A new global organisation has been formed with the aim of improving efficiency within the machine-to-machine (M2M) communications sector.

The group, called oneM2M, has been launched by seven of the world's leading information and communications technology standards development organisations (SDOs), and is aimed at making the emerging technology universally accessible to different industries across the world.

To set up the group, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute has joined forces with Japan-based organisations the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses and the Telecommunication Technology Committee.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and the Telecommunications Industry Association of the USA, the China Communications Standards Association, and the Telecommunications Technology Association of Korea are also involved.

The new body's aim is to ensure that M2M devices can communicate effectively with each other on a global scale, by developing technical specifications and reports.

One of the first tasks facing the group will be to address the need for a common M2M service layer, which can be readily embedded within various hardware and software.

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