In the year 1992, several companies founded the CiA nonprofit organization, in order to provide technical, product and marketing information. The aim of this step was to promote CAN‘s image and to provide a path for future developments of the CAN protocol. About 500 companies are currently members of this international users‘ and manufacturers‘ group. The CiA group is registered in Fürth (Germany) as nonprofit organization.

Representatives of CiA support actively international standardization of CAN protocols, and CiA members develop specifications to be published as CiA specifications. CiA specifications cover physical layer definitions as well as application layer and device profile descriptions.

CiA organizes joint marketing activities including stands and booths at fairs and exhibitions and joint seminars.

Other activities are CANschools for newcomers in selected countries, CANopen trainings as well as consulting services. CiA presents papers at conferences and provides public relation activities on CAN technologies including technical articles, application reports and press releases.

The daughter company CiA GmbH provides the CANopen conformance test tool and offers CANopen conformance certification. Furthermore CiA publishes the technical magazine CAN Newsletter and product guides for CANopen as well as CAN and J1939-based products and services.