ITU-T Study Group 20 (SG20) develops international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) providing commonly agreed guidance for implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) and its applications, as well as smart cities and communities. Its work supports digital transformation in both urban and rural areas enabled by solutions in fields such as IoT, digital twins, and artificial intelligence.
 
Standards developed by SG20 enable the coordinated deployment of IoT and address IoT implementation challenges related to interoperability, big data, and architectural frameworks and requirements for supporting various IoT systems. SG20 standards that set the requirements for IoT deployment also help smart cities and communities to improve the efficiency of IoT systems and smart city platforms, break down data silos, facilitate seamless data sharing among various verticals, and enhance data processing and management capacity.
 
To better facilitate standardization work for IoT and smart cities and communities, SG20 works closely with all stakeholders on common terminology for IoT and smart cities and communities. SG20 standards help smart cities and communities to meet the latest security and privacy requirements of IoT. They also provide Key Performance Indicators to monitor the progress of transitions to smart cities and communities, including IoT implementation in areas from environment and utilities to health, safety, transportation, and education.
 
SG20 works closely with other Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) such as IEC and ISO, as well as industry fora and consortia such as oneM2M and the LoRa Alliance, to build synergies and minimize market fragmentation.