ETSI and the OpenFog Consortium are working together on fog and edge computing applications.

The two groups signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to share work related to global standards development for fog-enabled MEC technologies including 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), and other data-dense applications.

The goal is to “build interoperability for efficient and reliable networks and intelligent endpoints operating along the Cloud-to-Things continuum” and “give the industry a cohesive set of standards around fog computing in mobile environments,” said Helder Antunes, chairman of the OpenFog Consortium and senior director at Cisco in a statement.

Cisco, working with Intel, Microsoft, Dell, ARM, and others formed the OpenFog Consortium almost two years ago. In February the group published its OpenFog Reference Architecture, which creates fog computing standards to enable the data-intensive requirements of IoT, 5G, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Fog computing is similar to MEC, which brings data-center capabilities to the edge of networks, in that both network architectures will enable these next-gen technologies.

Under the new agreement, OpenFog will work with the ETSI Multi-access Edge Computing Industry Specification Group (MEC ISG). The two organizations will develop information and communication technologies (ICT) standardization and interoperability requirements.

The MEC ISG’s work addresses multiple multi-access edge hosts deployed by different operator-owned networks that run edge applications in a collaborative manner.

Additionally, the OpenFog Reference Architecture will extend the mobile edge with a multi-layered network hierarchy of cooperating fog nodes that interface between cloud and edge, allowing for interoperability across operators.

One of the first initiatives from the MOU will focus on application programming interfaces (APIs) that support edge computing interoperability.

In July, the ETSI MEC ISG released its first package of standardized APIs that will support MEC interoperability. These APIs contain properties that can be adapted and used in the OpenFog Reference Architecture, according to ETSI.

The ETSI MEC specifications also include API framework for delivering services to be consumed or offered by locally hosted or remote authorized applications.

The two groups say that standardizing these APIs will make it easier for developers to write single application software modules that run on both OpenFog and MEC architectures.