TWAIN Working Group joins RISC-V International community to develop secure IoT document scanning solutions

TWAIN's expanded charter to drive innovation of embedded technologies for IoT devices including 10 billion RISC-V cores that have been shipped into the market

RALEIGH, N.C. -- December 4, 2024  -- The TWAIN Working Group (TWG), a global leader in developing universal standards for image acquisition, proudly announces it has joined the RISC-V International community to enhance next-generation edge-computing solutions for document scanners as well as other IoT and endpoint devices. As part of this collaboration with the RISC-V ecosystem, the TWAIN Working Group has formed a subcommittee dedicated to RISC-V to spearhead innovation and drive the development of future-ready scanning solutions that harness the power of RISC-V architecture.

With RISC-V's open-standard instruction set architecture (ISA), the possibilities for embedding intelligence at the edge become more accessible. The architecture's flexibility allows for on-board integration of advanced technologies, such as AI, large language models (LLM), and cloud services, to accelerate processing power while ensuring robust security. RISC-V's energy efficiency and chip-level integration are crucial for building IoT-connected devices that rely on real-time data processing, low-latency communication, and secure workflows.

This strategic collaboration leverages the strengths of TWAIN Direct, TWG's driverless scanning protocol, and the PDF/Raster (PDF/R) specification—both designed to seamlessly integrate directly on to processing chips such as the RISC-V processor. By embedding these protocols into RISC-V-based systems, the solution paves the way for highly secure, high-performance, and scalable edge-computing document scanning platforms.

Rene Rebe, CEO of ExactCODE and TWAIN Working Group Board Member, highlighted the importance of open-source innovation in embedded systems:

"Using open-source technologies, especially on RISC-V chips, allows developers to create tailored, secure, and optimized solutions while reducing cost barriers. We believe open source is the foundation for innovation and a future of accessible, scalable technology solutions for all industries, including document processing."

TWAIN Direct scanners, combined with RISC-V chips, offer an edge-computing solution that processes data locally at the point of capture, minimizing data transmission to the cloud. This distributed model optimizes both performance and security, especially for industries that handle sensitive documents, such as healthcare, government, and financial services. For example, in a healthcare setting, an IoT-connected scanner using RISC-V chips can instantly scan and authenticate medical records using PDF/R, ensure their integrity with C2PA content verification, and secure access through multifactor authentication (MFA) using innovations from companies like iVALT.

The TWAIN Working Group is uniquely positioned to offer cutting-edge solutions for the RISC-V ecosystem, having designed both the TWAIN Direct protocol and PDF/R to integrate into IoT-enabled document scanners. With the newly established RISC-V subcommittee, TWG aims to create a comprehensive RISC-V specification that integrates not only TWAIN Direct and PDF/R but also complementary technologies such as an open-source operating system, standards for document authenticity, and multifactor authentication.

TWG is encouraging any company, or individual, interested in collaborating to work on creating the 'IoT document scanning solution of the future with RISC-V', to contact us at info@twain.org.

About The TWAIN Working Group

The TWAIN Working Group, established in 1992, is a not-for-profit association of industry leaders who have gathered to create a standard that benefits the imaging industry as a whole. TWAIN's purpose is to provide and foster a universal public standard which links applications and image acquisition devices. The ongoing mission of this organization is to continue to enhance the standard to accommodate future technologies. TWAIN generates multiple opportunities for application developers and users to access information and broaden the standard; through a developer's forum, main website and online self-certification process. Current members of the TWAIN Working Group include ExactCODE GmbH, P3iD Technologies Inc., PFU America Inc., a Ricoh Company, Kodak Alaris, JSE Imaging Solutions, InoTec – a Datawin GmbH brand, Plustek, Inc., Atalasoft, Microtek, Inc., Dynamsoft, Epson America, Inc., LEAD Technologies and Hewlett Packard, along with Liaison Partners PDF Association, AIIM International, RISC-V International and C2PA. More information about PDF/R, the TWAIN Direct API and imaging standards can be obtained at pdfraster.org, twain.org and twaindirect.org.