In spite of the fact that it has been with us in some structure and under various names for a long time, the Web of Things (IoT) is abruptly the thing. The capacity to interface, speak with, also, remotely deal with a limitless number of arranged, mechanized gadgets by means of the Web is getting to be inescapable, from the production line floor to the emergency clinic working space to the private cellar. The change from shut systems to big business IT systems to the open Internet is quickening at a disturbing pace—and legitimately raising cautions about security.

 As we become progressively dependent on insightful, interconnected gadgets in each part of our lives, how do we shield conceivably billions of them from interruptions and obstruction that could bargain individual security or undermine open wellbeing? 

As a worldwide innovator in inserted innovation arrangements, Wind River® has been profoundly included since its beginning in verifying gadgets that perform life-basic capacities and conform to stringent administrative necessities. This paper inspects the limitations and security difficulties presented by IoT associated gadgets, and the Wind Riverway to deal with tending to them.

The IoT development is driven by business needs as a feature of big business advanced change 

As indicated by Machina Research, the absolute number of IoT associations will develop from six billion of every 2015 to 27 billion by 2025. It implies a compound yearly development rate (CAGR) of 16%. As far as market development, the Berg Insight report predicts an expansion of the worldwide third-party  IoT platform from €610m in 2015 to €3.05bn in 2021.

IoT Security Risks and Challenges 

Three classes of IoT dangers include: 

1. Dangers that are common in any Internet framework 

2. Dangers that are explicit to IoT gadgets 

3. Wellbeing to guarantee no mischief is brought about by abusing actuators, for example. 

Conventional security practices, for example, securing open ports on gadgets have a place with the first class (for instance, an industrial refrigerator associated with the Internet so as to send alarms about the item stock and temperature may utilize an unbound SMTP server and can be undermined by a botnet).

The second class incorporates issues explicitly identified with IoT equipment, for example, the gadget may have its safe data traded off. For instance, some IoT gadgets are excessively little to bolster appropriate unbalanced encryption. Moreover, any gadget that can interface with the Internet has an inserted working framework sent in its firmware and a significant number of these installed working frameworks are not structured with security as their essential thought. 

Adaptability: Managing an enormous number of IoT hubs requires versatile security arrangements. 

Availability: In IoT interchanges, associating different gadgets of various capacities in a safe way is another test. 

End-to-end Security: End-to-end safety efforts between IoT gadgets and Internet has are similarly significant.

Validation and Trust: Proper ID and confirmation abilities and their arrangement inside a complex IoT condition are not yet adult.

This counteracts foundation of trust connections between IoT parts, which is essential for IoT applications requiring impromptu availability between IoT segments, for example, Smart City situations. Trust the board for IoT is expected to guarantee that information investigation motors are sustained with legitimate information Without validation it is beyond the realm of imagination to expect to guarantee that the information stream created by an element contains what it should contain. 

Personality Management: Identity the board is an issue as poor security practices are frequently executed. For instance, the utilization of clear content/Base64 encoded IDs/passwords with gadgets also, machine-to-machine (M2M) is a typical mix-up. 

This ought to be supplanted with oversaw tokens, for example, JSON Web Tokens (JWT) utilized by OAuth/OAuth2 confirmation and approval structure (the Open Authorization). 

Assault Resistant Security Solutions: Diversity in IoT gadgets results in a requirement for attack-resistant and lightweight security arrangements. As IoT gadgets have restricted process assets, they are helpless against asset enervation assaults.

Conclusion

IoT has already taken the market by storm. If you want to consider getting into the niche, IoT based mobile applications and devices are the best entry point for entrepreneurs. A reputed mobile application development company can help you develop a robust IoT based application.

Considering that the IoT is in its infancy and due to the last years wasted in predictions that have not been fulfilled, in disappointing statistics of successful projects and with most companies without clear strategies, it is normal to think that R & D is today so necessary for boost and accelerate this increasingly sceptical market.

R&D should be an essential part of bringing innovation to any company via IoT projects. And though we can all agree how important R&D is, it requires a great deal of experience, senior experts, and specific toolsets—resources that not every company can say they have handy.

However, there is a risk when deriving the strategic decisions that the executive directors consider to be technological towards the R & D departments. Many times, oblivious to the reality of the markets, those responsible for R & D with the invaluable aid of the subsidies of the different Administrations, they launch to develop products and technologies for problems that do not exist, just for the fact of obtaining recognition or to continue living without pressures of the Top Management. I am enemy of granted subsidies granted most of the time by unqualified Administration organisms that does not understand that need to prevail the utility, the business model, the business case and the commercialization over the innovation that R & D said to be developed.

Now, if we ask the sellers of IoT technology, products and services, they may not be so happy with the idea of having to talk with the R & D areas instead of with other areas of the company more likely to buy. Most time, R &D departments decide to do it themselves. Vendors know, that with great probability, they will not to close deals due to lack of budget of the R &D or the low visibility of this area by the rest of the departments of the company.

The Importance of R&D for the Internet of Things

Innovation in IoT is a major competitive differentiator. See below some advices to have a decisive advantage over competitors:

• IoT-focused companies need to invest in R&D to keep up with the rapidly changing and expanding market. It is important that an organization’s R&D iteration turn times are quick, otherwise the company is not going to be able to keep pace with the expected IoT market growth. However, it’s not enough to simply speed up R&D—innovative IoT firms, both start-ups and established companies, must also make sure their R&D processes are extremely reliable.
• You can’t solve R&D speed issues just by increasing budget.
• Executives must maintain strong, steady communication with R&D regarding the department’s priorities over a particular time frame and how progress will be measured.
• Guidelines are invaluable: The more structured and streamlined R&D procedures are, the better IoT companies will be able to move from conception to delivery.
• Design innovative IoT products but accelerate time to market.
• Internal collaboration: R&D team should share real-time data across internal departments to spur intelligent product design
• External collaboration: Connect with customers and partners to ensure success
• Differentiation: Drive overall business value with IoT.

Outsource or not Outsource R & D for your IoT project

Just like any other technology, IoT products and solutions require thorough research and development, and it better be done by professionals. Despite the noise generated by analysts and companies around the IoT, the reality is that there have not been many IoT projects and therefore it is not easy to find good professionals with proven experience in IoT to hire.

When I think of Outsourcing IoT projects, Eastern European and Indian companies immediately come to my mind. No doubt because the R & D talent seems to be cheaper there. Spain could also be a country to outsource IoT, but at the moment I do not see it.

The benefits of Outsourcing R&D for IoT Projects:

• Expertise and an Eye for Innovation
• Bring an IoT Project to Market Faster
• Optimize Your Costs
• Control and Manage Risks

I am not sure about the quality of most of these companies or the experience of their teams in the development of IoT products or in the implementation of IoT projects, but there is no doubt that there are benefits to Outsource R & D for some IoT Projects. You should select any of these companies after a careful evaluation.

Recommendation: Do not stop your IoT projects if you do not have the skills and professionals in house. Luckily, there are companies who offer outsourcing R&D for IoT projects.

Note: Remember I can help you to identify and qualify the most suitable Outsource R&D for your IoT project.

Spain is not different in R & D for IoT

I have not believed in R & D in Spain for years. There are exceptions without a doubt, but it seems evident that the prosperity and welfare of Spain is not due to our R & D. Fortunately we have sun and beach and a lot of brick to put in houses that are not sold because of high prices and low wages.

With the entry into the EU, I thought that we had great markets open to us. I was also optimistic that we would have great opportunities in the Latin American market, thanks to the fact that our research and development capacity would have been consolidated effectively in our companies and universities because it would be profitable and worldwide recognized.

But it has not been that way. The technology developed in Spain and more specifically that relating to the IoT has little chance of being commercialized in France, Germany and not to mention in the UK. If we add the development gap of the countries of South America and that our local market is averse to technological risk, it is difficult to flourish R & D in IoT or Industry 4.0 here in our lovely Spain.

That does not mean that we do not have public R & D budgets for these areas. What happens is that the same thing that happened during the last 30 years has happened. The incentives and aids are few and for the most part used to finance large companies with little return to society. There is no rigorous control of the aid granted and, above all, there is no plan to encourage the local and global marketing of the products developed with the talent of our scientists and researchers.

I have stopped believing and trusting in our successive Governments for the change in R & D but there are exceptions that are worthwhile to follow and work with them. For this reason, I continue help them demonstrate that “SPAIN CAN BE DIFFERENT”.

Key Takeaway

After years of unfulfilled expectations, companies are sceptical of the potential growth of the IoT market or the benefits in their business. R&D department can be a cure to boost IoT initiatives but also a poison to kill IoT initiatives.

IoT may have started in R&D, but their benefits don’t have to end there. To drive overall business value, it’s important to share IoT data – both internally and externally. Facilitating open collaboration, discovering new ways to innovate products, and accelerating time to market, you can differentiate R&D and your business.

As fast turn times and reliability becomes a focal part of companies’ R&D processes, these companies will be well-positioned to thrive within the IoT market.

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There is no doubt about the capability of IoT the way it is spearheading in the smart technology market by providing innovative solutions to various industries.

Advanced industries, smart vehicles, smarter cities, smart home and more have already under the influence of the IoT touch. However, IoT in farming is the new trend that has geared up for a while. And why not?

Do you know the global population is growing at a rapid speed. It is about to touch 9.6 billion by 2050. And to feed this much of the population there has to be an innovative way to compensate this need. IoT comes as a silver bullet solution for it.

The way IoT is helping out farmers and farm owners is commanding. The upcoming years are expecting more inventions in farming by different IoT applications.

This article explains the different ways of smart farming and effective applications of IoT in smart farming.

Precision Farming

To make the Farming practice more productive and accurate precision agriculture (also known as precision farming) is used.

Basically, this is done through installing or using some sensors, smart devices, robots, drones, autonomous vehicles, and so on. By doing so farming can be made so systematic and well maintained thereby raising livestock and growing crops in a smart way.

The adoption of access to high-speed internet, low-cost satellites, mobile devices by the manufactures are few mostly used agriculture IoT technologies.

Numerous organizations are leveraging this technology on ultramodern agronomic solutions due to the popularity of precision agriculture.

The soil moisture probe technology is an amazing example of IoT in smart farming. It provides complete in-season local agronomy support, and recommendation to optimize water use efficiency.

Drones for Agriculture

Technology in farming is changing for a good and what better example would it be than Agriculture Drones. Today, agriculture is the leading industry to integrate drones for better results.

Agricultural drones are best to monitor crop, crop health assessment, irrigation, crop spraying, planting , and soil and field analysis.

The prime benefits of using drones in agriculture are health imaging, GIS mapping, saves time, increase crop yields.

Precision Hawk is a company that uses drones for collecting valuable information via a series of sensors. Mostly these sensors are used for imaging, mapping, and surveying of agricultural land.

Drones are used to do in-flight monitoring and observations. The farmers can easily access by entering details of the field they want to survey and select the altitude or ground resolutions.

From the information of the drone, we can draw insights regarding the plant’s health indices, plan counting and yield prediction, and plant measurement. We pressure mapping, drainage mapping, nitrogen content, scouting report and so on.

Livestock Monitoring

Wireless IoT applications are used by the large farm owners to gather the data regarding the location, well-being, and health of their cattle.
This data helps them in identifying sick animals to separate them from the herd thereby preventing the spread of disease. It also lowers the cost off labors as it locates their cattle with the IoT based sensors.

There is a company called JMB North America which offers cow monitoring solution to cattle producers. One solutions let owners of the production company to monitor if the cow is pregnant or not.

Smart Greenhouse

Greenhouse farming is a method which helps in enhancing the yield of fruits, veggies, and crops. Greenhouses control regulate the environmental parameters through manual intervention results in production loss, energy loss, and labor cost. These methods are less effective.

With IoT, you can build a smart greenhouse which will monitor as well as controls the climate reducing the need for manual intervention.

Different sensors that measure environmental parameters according to plant are used for controlling the environment in the smart greenhouse. Additionally, we can create a cloud server for remote access when it is connected using IoT.

The sensors used in IoT provide data on the light levels, pressure, humidity, and temperature. It can control the actuators to open a window, turn on/off lights, controlling a heater, all connected through a Wifi signal. 

Conclusion

Farmers and rancher are relieved to have an IoT agricultural application making it possible to-gather meaning full information. Large landowners should understand the potential of the IoT market for agricultural.

If you are willing to integrate IoT in smart farming, you should approach for Leading IoT App Development Company and leverage the benefits of IoT.

In 2016 in my article “ The future of “The Internet of Olympic Games”, I considered Rio as the first Internet of Things (IoT) Olympic games. In Rio we could see how athletes, coaches, judges, fans, stadiums and cities benefited from IoT technology and IoT solutions and somehow changed the way we see and experience sports. Next year we will have opportunity to verify if my predictions for Tokyo 2020 will become a reality and we will name Tokyo as the first Artificial Intelligent (AI) Olympic Games.

During my presentation in Dubai, I explained the audience the incredible way IoT and AI technologies are impacting sports. I dedicated some time explaining how IoT and AI are playing an increasingly significant role in boosting talent, managing health and improving coaching and training. Today these technologies are already enabling athletes to improve performance, coaches to better prepare games, judges to fail less, fans enjoyed with new excited experiences. I also remarked the importance that teams clubs and cities collaborate to make the stadiums more secure and more exciting for fans.

I emphasized how we are creating smart things, the importance of use AI and IoT to make every thousandth of a second count for athletes and coaches and how AI and IoT are used to predict the future of a race, a match or a bet.

I introduced different examples how all sports are using IoT and AI, and of course I share my vision in 10-15 years from now. Can you imagine integrated virtual and real world for sports? Can you imagine mixed teams of robots and humans or super-humans playing new games?

I did not forget to talk about the challenges involved in building machine learning models in sports and the challenges that IoT and AI still have.

I used my speech to raise awareness to the attendants that there is also a dark side in these technologies. We cannot forget that Sport is also a business and therefore enterprises, Governments and individuals can make a wrong use of these technologies.

In summary, it was a great session in which I shared my point of view about:

• How we want IoT and AI transform coaches, athletes, judges and fans.
• How we want IoT and AI continue attracting people to the stadiums
• How we want IoT and AI transform Sport Business.
• How AI is changing the future of sport betting?

How we want IoT and AI transform athletes, coaches, judges and fans?

Athletes

While the true essence of sport still lies in the talent and perseverance of athletes, it is often no longer enough. Therefore athletes will continue demanding increasingly sophisticated technologies and more advanced training techniques to improve performance. For instance, biomechanical machine learning models of players will predict and prevent potential career-threatening physical and mental injuries or can even detect early signs of fatigue or stress-induced injuries. It can also be used to estimate players’ market values to make the right offers while acquiring new talent.

Coaches

Coaches are using AI to identify patterns in opponents’ tactics, strengths and weaknesses while preparing for games. This helps coaches to devise detailed gamelans based on their assessment of the opposition and maximize the likelihood of victory. In many leading teams, AI systems are used to constantly analyze the stream of data collected by wearables to identify the signs that are indicative of players developing musculoskeletal or cardiovascular problems. This will enable sports teams to maintain their most valuable assets in prime condition through long competitive seasons.

Judges

We tend to think that technology helps make the sport more just when we are victims or witnessed of unjust decision. That´s why we approve inventions like Paul Hawkins - creator of Hawk-Eye, a technology that is now an integral part of the spectator experience when watching sport live or more recently VAR in soccer.

The use of technology allows watch in real time multiple cameras, with aggregated info from sensors (stadiums, things and athletes) to make their decisions more accurate and objective.

We as spectators or fans need more transparency about the exercise’s difficulty, degree of compliance and final score. And we have the technology to do it.

The IoT and AI technology doesn't claim to be infallible - just very, very reliable and Judges also need to be adapted to new technologies.

Fans

Without fans, sports would find it difficult to exist. It is understandable companies are also targeting fans with IoT and artificial intelligence to keep them engaged whether in the stadium or at home.

How we want IoT and AI continue attracting people to the stadiums?

Within the stadiums, sports clubs and many leagues across the globe are incorporating inside and outside the stadium technologies to boost fans unique experiences for fans and not only the 90 minutes.

The challenge is how to combine what the oldest and newest supporters are looking to attend to the stadiums?

How will the stadiums of the future be? I read numerous initiatives of big clubs and leagues, but I am exciting about the future stadium of Real Madrid. I wish the club would allow me to advise them how to create a smart intelligent Global environment to provide each fan with an individual experience, know who is in the crowd, learn fan behaviors to anticipate their needs

How we want IoT and AI transform Sport Business.

“As long as sports remain a fascination for the masses, businesses will always have the opportunity to profit from it. As long as there is profiting to be gained from the world of sports, the investment in and incorporation of technology for sports will continue.”

I read an article warning about the new entirely new world order that is being formed right now. The author explained how 9 companies are responsible for the future of AI. Three of the companies are Chinese (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, often collectively referred to as BAT), while the other six are American (Google, Amazon, IBM, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, often referred as the G.Mafia). The reason is obvious, as far as AI is about optimization using the data that’s available, these 9 companies will manage more of the sport data generated in the world.

Collaboration is needed now to stop this danger and to address the democratization of AI in sports. It is urgent companies and governments around the globe to work together to create guiding principles for the development and use of AI and not only in Sports. This mean we need regulating it but in a different way. We do not want AI becomes in the hands of a group of lawmakers, who are very well read and very smart people but overwhelmingly lack degrees in AI and IoT.

Will AI change the future of sport betting?

The impact of technology on sports cannot be specifically measured, but some technological innovations do raise questions about fairness. Are we still comparing apples with apples? Is it right to compare the speed of an athlete wearing high-tech running shoes to one without?

Whether we like it or not, technology will continue to enhance athlete performance. And at some point we will have to put specific rules and regulations in place about which tech enhancements are allowed.

There is a downside to advanced technology being introduced to sports. Machine Learning models are now used routinely to predict the results of games. Sport betting is a competitive sport itself among fans, but AI can substantially tilt that playing field.

I analyzed many IoT and AI companies for Sports in order to prepare my session. I am scare about the game result predictions capabilities but more scare about the manipulation of competition using AI algorithms with the Terabytes of data collected daily from IoT devices and other sources like social media networks, without the permission of the users.

The sport business market is generating billions of US$ every year but without control and education we could find future generation of ludopaths and a small number of Sports Service Providers controlling the Sports.

Do you know that the number of internet connected things will reach 75 billion in the year 2025 as per the reports released by Statista? Well, the report is not astonishing because we are well familiar with our day-to-day dependability on internet and technology.

Source: Statista

It is definitely not a sham that we can actually set the temperature of the air conditioner before actually entering the room. Or, can switch on or off the fan or other electronic devices through our smartphone. Things that were dreamt earlier now turned into reality and it is all possible with the Internet of Things or simply IoT.

What are Future Possibilities of IoT?

‘What is IoT’ is the most asked questions about the technology. It is the use of network sensors in physical devices to allow for remote monitoring and controlling. It has achieved massive grip in various fields like healthcare, banking, retail, manufacturing, consumer goods, etc. Businesses all over the world are looking for possible applications of IoT. Report by CSG quotes that ‘94% of businesses that have invested in IoT have already seen the return’. The report itself expounds the present and future of IoT.  

There is one very astonishing report about IoT by GSMA . It states that the US market doesn’t dominate IoT. China and Europe are ahead of the USA in global machine-to-machine connection (M2M) with 19% in total share. USA market and investors still have a great scope for IOT solutions.

Common Myths that are Veiling IoT

#1 IoT is About Consumer Devices and Connected Homes

User’s mobile being connected with the refrigerator or air conditioner can be one assumption when we say IoT but the reality is far away from this. Definitely, IoT has solved many daily purposes but B2B IoT is the desire of technology. Analytical prediction by Bian.com tells that B2B IoT segment will generate more than $300 billion by 2020 as compared to $150 billion of consumer applications.

#2 All IoT Devices Work Together

Devices that are connected with IoT works as per vendor protocols. Some vendors may allow direct access to the device whereas some may provide access to the information through a cloud interface. As a result, there is not always a surety that all connected devices will work together.

#3 IoT Provides Continuous Transition to Mobile Apps

As IoT runs on cloud there is a myth that there is limitless scope for the developers. IoT is the combination of cloud, big data, and connected devices. Still, more than 90% of big data is in a scattered form that makes the overall transition complex.

#4 IoT Will Lead to Rise in Machines

Whether it is the movie Terminator or any other sci-fi movie, they always targeted technologies like IoT. People have generated the mind-set that IoT has increased the dependence of machine in human life. But the reality is IoT is making the devices smarter. It just adds like the fuel in the fire. It provides the capability of devices to take the decision on their own. For example, a device that will examine the field and would detect the area where watering is required is one thing. But, the same device watering the required area is the specialized feature. This is the impact of technology.

#5 IoT is Not Safe to Use

The safety concern is another big myth that surrounds the world of IoT technology. There are people who believe that the connected devices would enhance security concerns as they have access to the complete database. This is wrong because IoT aims in making the life of users simple by delivering faster results with cognitive computing. So there is nothing like sharing database.

#6 IoT is All about Sensors

People have the belief that it is all about sensors and things. But the reality is that it is beyond that. There are gateways, hubs, repeaters, cloud, application, software that is managed and supported by IoT. So, the world of IoT is bigger than what people think of it.

#7 IoT Device can be Hacked Remotely

Not locally nor remotely the IoT device can be hacked. Apart from SSL and encryption of data, there are countless other services on which the connected devices work. Not everything in IoT solutions can be hacked. Only a few vulnerabilities are there to work on.  

#8 IoT Solution can be Delivered Easily

As there are open source tools used in IoT people believe that the solution can be delivered very easily. There are many vendors that are selling IoT solutions. Providing solutions and services are two different things. Creating an app and creating complete IoT solution are two different things. There are different critical stages to deliver a meaningful solution that would be business viable, technically feasible and would make sense for customers.

#9 IoT Devices Must-Have Wireless Security

In order to connect with the host in the cloud, router or peer IoT device need some level of connectivity. But, it is not always necessary that the device should be wireless. It can be connected through Ethernet or USB whatever the device supports.

Business Tips for Investors Looking forward to Capitalise in IoT Technology

Technology that creates buzz one day becomes redundant. Businesses that are looking forward to investing in IoT must know about the challenges that they can face. Here are the few best tips that will help investors to make the right selection.

Choose Mode of Connection Wisely: Depending on the specific requirement businesses need to decide on the mode of connection that would be used. Whether it is Bluetooth technology or Wi-Fi choose the one that solves your purpose of technology.

Hardware Compatibility with Technology: Hardware compatibility issues happen frequently with IoT technology. It is necessary to find out if the technology is compatible with the hardware you are selecting or not.

Platform: In functionality and concerns both Apple and Google differ from each other. You should have a clear line of sight before you finalize a platform and should know well about the compatibility of the technology with the platform.

IoT Framework: There are many security aspects of IoT that came into existence till date. In order to avoid any kind of plights, it is suggested that building a framework from scratch is the best possible solution. Doing so one may skip the security issues as faced in the previous framework if any.

The Bottom Line

Businesses are looking forward to  iot development because they are aware of the bright future of technology. But, there are myths that block their path. Definitely, the debunked myths will aid the investors to make the right decision. Many software development companies provide 30 minutes of free consultation for those who are keen on the tech. Users can contact them and clear all their doubts regarding the technology.

Thought of opening your venture in the bakery and pastry sector but could not make it because of lack of proper storage at a particular temperature. If your company is leading company in the bakery and pastry sector and has various production and retail shop, a fleet of over 20 vehicles that perform around 40 deliveries every day then you have dabbled over the right partner.

Biz4intellia, an end-to-end Industrial IoT solution provides a cold chain monitoring and smart tracking system that works from storing the stuff at a proper temperature to reach the destination in peak condition. You need not to worry if you want to deliver your stuff in the morning and want to reach out your customer early at the point of sale. To control the temperature and make delivery more proficient, Biz4intellia has its own Smart Tracking solution which uses sensors and gateways.

The route optimization feature of Smart Tracking maps out the optimized routes for the fleet drivers so that the deliveries of cakes, pastries, and fresh bread products to the retail outlets can reach within the given time. With the sensor system, the temperature and location of each fleet can be known in real-time and hence alerts can be received through a smartphone/tablet/pc and basic internet connection.  

The below image tells about the present status of a particular vehicle like the temperature of the refrigerator, weight it is carrying, latitude, longitude, speed, and battery. Alerts are sent if a driver crosses the threshold of the speed or the refrigerator is not at a correct temperature.

Role of Sensor and wireless gateway:

During transportation of the food items, maintaining an optimal temperature was a critical task to prevent the costly spoilage. The Cold Chain Logistics solution provides a consistent and inexpensive way to ensure that your coolers and freezers are working properly, possibly saving thousands of dollars from unnecessary damage.  

Biz4intellia IoT solution eradicated all the challenges and developed the Cold Chain Monitoring solution consisting of a temperature sensor, 3G antenna, wireless gateway, GPS antenna, and a charger.

The temperature sensor used cost near about $49 with a frequency of 900MHz.To accurately measure the temperature, a thermistor is used. These small-sized sensors are perfect for monitoring ambient temperatures around the physical location of the sensors. Customized sensors allow the user to set the frequency of readings and the threshold value so that alerts via SMS or email can be sent. The sensor works accurately up to a temperature of +/-1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) with the actual range varying according to the environment. With the sensor reporting frequency and other variables, you can also determine the battery life.

Out of the box features:

1. Alerts if a door is left open:

During the course of taking the food from one place to another or during loading/unloading, if the door remains open then an alert is sent for the same. Also, if pilferage occurs during the same, notification via SMS or e-mail is sent.

2. Geofencing:

The Geofencing feature captures the location of the vehicle with the coordinates of a particular area. Sends alerts when a driver deviates from the prescribed path as it can bring delay in delivery time and can cause accidental loss. 

3. Reduce Spoilage and Waste:

If a temperature is not within the range then it spoils the food and hence it becomes a waste. Therefore, a real-time alert is sent if a cooler’s temperature is outside of its nominal range.  

4. Save time and resources:

The automated system tracks temperatures so that a manual checking is not required. Hence it saves the time and resources to track the temperature and location of the vehicle.

5. Predictive Maintenance:

Improved scheduled maintenance can be attained by the sensors and then the devices calculate the expected lifetime of machines well before their threshold comes.

6. Maintain regulatory compliance:

Sensors help businesses to achieve regulatory compliance by giving 100% accurate data.

7. Monitor from anywhere:

In a world of the digital era, accessing your smartphones/tablets/pc let you monitor the vehicle from anywhere around the globe.

How does it work?

The Biz4intellia solution monitors the temperature in the vehicle refrigeration chamber and sends the data to the gateway with the help of the 3G network. The real-time location of the vehicle is obtained with the help of the GPS antenna and is sent with the help of 3G network only. The battery has a capacity of 6600mAh and sends data even when the vehicle is off. In the absence of 3G coverage like in remote locations, data values are stored in memory and are then sent as soon as the vehicle comes in the coverage area.

Real-time data analysis-

 With the recent digital technologies, transmission of data has become very easy. Mobile technology enables the transmission of data which gets accessed by the gateway. Also, it tells about the temperature along with the position of the vehicle in real-time. The solution can be used for any transport or logistics company that needs instant temperature and position monitoring of the fleet. As cakes are one of the most delicate goods to be transported, tracking their real-time location and refrigerator temperature was always a necessity.   

The cold chain logistics is a catalyst in the supply chain thereby supplying better nutrition and improving global food security. Temperature controlled logistics and monitoring system plays an important role in the modern day business. With the ever-increasing population residing in the present developing or emerging countries, there are huge business opportunities in emerging markets. Companies are taking advantage of these modern technologies thus providing more benefits to the people.  The reliability and the efficiency of the cold chain logistics solution have reached to a point where the food and beverage industry can make the best use of it.

As the technology made its footprints into the market companies as McDonald switched from frozen to fresh beef patties for its core burger product which could not have been possible without the coming up of the cold chain logistics.

In recent years I have listened till the satiety about the importance of ecosystems to make the promises of the IoT come true and in some way for not to leave in bad position the analysts who have flooded us with their optimistic predictions.

All, or at least most of those who read my articles know that there is no company in the world, no matter how great it is, it can do everything in IoT. So, ecosystems are the key to successfully in this business.

The ecosystem allows to achieve a multiplier effect and a trusted environment.

Creating an IoT ecosystem either horizontal (technology) or vertical (industry) requires a lot of talent alliance managers able to maintain win-win transactions over the time.

Select an IoT ecosystem is not an easy task. In the IoT ecosystems there are fights between equals, also abuses usually produced from the big ones over the little ones. There are conflicts with companies that are in several ecosystems sometimes with contradictory interests. It is very usual how partners collide with the objectives of the ecosystem and you can imagine betrayals and back stabs.

For instance after IBM acquisition of Red Hat, will the IoT open source architecture designed by the ecosystem Red Hat , Eurotech and Cloudera be a good decision?

In my post “The value of partnership in Industrial Internet of Things”  and subsequent comments I presented several successful cases of collaboration among members of these ecosystems. But let's be honest, there are few references and examples after 4 years.

The fragility of Alliances in IoT is a challenge to accelerate adoption of IoT Ecosystem solutions.

IoT Ecosystems

In Harbor Research article “ Has Anyone Seen A Real Internet of Things Ecosystem?” ,dated November 2013, the analyst firm wrote that no really significant ecosystem or network of collaborators had emerged in the IoT arena in spite there was early and very interesting efforts being made by several players. We can thing that in 2013, these ecosystems were very emergent alliance developments and have had not attained the scale, scope and momentum we expect will be required to really drive this opportunity to its intended and expected scale.  Most of the attempts thus far to drive an ecosystem advantage have failed to scale and reach critical mass.  This just underscores how challenging building a high velocity network of partners can be.

In this article I will focus my analysis on 4 examples of IoT ecosystems that represent a big portion of the value chain in the multiple IoT submarkets: IoT Connectivity Provider, IoT Cloud Platform Vendor, IoT Professional Services and IoT Solution Aggregator.

Telefonica: IoT Connectivity Ecosystem - https://iot.telefonica.com/partners

One of my first attempts to monetize my IoT services was through the Telefonica IoT Solution Partners program. It was four years ago. At the beginning I received a couple of calls from the Operator to help me create my account and describe my services. We were many partners and although the Partners Search portal left a lot to be desired, I did not see much competition in my services and I thought that we would be the perfect accelerator for the ecosystem. I was wrong. Since I register, I have not received any invitation to participate in any event for partners, nor has anyone contacted me to request my services, nor have I needed the portal for contact any other partner (for that I already have my LinkedIn network).

How the hell are you going to find me as IoT Solution partner if Telefonica IoT web page does not offer a link to the partner search page ? and the use of this non update page is frustrating with duplicates names, closed companies, etc.

Telefonica identifies 3 types of Partners: Operators Alliances, Channel Partners and Solution Partners.

Operators Alliances: Telefonica is partnering with other Tier-1 telecom operators including the IoT World Alliance and other operators like China Unicom, Sunrise and Avea in order to provide IoT customers with the best, seamless services worldwide and lower costs.

Channel Partners: Telefonica enables partners to drive growth and differentiate their business by reselling their Global Managed IoT services. It helps to increase their capabilities, enabling deployment on a global scale, in particular in regions such as Europe and Latin America

Solution Partners: Telefonica Solution Partners ecosystem consists of a global network of IoT providers with functional or industrial expertise: IoT Device Providers, IoT System Integrators and IoT Industrial Experts.

I never liked the idea of Telefonica oriented to quantity (around 1000 partners including duplicate names and not updated list) instead of quality in Partners and I think the results have been and are very poor. Clearly a point to improve if they want the IoT to take off inside the Operator.

Talking with Telefonica IoT you quickly recognize that if you are not Microsoft, AWS, or similar unless you bring business to them you will never get business from them.

Telefonica does not lead any IoT ecosystem, neither geographically, nor industrially nor technologically. It is just one more logo (important of course) in many presentations of IoT vendors.

I can not understand of its win-win strategy and goto market regarding IoT platforms. In addition to its own platform, Telefonica appears as a partner of at least Microsoft Azure, PTC-Thingworx, SAG Cumulocity, AWS IoT, Cisco Jasper, Libelium, etc. Maybe they should select partners around ‘share of outcome’ rather than share of investment if they want to lead some ecosystem. Pecking is good for the birds.

Telefonica need an open-minded company culture to become comfortable with an ecosystem structure.

IoT Cloud Platform Vendor  -  Microsoft IoT Ecosystem

Having worked at Microsoft, I recognize that I have had the temptation to become an IoT partner. But also, because my business model is based on vendor independence my decision was to help other companies to enter in the MSFT IoT ecosystem

This year I was convinced that I needed to change my approach. But, instead of becoming a partner, I decided to convince other 2 Microsoft partners strong in complementary disciplines (Business Intelligence and Cloud) to create a specific area for IoT. I have not succeeded, which makes me think that despite the efforts and investment planned by Microsoft, Partners do not see IoT business clearly yet.

The list of Internet of Things Trusted Partners certified in Microsoft Azure Certified is impress and I recognize the effort of Microsoft building an IoT ecosystem that fuels business transformation. Without going further, the largest partnership with GE Predix and the partnership with PTC  will help industry customers accelerate their digital transformations by adopting IoT.

In this case, finding an partner de Microsoft Azure IoT is easier than in the previous case. The categories of IoT partners for Microsoft are: Devices, Gateways, security, isv, network and telecommunication and system integrators.

By the way, no partner in Spain according with this web. ☹. Maybe is the right time to invest.

 Microsoft is expert identifying, nurturing and managing partners and Azure IoT is a great opportunity to lead some IoT ecosystems.

IoT Professional Services - EY IoT Ecosystem

EY, otherwise known as Ernst and Young, is a leader in the IoT space. Not involved in the construction of devices themselves, EY is instead helping organisations navigate the largely unchartered waters of IoT.

While working in an engagement with EY IoT, I read a report developed by Forrester Research dated Oct/18, 2017 “Vendor Landscape: IoT Professional Services”. This report segments the landscape of IoT Professional Services firms, based on functional capabilities to help enterprises deploy IoT-enabled processes, vertical market focus, and geographic reach. Based on the service offerings, vertical capabilities, and characteristics of a broad array of professional services firms, Forrester has identified eight categories. The major players in the consulting firm segment include Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PWC because these strategic consulting firms combine strong business strategy capabilities with the ability to execute on digital transformation initiatives. The report clearly showed EY strong IoT capabilities across the globe. EY was also recognized as Internet of Things services leader by HFS Research.

For EY, initiatives like launch a global IoT/OT Security Lab to help clients stay ahead of emerging threats or to launch EY wavespace™, a global network of growth and innovation centers to help clients achieve radical breakthroughs is a way to demonstrate its strategic alliances like SAP, GE Digital, Microsoft, IBM or Cisco how important is to create an ecosystem with the firm. These technology vendors rely on EY to implement IoT solutions in large customers with a business-driven approach.

Do not expect EY or any of the consulting firms to lead any IoT ecosystem. Their role is to leverage their business strengths and client relationship to empower the ecosystems to which they belong

IoT Solution Aggregator - Tech Data IoT Ecosystem

Perhaps the most complex task I have done regarding advising of IoT ecosystems was with one of the largest IT distributors in the world, Tech Data. The challenge of balancing players like Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, IBM, Schneider or Vodafone with innovative startups in several industry verticals and different use cases without anyone feeling careless was very exciting.

To find a right place for Tech Data in the IoT value proposition schema, , was another challenge. It was great helping the company defining its role as an IoT Solution Aggregator and define which partners should be included for Tech Data IoT repeatable solutions.

Tech Data has been able to demonstrate how to become useful for IT and OT vendors and how provide value to existing and new channel of IIOT system Integrators worldwide.

I always have believed this approach could make easy for their small and medium end clients to adopt IoT solutions quickly.

I did not have time during my engagement with Tech Data to analyse and support the launch on new business models, but I am sure they will leverage its position to offer new services based on data aggregation.

Education, the latest products, support services, and firm footing in the B2B world put IoT Solution Integrators  at the centre of the Internet of Things craze.

 Key Takeaway

The IoT market is still in its early stage. Enterprises face many different options for IoT partners and suppliers. Choosing the right ecosystem is critical not only for a successful IoT project implementation but for the journey in their Digital Transformation.

IoT ecosystems need to understand that most industries thrive on "coopetition," it’s important to become cognizant and respectful of competitors, as they may also be your potential partners.

Just like with people, when it comes to IoT business, no two ecosystems are alike. We have been helping different type of companies to build or enter in the most suitable ecosystem. I have no doubt only the best ecosystems will survive; the challenge is to rank among so many. It is really a nightmare.

Ecosystems is hardly new but as rapidly evolving and if they are able to leverage the shared data and information from intelligent sensors, machines and assets, radical new modes of value creation will emerge.

Given my Telco background, it was logical that back in 2014, I published some of my first articles in my  IoT Blog about the topic “IoT Connectivity” . I described how the optimist predictions of analysts and companies like Cisco or Ericsson, made the Machine to Machine (M2M) an attractive market to invest.

The fact that “Tata Communications have acquired mobility and Internet of Things specialist Teleena is a clear indication of the phenomenal growth rate in the global IoT connectivity market. “By 2021, enterprises’ spending on mobility alone is set to surpass USD 1.7 trillion,” said Anthony Bartolo, Chief Product Officer, Tata Communications.  I hope to see Tata Communications/Teleena in the next Gartner´s Magic Quadrant for M2M Managed Services Worldwide.

There are still people who doubt that connectivity is a key component in the M2M/IoT Value Chain. Please remember without connectivity simply there is not IoT.

Obviously during these years many of my projects have been associated with IoT connectivity. From the analysis of M2M/IoT Service Providers to the conceptual design of end-to-end solutions where connectivity selection was a key component. One of the most interesting projects was the analysis that I made for the Telefonica project "IoT in a box". Without forget projects to compare LPWAN technologies, End to End Security, Identification of Uses cases for 5G. Sometimes also I had to sell IoT connectivity.

In the last years in the IoT connectivity market I have seen:

• Consolidation of the market like “KORE buys Wyless” or “Sierra Wireless, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Numerex Corp.”
• The appearance of companies like 1NCE, the first dedicated Tier 1, Narrowband IoT MVNO providing fast, secure and reliable network connectivity for low data B2B applications offering a set of optimized product features – such as an IoT flat rate and the first of its kind 'BUY ONCE'​ lifetime fee
• The still not bloody battle between LPWAN operators (SigFox, LoRA network operators, NB-IOT, LTE-M)
• Telco Vendors, Operators and Analysts talking about the promise of 5G
• New Wifi and Lifi IoT use cases
• IoT Security breaches
• Operators focus on key industries and use cases
• The partnership M2M/IOT Service Providers ecosystem evolution
• Agreements among M2M, MNO and Satellite operators.
• The lack of standards in the Smart Home connectivity
• The expectation for solve the real time connectivity challenges in Industry 4.0 and Edge Computing –
• Time Sensitive Networking Industry 4.0 use cases and test bed by IIC members
• ….

But in my opinion, enterprises still are confused and delaying their decisions to adopt IoT / IIOT because they need good advice about the right IoT connectivity not just the cheapest prices but easy integration or better customer support.

I want to remember again that I can help you in the selection of the right M2M /IoT Service Provider for your enterprise business requirements as a strategic decision.

IoT Connectivity - the ugly Duckling of IoT Network Operators

Telecoms operators’ more focused approach to bolstering their IoT businesses appears rooted in refining the technology inherent in their connectivity networks. And no wonder, The powerful GSMA has been helping Mobile Operators to define their role in IoT. At first sight, the best way for large telecoms operators generate value from the IoT might appear to be by providing connectivity via their networks. Additionally, they could leverage their vast experience in customer engagement, customer premise equipment (CPE) support and their robust, proven back-office systems by offering their OSS and BSS platforms externally to IoT users, using their OSS to provide users with a turnkey platform to manage their equipment proactively in real time, and their BSS to support the related billing requirements. In fact Global telcos set sights on IoT for growth in 2018.

Nevertheless, Analysys Mason, highlighted “Telcos have been working with the broader ecosystem, including developers, cloud players and hardware vendors this past year – all of which “should set the market up for an active 2018”.

Although many people think that IoT connectivity  is or will become a commodity with little value for customers and along with the hardware will form the ugly ducklings of the value chain, IoT Network Operators should strive to demonstrate that IoT connectivity is vital for the global adoption of the IoT and seek to increase the income derived from its connectivity services with aspect like security and the contextual data value that their networks transport.

IoT Data is the new Oil also for IoT Network Operators

If connectivity seems doomed to play the role of ugly duckling, the data on the other hand see how its value increases and increases with each new technology.

How many times have we seen a presentation with the title "Data is the new Oil”? Even taught by me

Many Telcos are in process of Digital Transformation. The want to compete with the Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon (GAFA) and avoid same situation lived with these Over the Top (OTT) vendors.  IoT is giving them an opportunity to monetize the IoT data and convert their networks in pipelines of value.

IoT data is a new source of revenue without forget that will also produce incremental profit through operational productivity and efficiency.

The new stream of data coming from the physical world and the billions connected things are mostly transported by the IoT Network Operator´s networks and once these data is captured, the IoT Network Operators can monitor everything and feed their AI systems. Is then, when finally, IoT Network Operators can make a lot of money of IoT contextual data and aggregated data.

Can you imagine the opportunities leveraged by the connection of millions of devices and intelligent things over your IoT network? A vast amount of useful data generated by smart containers, smart home appliances, smart cities, connected cars, smart healthcare devices, or wearables, which for many businesses is an extremely valuable commercial tool. IoT Network Operators possess the capability of performing real-time data analytics on readily available data to determine product performance, improve customer experience and forecast network capacity, all of all which IoT-ready businesses could benefit from.

Key Takeaway

IoT connectivity is still at the core of all IoT Network Operators / M2M Service Providers. But some of them are implementing different strategies to capture more business of the IoT value chain. The idea of IoT connectivity will become a commodity with not added value is influencing the decision to invest in new IoT enabled networks (5G, LTE-M, NB-IoT).

It’s clear that there are some strong opportunities for IoT Network Operators / M2M Service Providers looking to capture the full potential of IoT, and it’s time that they open up their services to support companies from all sectors who are looking to employ IoT connectivity but also machine data intelligence as part of their business models in this IoT driven digital transformation.

Telcos offering IoT connectivity should look to monetise data and offer businesses unique insights that could potentially open doors to new revenue streams or even improve operational efficiencies. 

If IoT business is about data and assets, Telcos need to shift from technology and connectivity to business value and creation of valued services.

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