It’s hard to single out one aspect or another that is most crucial to the success of the Internet of Things (IoT), but among all of the technology hurdles in the IoT landscape, power efficiency and connectivity are right up there. In mid 2015, the ZigBee and EnOcean Alliances announced a partnership they hope will yield benefits in these two areas by combining the wireless energy harvesting capabilities of EnOcean’s Equipment Profiles (EEPs) and newly ratified ZigBee 3.0 in a new joint specification. Not only does the spec promise solutions in both the sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz spectrum ranges, but also drive self-powered sensor solutions into new markets and applications.

At CES 2016, I had the opportunity to sit down with Tobin Richardson, CEO and President of the ZigBee Alliance, Victor Berrios, Vice President of Technology at ZigBee, and Graham Martin, Chairman and CEO of the EnOcean Alliance, to discuss the value prop of this new partnership for developers. In addition to some of the envisioned technical aspects of the relationship, the three also give their take on market trends, as well as the crowded IoT transport protocol landscape. You can listen to the interview in full below.