Data Drought: Rural Australian Wi-Fi
Data drought in the rural Australian outback has illuminated the myriad problems stemming from a lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. Precision agriculture today requires broadband and high-speed connectivity to compete in the innovative global marketplace. Yet, many rural areas lack the sufficient infrastructure needed, offering only spotty or basic wireless internet solutions. In fact, there are a total of 135,000 Austrian farms over 400 million hectares, that create enough food to feed 80 million people, representing 13 percent of the country’s total export revenue. With that in mind, Australia can no long afford to ignore the demand to increase farming innovation, and so it has begun to look at possible solutions for the geographically complicated continent. A recent FaceBook survey conducted by the Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia (BIRRR) found that 88 percent of Australians feel they don’t have services to meet all of their needs. Many living in the rural areas have voiced concerns over the noticeable “data drought,” but these concerns were often thought as a one-off individual problem. The BIRRR results have helped to bring to light just how massive this data drought issue is to farmers and others living in the rural areas of the country. Living in the bush has proven hard to find reliable ways to connect even basic Wi-Fi long enough for remote education, banking and innovative agriculture tools. It’s not for a lack of trying, as nearly every farmer has at least one smartphone. Many have been forced back to the city, even just to rent office space, so they are able to conduct business and digital transactions without interruptions. Is there a solution? The National Broadband Network (NBN) launched satellite Sky Muster, earlier this year with an expected customer capacity of 240,000. Farmers lucky enough to live in range of this satellite are starting to see the benefits of real broadband connectivity. A second satellite is expected to launch later this year with the hope of reducing the data drought across the remote areas of the nation. Another possible solution has been presented by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who believes mobile technology is key to improving the agriculture and living conditions in the outback. Turnbull has promised to spend 60 million to improve mobile black spots in regional, rural and remote Australia. The AgForce vice-president and committee chair, Georgie Somerset recently said that the “increased investment in fixed wireless roll-out would also enable local Wi-Fi platforms, that can then support businesses and education in rural Queensland with high-speed reliable and affordable data.” It is important to note that, today’s IIoT technology marketplace has begun to produce exciting new solutions to address remote wi-fi needs similar to the challenges being faced in Australia today. The steps Australia takes to find a suitable solution to its connectivity problems can set the stage for solving similar challengs in remote areas across the globe.
IoT Top News: M2M Propels Machines
Time and again, those keeping a pulse on the Internet of Things (IoT) space frequently hear about the “rise of the machines.” Humanity is not only discovering fascinating ways to integrate machines into our daily lives, but also finding new uses for machines as well. How? Machines are now “internet-connected” just like the smartphones we carry around in our pockets. And this isn’t just on the commercial side with the likes of smart thermostats or connected vehicles – even tractors and oil and gas machinery are industrial examples of where new “things” are now on the digital network. In fact, there are more M2M or “machine-to-machine” communication devices on this planet than humans. As GSMA Intelligence reported in 2014, there are 7.2bn M2M devices versus 7.19bn humans. Stuart Taylor from Cisco also wrote a prediction that “The Internet of Things (IoT) is a world where up to 50 billion things (or devices) will be connected to the Internet by 2020; or, the equivalent of 6 devices for every person on the planet.” Realizing the major role M2M devices continue to have in our connected world, specifically as it relates to the advent of machine learning, it’s only natural to highlight the impact of machines and M2M in the past, present and future. The Machines are Coming: How M2M Spawned the Internet of Things In the digital world, M2M wireless solutions will work for us quietly, in the background solving all our day-to-day needs. John Kennedy with Silicon Republic reports that, “M2M is at the heart of the industrial internet of things (IIoT), powering smart factories that can be run remotely from a tablet computer, and smart buildings that monitor their environment and feed data back to the cloud.” Is Machine Learning Over Hyped? In the now 24-hour news cycle, often the top news lingers around lighter topics. So how much hype should be given to machine learning (ML)? The Huffington Post respondent Scott Aaronson, theoretical computer scientist at MIT, seems to think that “There’s no doubt in my mind that people 30 years from now will agree with us about the central importance of ML, but which aspects of ML will they rage at us for ignoring, or laugh at us for obsessing about when we shouldn’t have? Machine Learning: Demystifying Linear Regression and Feature Selection Machine learning needs to integrate domain knowledge in order to improve the quality of data collected from analysts. Josh Lewis with Computerworld thinks that, “Business people need to demand more from machine learning so they can connect data scientists’ work to relevant action.” Machine Learning Examples Crop up for Data Center Management Data centers appear to be the perfect place for enterprises to implement machine learning to its fullest. Christopher Yetman, COO at Vantage Data said, “There are also sensors that generate data about air pressure, humidity, temperature and supply voltage and typically feed into a programmable logic controller.” M2M Technology Driving Agriculture’s Industrialization On a global front, M2M is driving agriculture’s industrialization in South Africa. IT News Africa informs us that, “Given the ability to automate many monitoring and control functions through intelligent devices, agriculture is a prime target for leveraging M2M capabilities.” We hope you have enjoyed this week’s roundup, and as M2M connections continue to pile-up, we urge you to consider the plethora of commercial and industrial use cases that can benefit from these innovations.
Video: What are the Future Uses of Drones?
While drones are responsible for one of the latest tech crazes to hit the mainstream, it’s safe to say that you should not expect them to invade your airspace anytime soon. However, the influx of these flying smart machines may not be as far off as you might think. With heavy-hitters like Amazon, Google and Walmart recognizing the immense opportunity of using drones for shipping and logistics purposes, its no wonder that people are saying “the drones are coming!” Industrial Applications for Drones What could prove to be more promising than the consumer-driven demand for flying drones is the use of that technology in industrial settings and applications. Already, we see companies using drones for the following scenarios: Emergency Response Enables immediate action, providing emergency response teams with fast, flexible visibility to assess critical situations. Utilities Safely allows for the quick inspection of high voltage power lines and wind turbines, helping mitigate worker risk and improve monitoring. Military & Defense Assisting with intelligent surveillance and reconnaissance missions to deliver timely, relevant, and assured information to thwart potential threats. Oil & Gas Protects and helps maintain extensive miles of pipeline covering large, remote areas that would otherwise require enormous amounts of time and resources. Agriculture Creates more efficient farms by monitoring inventory, growth, water and fertilizer levels, and crop health to facilitate production and increase yields. Public Safety Supporting firefighting operations by providing more up-to-date information at a lower cost, while reducing the number of responders in harm’s way. So what does the future hold for these next-generation technologies? It’s hard to say really. One of the biggest hurdles still to jump is figuring out how these aircrafts will fit into the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) existing airspace regulations. There is no doubt there will be new policies that are drone-specific on the horizon. In fact, the FAA has already taken steps in that direction by requiring drone owners to register their aircrafts as a first step in ensuring the safety of everyone who uses the skies. Let’s just assume that over then next five years policy and technology come together and we finally have lift-off in the drone world. What’s next? Check out this video courtesy of Be Amazed that explores 10 amazing futuristic uses of drones:
Can You Hear Me Now? Remote Wi-Fi in the Connected World
(Image courtesy of Tony Webster, via Flickr Creative Commons) One of the more fascinating aspects of our eternal march toward ‘the future’ is the occasional, but impacting, intersection of our critical infrastructure and the general consumer. Like a sine wave across the axis, our connected world meets at points in time that catalyze technological explosions. The transition of computers from behemoth industrial-sized calculators into the first iteration of the personal computer is a good, somewhat recent example. So is the Internet. Each of those began as a fairly raw tool used for enterprise industrial services before intersecting with the consumer and birthing new innovations and applications.Today, the connected world on the horizon, envisioned by dreamers and pragmatists alike, is taking form on the backbone of wireless connectivity in a way that has the ability to impact our critical industries, our smart cities, our homes and our daily lives like never before. Remote Wi-Fi is a tool that has enabled connectivity and data transport for industries like oil and gas, precision agriculture, utilities and seismic monitoring, leading to a boom in the use of predictive analytics to better streamline the work processes in the field for these traditionally remote areas. However, two of the main problems with traditional remote wi-fi network deployment are the security of these networks, as well as the latency of the data transmission. To combat this, these industries have turned to the use of shorthaul (between 1-5 miles) wi-fi hotspots to utilize built-in security measures and decrease latency for data-intensive applications like voice, video, data and sensor connectivity. As a result, these industries have been better able to collect and transport data throughout an entire smart ecosystem, affecting everything from decision-making in the field, to the way the consumer can track personalized utility usage. Our smart cities and municipalities depend on data collected remotely to anticipate infrastructure-related resiliency issues, like grid outages, seismic events and disaster preparedness. Companies in these industries depend on remote data to solve production, maintenance and transport problems. Wi-Fi Will Save the Connected World In early January, the Wi-Fi Alliance, a worldwide network of companies trying to standardize global Wi-Fi provision, announced a new protocol that promises to trigger changes throughout the industrial landscape. Wi-Fi HaLow, as it is called, is an addendum to the IEEE 802.11ah protocol that is set to be finalized later in 2016. HaLow operates in frequencies below 1 GHz and can potentially provide a longer range than Wi-Fi has traditionally offered. The implications for remote Wi-Fi and the Industrial Internet of Things are huge. The addendum means more efficient battery usage due to operating on a lower frequency and with a lower data rate, which, in turn means a greater range and lower transmission power. This standard is still awaiting a final vote, so before we anoint HaLow as the magic bullet for which the Internet of Things has been waiting, the IEEE standards committee will have its say. To come full circle, the potential advent of better long-range Wi-Fi in remote settings could be the next intersection of the axis and the sine wave, enabling innovation and growth at both the industrial and consumer levels of connected-world technology.
IIoT Top News: IIoT Predictions and Innovations for 2015-2016
As we inch our way closer to the New Year, we would like to take a moment and appreciate some of the technological advancements of 2015, as well as a few bold IIoT predictions for our connected-world enthusiasts. This medley of top news gives credit to our inventiveness, while highlighting a future forecast for IIoT. No matter your place in the world, drones have captured our attention. Precision Ag has changed the way farmers care for crops and animals. So naturally, more and more farmers would be jumping on the drone plan of action. Recently, the FAA has been putting a major kink in the farmer’s right to use drones in farming. The ruling states that if a farmer uses a drone for farm operations in any way, they must file with the FAA for a commercial exemption to use that technology legally. New permanent rules for drone usage could be in place next year from the FAA. So time will tell how the FAA’s ruling will impact the farmers and other commercial drone users in this country. Now it seems every car manufacturing company has grabbed ahold of the terms automation and autonomous. The next generation of cars needs to be self-driven, so the race is on to see what car company will own the rights first. A group in China raises that bar even higher by creating a self-driven car, they claim is operated solely by your mind. Just think one day in the near future you could climb into your car, click your heels together and merely think, “There’s no place like home,” and off the car would zoom. 2015, has been a good year for smart city development here in the U.S., with more than $160 million dollars in governmental funding allocated for this initiative. Gartner predicts that by 2016, the smart cities planned by the government will end up using 1.6 billion connected things. Twenty-four percent of IoT in 2016 will be in commercial security cameras, webcams and indoor LEDs, according to Gartner’s latest prediction. So, with everything becoming connected, IT departments are trying to stress the importance of securing this growing data collection. Don’t get us wrong IT departments are looking forward to the IoT expansion in 2016, but this level of increase in data could have a drastic impact on the networks, which is why IT managers surveyed suggest a new plan of action to combat the overwhelming IoT to the world we all know and love. This week concludes with three main messaging themes gained from this year’s Internet of Things World Forum (IoTWF). First, we must awaken and realize all the competitive advantage IoT can bring to businesses. Next, we must activate a realistic IoT deployment plan that will fit within our business needs. Last, we must accelerate the connection, with the assistance of service providers and developers. The IoT may change the way we function in this world, but the possibility of more innovation at our finger tips fuels our inventive minds forward. Hope you enjoy this week’s focus on IIoT predictions. As always tell us what we missed! Drone Use in Ag Increasing, But Lack of FAA Rules Slowing Technology (Capital Press) For every, good technological advancement there is a level of disruption expected as it thrusts itself into the market place. Drones are quickly becoming the must-have tool for the farming industry yet Capital Press points out that, “the Federal Aviation Administration’s lack of permanent rules for the technology is slowing its development.” Chinese University Develops a Headset That Lets You Drive a Car With Your Mind (Popular Mechanics) Autonomous cars appear to be the wave of the future. A group in China pushed the envelope even further by producing a car powered solely by your mind. They say the inspiration for this forward thinking technology can“bring more benefits to us, since we can better realize functions relating to brain controlling with the help of the driverless cars’ platform.” Smart Cities to Boost Internet of Things Market in 2016: (Gartner Chronicle Daily) The 2015, push for more smart cities is having an equally important impact on the number of connected things. According the Gartner, “The smart cities planned by the government will use almost 1.6 billion of connected things or Internet of Things (IoT) by 2016, an increase of 39 per cent from 2015.” Data Volumes and Network Stress Top IoT Concerns in 2016 (ITPro Portal) A group of IT managers were recently surveyed about the impact all things connected could have in 2016. The department managers stated that, “all this activity adds up to a huge number of devices with the overall average per individual UK organization expected to run into the thousands over the next 12 months. All these devices will be attached to a variety of networks resulting in increased stress on both existing and new networks.” The Internet of Things World Forum 2015 Highlights Three Themes (AME Info) This year’s Internet of Things World Forum highlighted three main themes throughout. The IoTWF focused on, “awaken, activate and accelerate the IoT solutions for your business.”