Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon announced the company strategy to spend $1.2 billion over 4 years for U.S.-based Internet of Things (IoT) R&D and investments.

This will be led by the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center, Global Innovation Center and Samsung Research America, part of Samsung’s U.S. footprint of more than 15,000 employees across the country.

Samsung CEO delivered this news in a speech at an event, titled Internet of Things: Transforming the Future, at a Samsung-hosted forum in Washington, D.C.

“I am excited to show how we are moving IoT to the center of our strategy and am delighted to announce that Samsung is planning to spend $1.2 billion in U.S.-centered IoT investments and R&D over the next 4 years,” said Kwon.

“Today, IoT is changing individual lives – helping people to age in their own homes. 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,” said Kwon.

Samsung’s Kwon said sector-specific regulations would inherently fragment the development of IoT, impeding devices and platforms from connecting to each other.

Kwon also announced Samsung’s role as a co-founder of the newly launched National IoT Strategy Dialogue. The Dialogue, to be hosted by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), will design a National IoT Strategy as a tool to inform policymakers on enabling the technology to deliver benefits for individuals, communities, innovators and the U.S. economy.