Open Internet of Things (OpenIoT)

Project Overview

The Open Internet of Things (OpenIoT) project was an EU Framework Programme 7 initiative (2011-2014) that pioneered a cloud-based Sensing-as-a-Service (S2aaS) middleware platform for the Internet of Things. The project addressed the significant barriers posed by heterogeneous sensor hardware, communication protocols, and data formats by providing an open-source infrastructure that abstracts these complexities from developers and researchers. OpenIoT leverages W3C Semantic Sensor Network (SSN) ontologies for semantic annotation, context-aware discovery, and automatic configuration of sensors across distributed deployments. Built upon Global Sensor Networks (GSN) and Linked Sensor Middleware (LSM), the platform implements a utility-based pay-as-you-go model with support for multi-cloud environments and hierarchical data processing. The MOSDEN component extends the architecture to resource-constrained mobile devices, enabling large-scale participatory and opportunistic sensing. Real-world deployments spanned smart campus monitoring, crowd-sensing, and assisted living scenarios.

OpenIoT received significant industry recognition for its contributions to open-source IoT infrastructure. The platform was awarded the 2013 Black Duck Rookie of the Year as the best IoT open-source platform and was recognised for best semantic interoperability at the 2014 IoT Hackathon, demonstrating the platform’s versatility and impact across diverse IoT application domains.

OpenIoT served as a reference implementation for IoT standards and the European Platform Initiative. The project generated significant research impact across semantic interoperability, context-aware computing, and cloud-based sensor service delivery, influencing the development of subsequent IoT middleware architectures and open-source platforms.

Team

Charith Perera

Prem Jayaraman

Arkady Zaslavsky

Peter Christen

Dimitrios Georgakopoulos

Schahram Dustdar

Dhavalkumar Thakker

Rajiv Ranjan

Peter Strazdins

Funding

EU FP7 The EU's Framework Programmes fund research and technological development across the European Research Area.

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research.

ANU The Australian National University (ANU) is a national research university located in Canberra, Australia.

Repositories

Outcomes