In this interview, KNX Association’s new President, Jean-Christophe Krieger from company Schneider Electric, shares his thoughts on the priorities for the KNX Association (KNXA) and its continuing drive towards sustainability for a positive climate change impact.
KNXtoday: Firstly, congratulations on your new appointment as President of KNX Global Association! The baton has been passed to you by KNXA’s former President, Franz Kammerl, who has now retired. How do you feel about KNXA’s achievements so far, its current position, and its direction of travel?
JCK: Firstly I’d like to thank Franz for his tremendous contribution over the last 11 years to bring KNX to where it is now. His engagement in smart homes and smart buildings, his passion and expertise, his leadership and resilience to continuously move KNX as a ‘rolling stone!’
KNX is the Global.Secure.Connected worldwide open standard and its reputation is well established to provide sustainable solutions for homes and buildings. The strategy of KNXA has always been visionary and this can be highlighted through: KNX Secure as the response to CRA (Cybersecurity Resilience Act), KNX Energy Management as one of the bricks to support our sustainability targets and currently KNXIoT to bring KNX to the next level.
As the world is moving fast, we now need to consider the mega trends such as artificial intelligence, climate change and energy transition.
KNXtoday: What are your top priorities? What are the first items on your ‘to do’ list and how do you see these being implemented?
JCK: I see three top priorities for the years to come to support KNXA’s ambitions:
- to move from a perception that KNX is ‘complex’ to a perception that KNX provides ‘peace of mind’ to all those involved in the value chain by rejuvenating our web presence, by creating new communication assets focused on our value proposition and benefits adapted to each role, and pushing for tool simplification;
- to continue to specify and develop energy management solutions to decarbonise homes and buildings;
- to stay on top of innovation by evaluating the impacts and benefits of AI, the new energy landscape and microgrid evolution, and new software business model migration.
KNXtoday: Are there any aspects to the structure of KNXA that you would like to develop/change?
JCK: The overall structure of the KNXA with its headquarters in Brussels, the KEB (KNX Executive Board), the KTB (KNX Technical Board), the KMB (KNX Marketing Board) and all the working groups is a fantastic asset that has shown great results over the years, and provided a lot of engagement and passion with everyone from all companies in the community. I see the opportunity for more efficiency by putting in place a governance that will ease collaboration, communication, transparency and speed of decisions between all parties involved: speed and agility to constantly move forward!
KNXtoday: How important is sustainability to the Association and where is the impetus coming from?
JCK: Considering that sustainability means ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their needs,’ KNXA has a huge role to play to limit the climate change impact, to protect against cybersecurity attacks, to offer an innovative digital platform for the entire community, and to continuously adapt to standards and regulation changes.
KNXtoday: What programmes or initiatives do you plan to help in the drive towards sustainability?
JCK: First our KNXIoT programme will continue to embrace new members and startups to enrich the ecosystem. KNXA is also running several development programmes called NorthStar Working Groups, and is focusing on energy management applications, standardisation, simplifying the customer journey and unifying the National Groups. All of these initiatives are aimed at the service of sustainability as I defined above. Additionally there will be other programmes to start linking to innovation topics.
KNXtoday: What other areas should KNX maintain or adopt focus on?
JCK: With all that I have described already, I think we have plenty of work ahead for many years including the 3 strategic pillars of Decarbonization, Peace of Mind, Innovation; as well as strategic programmes such as KNXIoT for Energy Management, Standardisation, New Energy Landscape, AI, Microgrid, Business Model, Rejuvenate Web and Marcom, and Unify National Groups.
Off course as the world is changing fast, we will revisit the strategy and priorities every year to always stay at the cutting edge.
KNXtoday: What are the opportunities/threats to KNXA, and where do you see the Association being in 5-10 years’ time?
JCK: The northstar of KNXA has been set to become the champion of Buildings 4.0 with the highest technological penetration rate in buildings having ‘KNX inside everywhere’. For that KNX already meets all the requirements of today and is on a constant move to be ready for tomorrow.
KNXtoday: Any other points you would like to make?
JCK: I want to thank all KNX Executive Board members for their trust in me and the company Schneider Electric, in allowing me the opportunity to take on this important role. KNXA has a lot of exciting work over the next few years – KNX IS because WE ARE.
Jean-Christophe Krieger is the President of the KNX Association and KNX Chief Product Officer with Schneider Electric Industries S.A.
