Standardization is usually one of the first steps taken when bringing a new technology to bare, look at Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as examples. It could be argued that standardization isn’t needed for a technology such as MEMS accelerometers as it is already well established and well used in many of today’s consumer devices (MEMS accelerometers are a standard feature in smartphones today).
There are two main drivers towards standardization for sensors today: one is that increasingly more complicated outputs from combinations of sensors leads to a need for standardization of those sensor outputs in order that device vendors, apps developers and those vendors offering complementary components such as sensor hubs can easily use these outputs. Secondly, and leading on from the first point, is a need for devices to be part of a wider ecosystem in order to reach a much larger potential market, for example a nationwide health system.
Having standardization of sensor outputs drives interoperability and in the long run will increase the overall market for sensors as they pervade through many of todays “dumb” devices, helping to make them smart. The sensor industry could perhaps learn a lot from how wireless connectivity organisations operate such as the Bluetooth SIG or Wi-Fi Alliance.