The lighting industry is now the backbone of the emerging Internet of things (IOT), but it still faces some daunting challenges, including a problem: Although the LEDs inside lamps can last for decades, device operators may have to frequently replace chips and sensors embedded in the same lamps.

It’s not that the chip will be destroyed, but because the chip has a more advanced version update every 18 months. This means that commercial enterprises that install IOT lamps will have to use old technology or make expensive modifications.

Now, a new standards initiative hopes to avoid this problem in commercial buildings. The IOT ready alliance wants to ensure that there is a consistent, simple and cheap way to keep indoor intelligent lighting updated.

The lighting industry hopes to convince commercial and outdoor lighting operators that lamps are a perfect off the shelf framework, which can accommodate chips and sensors that collect data for the Internet of things, because lamps are everywhere, and the power lines that can power lamps can also power these devices, so there is no need for battery components.

The so-called “networked lighting” will observe everything from room occupancy, human movement, air quality and so on. The collected data can trigger other actions, such as resetting the temperature, reminding device managers how to reallocate space, or helping retail stores attract passengers and sales.

In the outdoor environment, it can help manage traffic, find parking spaces, remind police and firefighters to the location of emergencies, etc. IOT lighting usually needs to bind the data to the cloud computing system for analysis and sharing.