“Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication and the Internet-of-Things (IoT) have the potential to transform our lives, by radically changing the way we interact with the physical world around us”, said Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Communications (Independent Charge and Minister of State for Railways. Shri Sinha was inauguratingaone-day conferencehosted by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), New Delhi on “M2M/IoT Enabling Smart Infrastructure”.On this occasion, two technical reports prepared by TEC, titled “Recommendation for IoT/ M2M Security” and “Design and Planning Smart Cities with IoT/ICT” were released by the Minister. Smt Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Telecom and Chairman, Telecom Commission, said – “It is good to see such relevant and comprehensive reports from TEC. Endeavours such as this will help in the organised and disciplined growth of M2M/IoT in the country.”M2M/IOT communication involves a bunch of evolving, and at times disruptive, technologies. The conference covered important topics such as IoT enabling Smart Infrastructure Verticals, different technologies and related use cases, Role of IoT in Smart Cities design and planning, various aspects related to Standardization in M2M/IoT, and Challenges in Security, Testing and Certification of Smart devices/equipment.M2M/IoT is being used in a large number of applications, across a number of verticals – such as Automotives(e.g. Intelligent Transport System), Power(e.g. Smart Metering, Smart Grid), Remote Health-Care, Safety & Surveillance, Smart Homes, Waste Management,and Water Management. Each of these verticals is relevant to the design and planning of Smart Cities.Wishing success to the conference, as well as to TEC, the minister concluded “I would like TEC to continue its’ good work in the area of standards development for emerging digital communications technologies. We should also leverage the body of work available in these areas globally, in order to accelerate our adoption of new technologies”.