The Technical Management Board (TMB) of the International Standard Organization (ISO) in Geneva has now agreed to set up a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Industry 4.0/Smart Manufacturing. It hopes to cooperate closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). One of the SAG's main tasks is to agree on a precise definition of Industry 4.0. It will also prepare an inventory of the standards, standards projects and use cases that already exist or are underway. Based on these findings they will then identify any standardization gaps and make recommendations for action.

The SAG will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Kai Rannenberg, who holds the Deutsche Telekom Chair of Mobile Business & Multilateral Security at Goethe University in Frankfurt. Other industry representatives will be nominated by the following standards organizations: AFNOR (France), ANSI (USA), NEN (Netherlands), SNV (Switzerland), JISC (Japan), SAC (China), SA (Australia) und BSI (UK) SAG is due to report to the TMB by September 2016 at the latest.