I will be attending the IoT Tech Expo Europe is Europe’s leading Internet of Things event which will introduce and explore the latest innovations across the entire IoT ecosystem, covering Manufacturing, Transport, Health, Logistics, Government, Energy, Automotive, Insurance and more.
The IoT Tech Expo Europe 2020 will return to Amsterdam on the 24-25 November 2020 to host 8,000 attendees including IT decision makers, developers & makers, OEM’s, government and council officials, automotive exec’s, operators, technology providers, investors, venture capitalists and many more. The IoT Tech Expo will showcase the most cutting-edge technologies from more than 300 exhibitors and provide insight from over 300 speakers sharing their unparalleled industry knowledge and real-life experiences. This year’s event is also co-located with the Cyber Security & Cloud Expo, Blockchain Expo and AI & Big Data Expo so you can explore 4 areas in 1 place.#
I will be attending the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Water Management are leading use cases for LoRaWAN, and many others are beginning to scale. The LoRaWAN networks built for these utility seIrvices can also be used to support a variety of Smart City applications, extending the value of the network and delivering automated and contactless municipal services. Research firm IoT Analytics has identified the Utilities market as the fastest growing segment for #LoRaWAN, and has confirmed water metering as a leading use case across the globe.
In this webinar, leading LoRaWAN technology, solution and network companies MeterSYS, Semtech and Senet, will discuss real-world considerations for deploying and operating water utility and Smart City solutions. Best practices will be supported with customer examples, including #MeterSYS’ ongoing engagement with the City of Sanford, North Carolina. This case study will highlight the City’s Public Works and Utility Services Department deployment of a Senet LoRaWAN network to support multiple Smart City applications, including an upgrade to AMI by its water utility, water pressure sensors, smart parking sensors, and air quality environmental sensors.
Yesterday, as I stood looking at a production line turning out precision metal parts for medical microscopes I was asked why Edge Computing was such a big deal for this factory
At its basic level, edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the devices where it’s being gathered, rather than relying on a central location that can be thousands of miles away. This is done so that data, especially real-time data, does not suffer latency issues that can affect an application’s performance. In a production situation just two to four seconds delay in machines reacting due to latency can wreck hours of production (and regularly does!).
In addition, companies can save money by having the processing done locally, reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed in a centralized or cloud-based location. It also offers a degree service continuity should a network service or comms become unavailable. The advent of 5G does of course reduce latency, but it does not eliminate it. An essential component for support of URLLC apps, edge-computing infrastructure facilitates optimization of 5G network resources by focusing computational capacity where it is needed the most. Without edge computing, 5G would continue to rely on back-haul to centralized cloud resources for storage and processing thus diminishing much of the otherwise positive impact of latency reduction enabled by 5G.
From a security standpoint, data at the edge can be problematic, especially when it’s being handled by different devices that might not be as secure as a centralized or cloud-based system. As the number of IIoT/IoT devices grow, it’s important that we understand the potential security issues around these devices, and to make sure those systems can be secured. This includes making sure that data is encrypted, both at rest and in transit, access control is tightly defined, Edge gateways used.
Organizations will increasingly rely on edge computing technology in the years to come. One study put just 10% of enterprise data as being created and processed outside of a centralized data centre/cloud in 2018. The same report speculated that the number will climb to 75% by 2025. However, this is an evolving arena with a great many aspects influencing that evolution, one of which is Carrier vs. Enterprise Edge Compute Deployment pro/cons. Companies are experimenting with mny new business models such as the business on site model, in which business customers may pay carriers for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) or Multi-Edge Computing (MEC) platform-as-a-service (PaaS). With either IaaS or PaaS, business customers may be responsible for their own apps and related management or rely on carriers to handle their applications entirely as a managed service.
As you can see from just my few words EDGE matters. 5G and Edge will compliment each other, the former will not negate the latter. Business models will drive further evolution. Virtualization will be a critical component of all communications networks, including both core 5G infrastructure as well as MEC platforms.
An MBA told me today that “MES s going to die under Industry40“.
I told him to ask for the cost of his MBA back!
MES provides orchestration to ensure that the IIoT local edge intelligence optimizes rather than sub-optimizes business performance. I told him I could list 10 other reasons why MES matters in facilitating and maintaining Industry 4.0 but as he was paid more than me to know more than me I was sure he knew them already. IIoT is not equipped to drive toward the business objective. The objective is responsiveness, and that means the equipment or product to change its behaviour to optimise business outcomes.
This is what MES does, it ensures that IIoT data is in a context that allows people to make good operational and business decisions. I was going to ask for his opinion on PLC or SCADA’s future under IIoT, but thought better of it. Consultants need to spend time in factories actually working the entire product life cycle from CRM – ERP – MES – SCADA – HMI/PLC – WMS -Shipping.
