
The principal cross-industry group developing the 802.11n wireless standard sanctioned by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

UDI (Unified Display Interface) SIG
An industry initiative to develop a new display interface for desktop PCs, workstations, notebook PCs and PC monitors, that is fully compatible with HDMI.

UIC (UPnP Implementers Corporation)
A non-profit corporation that promotes the adoption of UPnP technology by manufacturers of hardware and software products, that administers the UPnP device certification process and the UPnP logo licensing.

UHAPI (Universal Home Application Programming Interface Forum)
This interface serves as a hardware-independent bridge between the CE and middleware or application software industries and the semiconductor industry.

UPA (Universal Powerline Association)
A global and universal association covering all PLC applications with the aim of promoting among government and industry leaders the potential of PLC technologies to build a global communication society.

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) Forum
An industry initiative designed to enable simple and robust connectivity among stand-alone devices and PCs from many different vendors.

UWB (Ultra-Wideband) Forum
A forum dedicated to ensuring that standards-based Ultra-Wideband products from multiple vendors are truly interoperable - from mobile phones to set-top boxes, from computers to televisions to digital camcorders and more.

VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association)
A worldwide organisation to promote and develop timely, relevant, open display and display interface standards.

WHDI SIG (Wireless Home Digital Interface Special Interest Group)
A group founded by AMIMON, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony to create a new industry standard for universal wireless HD video, audio and control connectivity throughout the home. The new interoperable standard aims to ensure that CE devices manufactured by different vendors will simply and directly connect to one another.

Wi-Fi Alliance
An international association to enhance the user experience through product interoperability and to certify interoperability of wireless Local Area Network products based on IEEE 802.11 specification.

Wi-Fi Technology Forum
A worldwide organisation, staffed mostly by volunteers, to report, advise and inform on all aspects of wireless communications as well as lobby for improving security, quality and value.

WiGig (Wireless Gigabit) Alliance
An alliance of companies within the CE, PC, semiconductor and handheld industries formed to address faster wireless connectivity needs.

WiHD (WirelessHD) Interest Group
An industry-led group to define the next generation wireless digital network interface specification for streaming high-definition content between source devices and high-definition displays.

WiMedia Alliance
An open industry association to promote personal-area range wireless connectivity and interoperability among multimedia devices in a networked environment.

WirelessHD Interest Group
An alliance of leading manufacturers to develop a specification for a wireless high-definition digital interface, WirelessHD or WiHD, for audio video streaming and high-speed content transmission for consumer electronics devices.

WUSB Promoter Group
An industry group formed to create a new wireless extension to USB thatÊcombinesÊthe speedÊand security of wired technology with the ease-of-use of wireless technology.

Zigbee Alliance
An association of companies to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard.

ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie e.V.)
The German electrical and electronic manufacturers association, represents the economic, technological and environmental policy interests of the German electrical and electronics industry at the national, European and international levels.

Z-Wave Alliance
A consortium of companies dedicated to solidifying Z-Wave as the standard for wireless home control products.