REACH

16 March 2022

Tern Plc

("Tern" or the "Company")

Device Authority IoT Standards Project

Tern Plc (AIM:TERN), the company focused on value creation from Internet of Things ("IoT") technology businesses, is pleased to note that Device Authority Limited ("Device Authority"), a company that Tern has a 53.8% holding in, has announced its inclusion in a project focused on IoT security standards in conjunction with Crossroads Innovation Group, a Virginia-based consulting firm dedicated to emerging technologies. Led by the Virginia Innovative Partnership Corporation ("VIPC") with funding from the Virginia Smart Community Testbed and the US Department of Homeland Security, this project will evaluate best-practices and technology standards related to securing IoT infrastructure.

The project will take place at the Virginia Smart Community Testbed in Stafford County, Virginia, USA (the "Testbed"), which is developing smart technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the first 'Smart City Testbed' involving an IoT platform, fully integrated with 5G connectivity and other new and emerging technologies for smart cities. The Testbed is designed to accelerate smart technology growth, while addressing the known and emerging challenges of securing critical infrastructure.

The Testbed is a 'shared knowledge platform' to develop practical and relevant smart technologies solutions. As a 'living laboratory', it is a true public-private partnership involving multiple industry partners who will focus on relevant and practical use cases seeking to produce innovative solutions using emerging and smart technologies, focused on ensuring that the economic and social benefits of digital transformation are realised to the fullest extent.

Along with other industry, US federal and state partners, Device Authority was selected to participate in the Testbed, leveraging its KeyScaler® Platform to automate standards-based device onboarding and identity lifecycle management for both new and legacy device deployments, helping protect IoT assets by preventing breaches at scale. Crossroads Innovation Group is focused on promoting industry standards and is providing leadership in the evaluation of best practices related to important guidelines from the NIST (US National Institute of Standards and Technology), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and emerging standards like FIDO (Fast ID Online).

This combined solution approach, which includes multiple participants, aims to provide critical cybersecurity proof points across a range of technologies involved in the deployment of diverse IoT technologies and use-cases. Particularly as it relates to securing the digital environment, the Testbed group will also develop architectural guidance and best-practice recommendations for the procurement and secure deployment of IoT technologies by US federal, state, local, and civilian agencies.

David Ihrie, CTO and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at VIPC, commented: "Today's cybersecurity threat landscape requires a strong partnership between public and private sectors. This project in the Stafford Testbed gives us the opportunity to provide a best-in-class approach to securing the broad universe of IoT devices that is growing daily, and that without adherence to important standards like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework will continue to be a major threat to security." 

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