IIoT Top News: CES 2016 & the Fate of IoT
All eyes appeared to be on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas since last week, as more than 3,600 companies unveiled the IoT and IIoT innovations we can all expect to see in the coming year. This year’s CES showcased plans to make the car a complete mobile office—with technology in place to allow Skype calls and the use of Microsoft 365 from the car. The other hot theme at CES was drones – not a surprise since these unmanned crafts have pulled us in like a tracker-beam to the mother ship. The autonomous ‘copter drone was one of the most impressive releases with the reality that the businessman of tomorrow doesn’t need a private jet, just a ‘copter drone and a smart phone. Now, as we watched all the products rolled out for their various purposes, it seems we have more connected things to add to an already expansive connected world. How will IoT connectivity technologies weather the storm as demand continues to skyrocket? According to IDC Research, IoT is about to take center stage by globally growing from $656 billion in 2014 to $1.7 trillion by 2020. The buzzwords of 2016 and beyond, IoT and IIoT specifically, simply show we are moving to an “everything is connected” environment. Naturally, once the luster of a shiny new thing wears off, we are tasked with the goal of protecting a critical piece of the IoT world – the data. Businesses need to make sure they are keeping information safe and secure. In this digital innovation age, plenty of industries (and therefore technologies) can’t afford a hack or cybersecurity breach at any time, for fear of customer loss. Companies need to trust their digital information infrastructure will be not only be safe, but also high-performing – or they could very well risk extinction altogether. This week’s IIoT top news post takes another look at the fate of IIoT, as many new “connected things” hit the market this year. Hope you enjoy this week’s recap, and as always, tell us what we missed! Enterprise IoT Projects Will Be Costly, Lengthy and Vulnerable, Says Gartner (Computer Weekly) As the IIoT continues to inhabit day-to-day life, it’s not a surprise that, fifty percent of businesses will use some form of IoT systems by the year 2020. Gartner states that, “By 2020, addressing the black market and other compromises around IoT security will push overall security budgets up, with IoT costs expected to account for twenty percent of annual security budgets, compared with one percent in 2015.” Does Anyone Really Care About the Internet of Things? (Forbes) In this latest article by Forbes, Todd Hixon claims the term IoT was coined 17 years agoand he is still waiting for the killer ultimate app to come out. Hixon further suggests that when it comes to IoT, “Most of the time people prefer to ignore security and focus on more immediate needs and wants.” CES 2016 Takeaways: IoT Could Be the Death of Your Security Network (Network World) The real takeaway from CES 2016 is the overall lack of security for all these new IoT gadgets entering the market and how they fit into the IIoT ecosystem. Tom Henderson, from Network World believes the fate of IoT after CES is that “The damage, the damnation, the truculent total churl of the event was this: all of the new Internet of Thingies/IoT/KewlGear has no cohesive security strategy.” The Internet of Things: Hyped But Here to Stay (USA Today Tech) As the magnitude of connected things get ready for their clos-up, it would appear all the hype for IoT is here to stay. Edward Baig, with USA Today reports that, “You couldn’t walk around CES this week without hearing about or bumping into products related in some way to IoT, the tech industry’s inelegant way of describing all things connected.” What’s Next for the Internet of Things? (TECHCO) Sensors, software, electronic devices and M2M have taken over our daily lives. So, what’s next for IoT? Monoka Jha, with Tech.CO thinks the industry plan needs, “To use the Internet of Things optimally, we need to connect a device to different industries through varied media. For that to happen, the different industries need to have a common physical medium.”
Earth-Shaking: Resiliency & Smart Infrastructure Lead Seismic Monitoring Efforts
Seismic monitoring tends to pop up in the news only during disaster situations, or, more recently, in conjunction with North Korea’s possible detonation of a hydrogen bomb. Earlier in 2015, The New Yorker ran a piece, “The Really Big One,” looking at the probability of a large earthquake destroying the Pacific Northwest. The earthquake off the coast of Japan in 2011 triggered one of the largest nuclear plant meltdowns of recent history, the impact of which we are still dealing with today. Point being, the typical association with seismic monitoring – earthquakes and explosions – is negative. The day-to-day reality, however, is much more interesting. Every day, vast amounts of seismic data are being collected the world over, and that data is being reflected by cities taking action to create smarter, more resilient infrastructures – especially in areas where seismic activity either happens frequently or would be devastating were an event to occur. Geological hazard monitoring has become a primary focus for many areas of the world, and as the technology has matured, so has the ability to transport data in real time. In turn, with real-time data transport comes the ability to incorporate predictive analytics and more intelligent decision making for city planning and civil engineers. New Zealand is an excellent example of the renewed emphasis on earthquake monitoring and preparedness. Each year, there are more than 250 significant earthquakes throughout New Zealand, so collecting that data allows scientists to detect, analyze and respond to the seismic activity. As the data is processed, the predictive analytics come into play. Data from these monitoring sites can be used to examine ground movement, which can indicate stress points, and to gauge the probability of an earthquake in the future. Today’s technology now allows all of that data to be transferred in real time from the monitoring sites to the back office, greatly increasing the ability to deploy it into actionable intelligence. In 2011, when Christchurch, New Zealand, was hit with a series of devastating earthquakes and aftershocks – including an aftershock that “produced the highest peak ground accelerations on record” – the recovery effort was basically twofold: how could the city not only rebuild the structures and civic needs, but simultaneously make that infrastructure smarter and more resilient, able to predict and handle future seismic events without the crippling aftereffects. And the truth is, those exact questions are being asked by cities in similar positions on a daily basis. What this all points toward is an evolving ability to synthesize IIoT communications technology, data collection and predictive analytics into a smarter and more resilient infrastructure for areas prone to seismic events. Things that used to fall into the realm of “the future” are now very real and very tangible solutions to nature’s enigmatic temperaments.
IIoT Top News: 2015 News Round-Up
Let’s take a moment and appreciate the excitement 2015 brought for the IIoT: As we look back at the top articles from the year, we were intrigued to learn that cooperative utilities actually have the largest penetration of smart grid meters per percentage of customers, according to Greentech Media and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It’s interesting to see the largest publicly-owned utility companies in the U.S. are not the leader in deploying smart meter systems. Another topic that caught our eye this year focused on big data initiatives and how they will improve operational efficiencies by the large-scale storage and transfer of volumes of information safely and securely. Companies don’t always see the value in updating information governance policies because there isn’t always a direct reward and no direct penalty for non-compliance. Tim Jennings, Ovum chief research officer, believes as big data continues to grow within the company infrastructure, it is time to consider the security, availability, and time spent storing data. Speaking of Big Data… It is hard to grasp the magnitude of data transferred throughout the cloud. Today, as big data goes to work, it is transforming industrial facilities, and as Forbes states, “they have grown increasingly complex and yes, every machine, every pipeline, every transmission point collects data ready to be read.” Of course, a 2015 news review would not be complete without at least one mention of unmanned systems. Whether the want/need was for industrial, commercial or government applications, the thing on everyone’s mind was how many cool ways this technology could be deployed in the future. While there were many examples to choose from, DARPA certainly caught a lot of attention from its new autonomous submarine-hunting ocean drone. Yes, you read that right! Finally, as we ease our way into 2016, we would like to share the rest of the top technology and IIoT stories from 2015. This year’s round-up highlights articles about: utilities, manufacturing, oil and gas, wireless, big data, security, drones and industry analyst perspectives. Hope you enjoy this week’s roundup, and as always, tell us what we missed! Energy Six Ways IoT Enables Innovation in the Energy Industry (IT World Canada) The energy industry is learning to use IoT to its advantage. IT World Canada details six ways IoT is enabling innovation and improving overall cost and efficiency for the industry. Yogi Schulz with IT World Canada believes that “Applying these IoT advances to a range of energy industry problems will be a major factor in helping the industry return to profitability in the new, lower commodity price environment through innovation based on better data.” Manufacturing Machine Learning (The Economist) As manufacturing becomes digitized, the industry has to adjust from being a product-focused world to a services market, with smart machines installed on the shop floor. The Economist believes that “For many manufacturers—in Germany and beyond—the principal sticking-point in making this digital leap is often cultural.” Manufacturing’s Digital Future (Industry Week) The digital future of manufacturing will incorporate the data analytics, cloud and many other wireless IoT solutions. Industry Week believes “many companies are leveraging interconnectivity to improve their own factory productivity, the factory-floor blocking and tackling of reducing downtime, cutting costs, reducing cycle time, improving OEE, etc.” Oil and Gas In the Digital Oilfield, “No Wires is a No-Brainer (World Oil) With the digital progression of our world, it seems only fitting we would find IoT in the oilfield. The question we must ask is: “Why, in 2015, has wireless I/O not overtaken hardwired infrastructure as the industry standard throughout the OFS sector?” Big Data Internet of Things Transforming Oil and Gas Operations (RigZone) Analytical movement has increased as the cost of oil continues to drop, therefore forcing the oil industry to gravitate toward more big data and IoT. It has been said, “the amount of data generated by oil and gas operations is starting to explode as real-time information from sensors is being collected at a rate of four milliseconds.” Wireless Tech Darpa’s RadioMap Detects RF Spectrum Congestion (GCN) An interconnected connected wireless world has created congested airways, thus making military communication and intelligence gathering requiring radio frequencies be managed. “RadioMap adds value to existing radios, jammers and other RF electronic equipment used by our military forces in the field,” said John Chapin, DARPA program manager. Big Data The Ethics of Big Data (Tech.Co) Big data has been defined as information that has been either unstructured or multi-structured as way to transform data into value. Once you have given value to the data, it is important to realize who owns the data. Tech.CO says that “when it comes to big data ethics, privacy is not necessarily dead, shared information can still have a reasonable degree of confidentially, but big data can still compromise identity and other information that customers and businesses prefer to be confidential.” Security IoT Security Needs to Stop Being an Afterthought (PCR) In the age of smart homes and smart devices it is time to improve the IoT security across the board. The Internet Society (ISOC) recently released a white paper stating, “the vendors who use IoT should take more responsibility for the security issues that can occur with IoT products.” Drones Robo-Bulldozers Guided By Drones Are Helping Ease Japan’s Labor Shortage (The Verge) Komatsu had to find a way to complete construction projects, as Japan gets closer to the 2020 Olympics. The aging population makes it hard to find anyone able to complete the work. The fix Komatsu has found is to offer a service called Smart Construction where, “a team of robotic vehicles scoops rock and pushes dirt without a human behind the wheel. They are guided in their work by a fleet of drones, which map the area in three dimensions and update the data in real time to track how the massive volumes of soil and cement are moving around the site.” Deforestation: British Firm Developing Tree-Planting Drone to Counter Industrial-Scale Logging (The Independent) A British engineering company is hoping to get international backing for an automated tree planting drone system. The purpose of these drone planting fleet’s, would be not
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.”
IIoT Bold Prediction Series Part 3: Predictive Analytics Alters Fundamental IT/OT Practices
So far, our series of IIoT Bold Predictions for 2016 has focused on the concepts of IIoT security and government’s regulatory role in the development of IoT and IIoT devices. Today, we’re changing gears a bit, with a prediction from Scott Allen, FreeWave’s CMO, which focuses on the implementation of IIoT technology into big data practices to create real-time, data-driven intelligence. Prediction #3: Predictive Analytics Alters Fundamental IT/OT Practices Predictive analytics will change the nature of industrial communication systems and networks significantly over the next five years. Certain industrial sectors have long utilized machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, like manufacturing, utilities, and oil and gas, as the backbone to operations technology. However, as IIoT communication technology continues to improve at a rapid pace, these industries will begin implementing tech and business practices designed to create data synergy that will ultimately provide predictive analytics for better decision making. There are two elements at work that will push predictive analytics to the forefront of industrial communication systems. The first is the advancement of technology. Big data companies are making serious progress with comparing data-at-rest with data-in-motion as a strong basis for predicting outcomes with maximum accuracy. As the network infrastructure advances at the access layer in ways that allow analytic applications to be executed locally while communicating globally this trend will do nothing but accelerate. The second element that will drive change is the retiring or soon to be retiring workforce that drove the implementation and use of SCADA networks. This will create a knowledge gap that will require new technology to fill – and predictive analytics will be the one that fills that gap. Although an aging workforce is not unique to the IIoT sector, the transition will be pronounced and could, without incorporating predictive analytics practices, be accompanied by some significant growing pains. Looking Ahead Sensor-2-Server (S2S) technology will begin to ease the synergy between IIoT technology and big data. Ensuring accurate data transmission, collection and analysis in critical industries is an important step along the path to a connected world. As S2S technology proliferates, companies will see a significant impact on IT and OT practices, along with the ability to converge those two silos into more efficient and streamlined decision-making.