About

The Connected Devices Alliance (CDA) is a network of more than 350 government and industry participants that have come together to work on the energy efficiency opportunities provided by networked devices. These include opportunities for device standby mode energy savings as well as energy savings enabled by device connectivity (“intelligent efficiency”).

The CDA was conceived in 2015 by the G20 Networked Devices Initiative, which is one of six initiatives under the ‘G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan: Voluntary Collaboration on Energy Efficiency’, launched after the Brisbane G20 Summit in November 2014. Read more about the G20 initiative here.

The CDA has an over-arching vision and goals which help to define its scope and provide an incentive to undertake a range of ambitious activities, including the investigation of network standby targets for specific categories of equipment. The vision and goals address the complementary objectives of reducing network standby energy consumption whilst pursuing additional savings through intelligent efficiency. They are embodied in the following statement:

Participating representatives from industry and governments recognise the need to take globally co-ordinated action to:

• Realise a world where devices and networks optimise energy management while delivering increased energy productivity across all sectors.
• Maximise network-enabled energy savings and minimise the energy consumption from all networks and networked devices.

To achieve these goals, deliverables from the Alliance since January 2015 include:

• The CDA Centre of Excellence, which provides governments and industry with an accessible source of information on best practices and energy savings opportunities in networked devices and the networks.
• A set of global Definitions that will underpin the development of policies and initiatives in this field.
• Design Principles to provide guidance on the key features of energy efficient networked devices, networks and communication protocols for designers, manufacturers and authors.
• Policy Principles to encourage a common global framework for the development of government policies and measures.
• The development of Awards to recognise significant achievements in technical protocols, industry initiatives and policies through the SEAD ‘Global Efficiency Medal’.

Other activities of the Connected Devices Alliance can be found in the 2015 technical report.