CICAT and TALQ team up on smart street lighting interoperability

The TALQ Consortium and Catalonia’s CICAT lighting cluster are partnering to advance interoperable outdoor lighting systems for cities and manufacturers. The groups, together with LUCI, will host a Barcelona event on Nov. 2, 2026, focused on how smart lighting can improve safety, inclusion and urban well-being after dark.

Why it matters: - Cities are under pressure to improve public safety, support climate goals and make public spaces more inclusive. - Interoperable street lighting can help cities avoid vendor lock-in and choose from a wider range of compatible systems. - The partnership aims to give cities and the lighting industry clearer access to open, vendor-neutral standards for smart outdoor lighting.

What happened: - The TALQ Consortium and CICAT said they are working together to support smarter and more interoperable outdoor lighting solutions for cities and lighting manufacturers. - CICAT joined the TALQ Partner Program in August 2026. - CICAT, TALQ and the LUCI Association are preparing a joint event in Barcelona for Nov. 2, 2026. - The event will take place one day before the Smart City Expo World Congress and will include a panel discussion and an evening guided light walk.

The details: - TALQ is an international standards organization focused on interoperability for smart cities. - CICAT is the Lighting Cluster of Catalonia, a nonprofit that connects companies and organizations across the lighting value chain. - The partnership is meant to bring CICAT members and the broader Spanish market more current knowledge about open interfaces and global interoperability standards. - TALQ expects the partnership to strengthen its links to the lighting sector in Catalonia and across Spain. - The collaboration brings together manufacturers, designers, planners, technology centers, universities and other stakeholders in the lighting ecosystem. - The Barcelona event will bring together cities, utilities, manufacturers and lighting professionals to discuss sustainable urban lighting. - Organizers said the discussion will focus on how interactive lighting, urban design and smart-city technology can better serve people after dark, including women, older adults, minorities and other vulnerable groups. - TALQ was founded in 2012 and has developed a globally accepted standard for management software interfaces used to control and monitor heterogeneous smart-city applications. - The TALQ Smart City Protocol is a specification for information exchange across different products and systems. - TALQ says the protocol enables interoperability between Central Management Software and Outdoor Device Networks from different vendors. - TALQ says the standard helps cities and municipalities avoid vendor lock-in for applications such as street lighting, waste management, environmental sensing, parking and traffic control. - The consortium has more than 80 member companies. - CICAT says it connects the lighting ecosystem to foster collaboration, innovation and knowledge and to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness. - LUCI is an international network of cities focused on urban lighting and sustainable lighting policy. - LUCI was created in 2002 and is based in Lyon, France.

Between the lines: - The partnership reflects a broader shift in smart-city procurement toward open systems that can work across vendors and platforms. - The joint event suggests the groups want to move the conversation beyond technical standards and toward how lighting design affects lived experience in cities at night. - The emphasis on safety, inclusion and well-being shows smart lighting is increasingly being framed as a social and urban-policy issue, not just an infrastructure upgrade.

What’s next: - The Barcelona panel and light walk on Nov. 2 are the first public step in the collaboration. - The partners are expected to use the event to widen awareness of interoperability standards and expand cooperation across the lighting and smart-city sectors. - CICAT members and Spanish stakeholders will get more direct exposure to TALQ’s standards work through the partnership.

The bottom line: - CICAT, TALQ and LUCI are trying to push smart street lighting toward open, interoperable systems that can improve city operations and the nighttime experience for residents.