DigiCert and Macnica have announced their collaboration to provide public key infrastructure (PKI) to Panasonic Life Solutions India, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of home appliances. Together, they will launch the first room air conditioner in India equipped with Matter 1.21, a common standard for smart homes.
As a novel common standard facilitating seamless compatibility and secure connectivity between IoT devices within a smart home, the Matter standard lays the foundation for a smart home ecosystem where IoT devices from different manufacturers can effortlessly work together to offer residents a convenient new smart home experience. To establish secure connections in Matter, device certificates based on the security policy defined by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) are utilised, with each Matter-enabled product possessing a unique digital certificate to communicate solely with secure parties. Matter necessitates the use of digital certificates for each IoT device to achieve a secure smart home.
Selected by CSA as the world’s first Matter Root CA, DigiCert supports the project with high security and support capabilities, bolstered by professional experience and knowledge derived from the company’s certificate business experience and broad adoption globally. Macnica, with its expertise in the IoT and IT domains, played a crucial role in the implementation of the Matter-compliant digital certificates at Panasonic Group’s production plant—from deal discovery and management through to implementation and post-deployment technical support.
The certificates enable Panasonic room air conditioners to integrate seamlessly into the Matter ecosystem, allowing users to control and monitor their room air conditioners from Matter-enabled devices such as smart speakers, smartphones, and tablets. The Panasonic room air conditioner series equipped with the Matter Protocol is available at all major retailers and e-commerce platforms in India.
“The security of Panasonic room air conditioners has been significantly enhanced by adopting the latest solutions from DigiCert, a leading provider of digital certificates, alongside the security-oriented Matter standard. This offers consumers a more secure, convenient, and integrated living experience provided by Panasonic’s smart home platform,” said Manish Misra, Chief Innovation Officer, Panasonic Life Solutions India. “We selected DigiCert’s solution for its high security and scalability for Panasonic, which manufactures not only room air conditioners but also refrigerators, washing machines, and a variety of other equipment at its factories around the world. The highly reliable DigiCert solution has enabled us to commence production smoothly and without issues. The new room air conditioners have been well received by the market and production is steadily increasing.”
“We are delighted to partner with Macnica and Panasonic Life Solutions India in transforming the smart home landscape in India,” said Mike Nelson, Vice President of Digital Trust at DigiCert. “By supplying DigiCert’s industry-leading PKI solutions, we are providing robust security and seamless connectivity for Matter-enabled devices, enabling consumers to enjoy the utmost convenience and reliability in their smart home ecosystem.”
Panasonic will continue to utilise the high security and scalability of Matter-compliant DigiCert PKI and plans to gradually expand its Matter-enabled product models.
Macnica will persist in supporting Panasonic’s expansion of Matter-enabled products to the market. In addition to several Matter-related semiconductor manufacturers that Macnica handles, the company will also supply digital certificates from DigiCert to support Japanese companies in accelerating the release of Matter products across a wide range of smart home-related fields, including room air conditioners.
DigiCert will continue to develop solutions for various standards bodies, including Matter, and provides services that flexibly respond to the diverse security requirements of each country, region, and industry.
There’s plenty of other editorial on our sister site, Electronic Specifier! Or you can always join in the conversation by commenting below or visiting our LinkedIn page.