Open standards are what let devices, networks and platforms from different suppliers work together. In IoT they span every layer: radio standards from IEEE and 3GPP, internet protocols from the IETF, application layers such as MQTT and CoAP, industrial models such as OPC UA, and ecosystem standards such as Matter. “Open” usually means the specification is published and implementable on reasonable terms; it does not always mean royalty-free, and some standards bodies charge for documents or certification.
For buyers, open standards are the main protection against vendor lock-in and the basis for a competitive supplier market. The trade-offs are real: standards move at the pace of committees, often lag the newest features, and interoperability in practice still requires certification and testing. A pragmatic specification demands open interfaces at the boundaries where you expect to swap suppliers.
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