Samsung has pledged a $1.2 billion investment into IoT research and development over the next three years as part of a sustained effort to diversify and grow its presence in the sector.

The consumer electronics giant has poured the investment into three of its primary R&D functions, led by Samsung Strategy and Innovation Centre, Samsung Global Innovation Center and Samsung Research America. The Korean vendor says as many as 15,000 employees will be involved with the project, which it claims will refocus on the human element of IoT.

“At Samsung, putting people at the center of everything we do is our highest value, “ said Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Oh-Hyun Kwon. “The same must be true for IoT if we want to realise its full transformative power. Today, IoT is changing individual lives – helping people to gain their own homes. But tomorrow, using IoT, we can give the same independence to millions of Americans. We can keep people out of hospitals and nursing homes. As our populations live longer, these benefits and cost savings for society cannot be ignored.”

Samsung says the evolution of IoT is dependent upon the collaboration of industry and open standard interoperability. To that end it announced it will be pursuing cross-sector partnerships and has co-foundedthe National IoT strategy Dialogue, a tool which Samsung claims will “inform policy makers on enabling the technology to deliver benefits for individuals, communities, innovators and the U.S. economy.”

“[The announcement]… is not about the first steps – that’s because IoT is already happening around us,” said Kwon. “It’s time to imagine the transformative potential of IoT for our societies – and learn how to achieve its human, social benefits at scale.”