IoT Emerge bounced on the scenes of Chicago this week. Yes, aside from the long awaited World Series win, an IoT conference was happening in this windy, action-packed town. The conference boasted two days of keynotes, technical sessions, workshops, live demonstrations, hands-on training and plenty of opportunities for networking with industry peers. The IoT Emerge mission is to continue to educate and promote cross-industry functions with a focus in Industrial IoT, smart cities and IoT engineering.
Below, we’ve highlighted the best moments from the week.
IoT Emerge: What have we learned?
Back in 2011, research firm Gartner said the Worlds of IT and Operational Technology Are Converging. We believe IT/OT convergence is a critical concept: it promotes a single view of an enterprise’s information and employs process management tools to help ensure that every person, machine, sensor, switch, device, etc. in an organization has accurate information in the best format and at the right time.
We learned optimizing the business process is vitally important. Decisions will be made in real time with higher levels of confidence because more information will be available regarding the event or condition. For example, load shed or curtailment events will be based on energy availability (IT sources) and demand throughout the distribution network (OT sources). Event management in an IT/OT converged networkwill execute as a closed loop process by targeting a feeder or substation, issuing curtailment signals to customers under that substation or feeder. This gauges real-time response and repeats as required to achieve the target reduction time.
What other insights did we gain from IoT Emerge?
Myths about IoT Engineering: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is not ready to support predictive analytics
With commentary from Eddie Garcia @freewavetech | Published on @ElectronicDesgn
“When most people think about the IIoT, they think of machine-to-machine communications (mostly supported by RF technology) that have dominated the industrial sector for years. However, the convergence of IT and OT practices have seen intelligence moved closer to the access layer than ever before. New communication platforms have improved to the point where big data transport can come directly from the sensors at the edge (OT) all the way to the servers in the back office (IT). The industrial sector is closer than it’s ever been to supporting the future of data collection, transport, and aggregation, ultimately resulting in the huge data sets necessary to support predictive analytics at the IT/OT level.”
IoT Emerge and Up-Close and Personal IoT Experience
By @JKerns10 | Published on @MachineDesign
“As IoT applications and case studies start piling up, some companies still wonder where the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) fits in their production lines. There’s lots of information on the internet about the IIoT, such as how IIoT worked in one application or how much a company could save by using a specific IIoT product. While examples and case studies offer ideas on how IIoT might fit your production line, having a chance to talk to experts directly about your applications and concerns can help ease concerns.”
IoT Emerge: Looking ahead to the future
By @IoTEmerge | Published on @cote_se
Penton's IoT Emerge Offers a Window into the Future of the Internet of Things – Stimulating Market … https://t.co/OcdVhIyVFB
— Connect Technologies (@cote_se) November 3, 2016
IoT Emerge a chance to shed light on the possible digital future. Smart cities and Industrial IoT top the watch list. Along with the conference buzz, conference organizer Penton Publishing also launched the IoT Institute aimed at educating the growing IoT world.
Color your IoT World
By @IoTEmerge
Join the coloring fun at our custom designed graffiti wall by local artists Rawfa. #IoTE2016 #grafittiwall #iotevent pic.twitter.com/fgUpOZhF7e
— IoT Emerge Event (@IoTEmerge) November 2, 2016
Coloring is not just for the kiddos. IoT Emerge worked with local Chicago artist Rawfa to create a wall sized coloring book. Conference goers got to take a break from the IoT information overload and color to their harts content.
Industry thought leaders did an excellent job representing the broad range of emerging IoT applications this year, and as we move steadily toward the close of 2016, it’s clear that we can expect some exciting and innovative technology applications in the not-too-distant future.