Yasmin Hashmi asks KNX Association’s President, Vice President, CTO and CEO for their highlights of 2023 and pointers of what to look out for in 2024.
Franz Kammerl, President, KNX Association
Among my highlights of 2023 was the introduction of KNX IoT at both the ISH fair in Frankfurt as one of the most important events in HVAC applications; and at the ISE show in Barcelona, which the international building automation market greatly appreciated. It was also good to attend the international KNX National Group event in Berlin in person after a few years of online meetings only, and on the subject of Germany, the consolidation of KNX Germany has given KNX yet another boost and makes us even stronger.
Over the past year, trends which particularly caught my eye have been the market’s direction towards the IoT, the strengthening of cyber security regulations, and the worldwide push towards CO2 reduction, to name just three. All of these are being addressed by KNX Association and our Members, and I am proud that KNX has done its homework in being well prepared for this brave new world.
Indeed to all KNX customers, KNX Partners, KNX Members and KNX associated organisations and personnel, I say this: you can be proud to be part of the leading global system for home and building control, and we in the working groups, as well as all Association staff, will work hard to maintain KNX as the market leader. We greatly appreciate your continued support and wish you all a merry Christmas and a good start into the New Year!
Jean-Christophe Krieger, Vice President, KNX Association
After some turbulence with the release of ETS6, I think one of KNX Association’s major achievements during 2023 was the release of version 6.1.1, which is very robust and stable. It also brings a great function, namely Serial Commissioning, that will save our Partners a lot of time.
In terms of challenges and opportunities, KNX is a hybrid and customer-centric system, so with the arrival of matter, there is on-going work to standardise the way in which matter devices are integrated into a KNX installation. In addition, with the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act coming, KNX Secure will become the standard solution to meet European expectations.
Looking ahead, I just want to say that KNX has a great future. With the right strategic directions and focus (cybersecurity, the IoT, and energy management), KNX is ready to face current trends and challenges to make a better sustainable world. And stay tuned, because KNX Association is already preparing the next phase to make it unavoidable!
Joost Demarest, CTO, KNX Association
One of the strengths of KNX lies in the fact that every product branded with the KNX trademark has had to go through third-party testing. During 2023, we invested heavily in preparing the test infrastructure for agreed system extensions, be it segment couplers, security proxies, KNX RF S-Mode Multi as well as now with high speed, completing the KNX IoT Point API system test templates. This is all to the benefit of KNX integrators and end users: certified interoperability!
Over the past year, I’ve noted that questions on the availability of an alternative home automation protocol supported by the tech-giants have been growing, especially concerning the position of KNX on this matter.
KNX continues to believe that its technology is the right solution for the professional market, where integration to the last detail of many applications from different manufacturers is the goal, be it in the home or the building.
In the coming year, the availability of the first KNX IoT products will undoubtedly be a game changer, especially since the KNX Classic system was unable to convince some manufacturers to also adopt KNX technology in their products. KNX Point API fully based on IPv6, and the start of the certification procedure for this kind of product, will open up a lot of doors that have been closed to KNX until now.
My message to the KNX community is that KNX is continually striving to improve its technology, including the ETS design and configuration tool. We recognise how important it is that integration work for simple applications becomes easier, and in accordance with this, we plan to present the first results (code named ‘smart linking’) at the forthcoming Light + Building show in Frankfurt.
Heinz Lux, CEO, KNX Association
During 2023 I was thrilled that for the first time ever, KNX participated at the CES in Las Vegas – the home of the Smart Home! It was, of course, a great success. Other highlights for me have been the focus on energy efficiency and energy management by KNX Associates and Members; the KNX National Group meeting which once again showed how important and energetic the international KNX community is; and the B2C activities of KNX Association in increasing awareness of KNX within the consumer market. Indeed I am more than proud of the great achievements of KNX Association staff in Brussels.
I was also impressed by the startups who are driving the development and adoption of KNX IoT – the KNX IoT Startup Summer Pitch online event was excellent and helped forge new connections and exciting investment prospects in our vibrant community. KNX and Thread are also technology partners with a great future.
For the coming year, the focus for KNX Association will be on technology-driven sustainability; semantic communication; increased development of KNX IoT; and making KNX Secure standard for all KNX devices.
My message to the KNX community is that KNX is 33 years young and still a rolling stone which has always defined smart home and building technology, and now defines future connected devices with semantic communication between smart home and smart building devices. We can look forward to KNX IoT and KNX Secure becoming standard in 2024, and I encourage everyone to embrace KNX-driven sustainability.
I am so proud of all of the great technological and developmental achievements of KNX Members, the phenomenal projects of KNX Partners, the imaginative new KNX training offered by KNX training centres, the innovative research of our scientific partners, and the amazing activities of our KNX national groups. Together with the KNX Association staff in Brussels, we can look forward to another great KNX year in 2024!!!
Yasmin Hashmi is the Editor of KNXtoday magazine.
