IoT Now: ISSN 2397-2793
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USA IoT SUPPLEMENT AERIS INTERVIEW Partner with the best in IoT, don’t go it alone
INSIDE: US News • Aeris Interview • PTC LiveWorx Review • East Coast & West Coast Reports • CTIA Preview
GLOBAL ADVISORS V ON IoT, M2M AND BIG B DAT TA
Ente erprise Io oT Worksshops.
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1 1 Machi na Research e are global advii sors in IoT with presence in Europe, the Ame eri cas and Asi a. Find out moree about how the Enterprisse IoT workshops …ƒÂ? „‡Â?‡Ƥ– ›‘— ƒÂ?† ›‘—” ‘”‰ƒÂ?‹œƒ–‹‘Â? Visit: www.m machinaresearch.com/worrkshops Email: info@machinaresearch.com
CONTENTS
USA IoT Supplement S4
S6
US IoT NEWS
TALKING HEADS
S10
S12
AUGMENTED REALITY
EAST COAST REVIEW
IN THIS ISSUE S4
S6
US IoT NEWS Murano platform to help create connected products; Vizzia lab connects business, education & IoT tech; IoT a top concern for US enterprises; Resin.io winsUS$8m funding INTERVIEW: PARTNER WITH THE BEST You need the courage to work with others in order to move faster, says Drew Johnson of Aeris
S10 AUGMENTED REALITY Caterpillar and PTC show how AR and virtual reality plus IoT can benefit industry. Jeremy Cowan reports from Boston
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EAST COAST REVIEW Software and analytics take centre stage in our report on IoT on the US East Coast
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CTIA PREVIEW Are you and your business ready for an everythingconnected world?
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WEST COAST REVIEW Guy Daniels reports on the growing role of software services in West Coast IoT
Aeris is an IoT solutions provider with a complete stack of technology from an online management portal to an application enablement platform. With a full complement of cellular technologies, Aeris offers GSM and CDMA for 2G, 3G, and 4G/LTE. www.aeris.com
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US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
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US NEWS
Exosite unveils Murano IoT platform to help customers create connected products Exosite, LLC, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform provider, has launched Murano, a cloud-based IoT software platform to Christian Renaud: enable endBarriers to IoT to-end adoption ecosystem that helps customers develop and deliver connected products. Exosite reportedly works closely with industrial, commercial and consumer brands to develop and bring both legacy and new connected devices to market and, as a result, claims a deep understanding of the business and technical challenges these organisations face when making this transition. According to Christian Renaud, research director, 451 Research, “One of the biggest barriers to IoT adoption is the perceived risks tied to making business process changes. Exosite combines extensive customer deployment experience with its innovative and unique customer engagement model to partner with customers through their digital transformation journey.”
Developed with an open platform philosophy, Murano offers open APIs, connects with other public cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, and offers advanced device connectivity that includes provisioning, security and management functionality. Additionally, Murano provides pre-integration with OEMs through its partner program, Exosite IoT Alliance. And, with Murano, customers always retain complete control and ownership of their users, data, IP and code. This open ecosystem is purposebuilt to dramatically accelerate time-to-market for connected solutions, reduce implementation costs, leverage reusable system components to support standardisation and organisational alignment and enhance quality from design to production. Murano’s key features reportedly include: • Device Connectivity & Security Custom APIs • Application Hosting & Framework • Roles & Permissions Management • Third-party Integration
“Murano provides a fully integrated, enterprise software platform that companies can rely on to transform their legacy products into 21st-century connected devices to revitalise customer engagement, deliver new revenue streams for their business and improve their competitive position in the emerging digital ecosystem,” said Paul Anderson, vice president of software products, Exosite.
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Vizzia lab connects business, education and IoT technology in New Mexico VIZZIA Technologies, a provider of technology solutions for healthcare organisations, has partnered with the University of New Mexico’s (UNM) School of Engineering to launch the Internet of Things Laboratory (The Lab) and the beginning of an Internet of Things (IoT) curriculum. The Lab prepares students for high-tech job opportunities through real-world and hands-on education by testing various types of sensor systems and their performance in various applications. VIZZIA sources best-in-class systems for the healthcare industry where sensor systems are used to track movements and interactions between doctors, nurses, patients and their equipment. For the Lab, VIZZIA provides testing protocols which allow students to compare sensor systems. This not only provides the students with exposure to world-class systems, but is also serving as a research and development resource for VIZZIA, and soon other companies that need to evaluate the latest sensors. “New sensor systems are being developed at a fast pace all around the world,” explained Andrew L. Halasz, president and CEO of VIZZIA Technologies. “Having an active testing programme ensures we will know the best systems to deploy for our clients while also providing a tremendous learning environment for students.” The core of the new connected world are sensors that measure temperatures, pressures, locations, movements and a variety of other important performance data needed to automate processes and/or make better decisions. The IoT project began in 2015 when VIZZIA received funding from the Venture Acceleration VIZZIA saw a natural partnership with UNM’s School of Engineering. Chaouki T. Abdallah, UNM provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, said: “The early success of the programme has enabled UNM and VIZZIA to set its sights on incorporating existing software development, network architecture and Internet security coursework while also investigating new ideas and curriculum in big data management to create an overall IoT program at UNM,” said Joseph L. Cecchi, dean of the UNM School of Engineering. “It has given our students valuable, real-world training and experience.”
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
US NEWS
IoT solutions a top concern for US enterprises, says Machina Enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are one of the hot button topics of the technology space for 2016. To better understand the dynamics involved with the adoption and deployment of IoT solutions among US enterprises, Machina Research was commissioned by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), InterDigital and Telit to develop a survey of enterprise decision makers focused on core IoT elements. Based on the survey findings, Machina Research has compiled a White Paper providing an analytical assessment of top trends in IoT as detailed by US company executives and addresses their top project objectives, the key role of technology standards, deployment strategies, as well as future deployment and spending expectations. The survey indicates that IoT solutions have reached critical mass, fast becoming a top concern for U.S. enterprise decision makers. Executives who participated in this study strongly indicated that IoT adoption has already gained significant traction among US enterprises in the context of both strategic planning and execution, with 48% of respondents stating that their companies are actively using IoT technologies in their business, and an additional 43% looking to deploy IoT solutions in the next 24 months. At this pace, IoT will become a mainstream enterprise element by the beginning of 2019. While many current IoT deployments are still limited in scope, US companies are already gearing up for the integration of IoT solutions within their broader array of enterprise systems. Successful IoT adoption however, at both industry and enterprise level, requires standards. Facing a dizzying array of technology, integration and design choices for IoT projects, enterprises emphasised the key role of standards in the evolution of successful IoT implementations. The full White Paper, Internet of Things Enterprise Survey, is available to download at http://machinaresearch.com
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
Resin.io wins US$8m funding to speed growth of IoT DevOps platform Resin.io, has secured US$8 million in funding from DFJ, GE Ventures, and Ericsson. Resin.io was founded in 2013 with a mission to use Linux containers and other open technologies to simplify the way developers build, deploy, and manage software for IoT devices. Since then, businesses across a range of vertical industries have adopted the resin.io platform to deliver software over-the-air for security patches, new feature deployments and device configuration changes. The new round of funding will be used to expand the company’s product footprint, grow its open source community, and broaden its global reach through new strategic partnerships and channels. “As billions of complex devices come online, IoT project leaders are faced with the dual challenges of safety and speed. They must securely maintain mission-critical remote devices, while also delivering new software features and functionality to their customers.” said Alexandros Marinos, founder & CEO of resin.io. “Resin.io is a modern software deployment and management platform that builds on Docker, Git, Yocto and other open technologies to solve these challenges. With the support of GE Ventures and Ericsson we are exceptionally well positioned to help IoT project leaders use software as a strategic advantage.” Whether it’s a major retailer employing industrial lighting systems across hundreds of stores, a manufacturing firm struggling to keep track of expensive inventory in realtime, or the next generation of connected home devices that require frequent firmware updates, the massive scale and complexity of these connected devices is causing new problems for companies with wide-scale IoT deployments. “Advancing the Industrial Internet requires the ability to deploy and manage software in remote environments,” said Sam Cates, director at GE Ventures, a unit of General Electric Co. “resin.io is uniquely positioned to bring the speed and safety of DevOps to the Industrial Internet and we are excited to help them do so.”
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INTERVIEW
Drew Johnson, VP Engineering Aeris
Partner with the best in IoT, don’t go it alone The IoT offers such a wealth of opportunity that you need the courage to work with others in order to move faster, argues one of the industry’s leading lights, Drew Johnson, vice president of engineering at California-based service provider Aeris. Report by Nick Booth, freelance IT & communications writer. IoT Now: What trends have you seen in your time in the industry? Drew Johnson: There have been so many in the five years I’ve been at Aeris. Just in that time, of course, we’ve stopped calling it the Machine-to-Machine industry and now everyone says it’s the Internet of Things and all the big companies have gotten into this space.
The newest emerging trend, which we started talking about
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According to our recent study of enterprises which we released in May 2016, the three main motivations cited for IoT are to boost revenue (noted by 14% surveyed), create competitive differentiation (17%) and monitor products (23%). The number of companies that have a specialised IoT department is still a minority (40%), but that proportion is growing.
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US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
This is exemplified by the cases of Nest and Honeywell. Whereas Nest’s ‘IoT-First’ approach re-imagined the user experience and interaction with an ecosystem, Honeywell just bolted on its IoT capability as an afterthought. Nest created a system that can make pro-active, intelligent interventions on your behalf if you are not at home. It’s simple but powerful. Nest also connects with an ecosystem. It can interact with the power companies and even with other devices in the home. IoT-First means making IoT a design priority, so you start out with a fresh set of plans. We see this also in the connected car space. Granted, cars have been connected for 15 years, but the original concepts were limited. These days, designers are re-imagining events at every stage of a car’s life, from manufacturing, through shipping, the time at the car dealership, then ownership and warranty issues, all the way through to scrapping. Each one of these processes can be made more efficient – and precious resources can be saved – by designing them with IoT in mind. Just as Nest has done this well on the consumer side, Tesla has set the example in IoT design for the connected car. Now, other companies are starting to see this approach as the standard to which they should aspire. IoT Now: Can you clarify the confusion created by the wealth of IoT platforms? DJ: You are right. There are so many IoT platforms out there that it can be very confusing.
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
We tend to look at the anatomy of any IoT system as having seven core elements that need to be harmonised. These seven elements consist of: 1. The “thing”, the device itself 2. The connectivity 3. The data being exchanged 4. The analytics of that data 5. The visualisation of this information 6. The creation of value, meaning the monetisation 7. The security Though we like to highlight security as an independent element, it should be endemic in all the other elements of the IoT too. Yes, overzealous application of security disciplines can slow projects down, but we should bear in mind that a system is only ever as secure as its weakest link. So anyone could take one component of a system and pick the rest apart. For example, in fleet management it has been proved that in some cases a simple SMS message has the potential to do a lot of damage. Through a text message you can pinpoint a machine’s location, and it offers the potential to redirect information. So that’s a big risk, created by a small element within the grand scheme of things. That’s why security (across platforms) is hard for many companies, as they can build a system but not a holistically safe one. There are platforms available for every element in IoT. Meanwhile, the public clouds are also becoming increasingly influential in the IoT. There is still a lot of complexity in leveraging the public clouds today, but they will definitely be the right answer for some companies and will play an important role over time. To lessen this confusion, I would offer this advice. Try to select a platform that costeffectively delivers most of what you want and is in harmony with the public clouds. Concentrate your resources on the elements that will provide true value and differentiation
These days, designers are re-imagining events at every stage of a car’s life, from manufacturing, through shipping, the time at the car dealership, then ownership and warranty issues, all the way through to scrapping
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at the end of last year, is for companies to take an ‘IoT-First’ strategy, where their product is now designed, from the outset, with IoT as a primary consideration. Just as ‘Mobile-First’ changed the mindset of web designers, so they no longer imagined the systems they were creating being used in a fixed internet setting, so has IoT forced a redesign of all aspects of the product.
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INTERVIEW
to your customers. Those elements are typically the customer experience. You will save a lot of time and money by allowing others to deliver what is in the middle. IoT Now: What type of analytics are most important to start with? DJ: The best way to tackle the challenge of analytics is to start by thinking about the answers you need and how quickly you will need them. There are three types of analytics challenges, based on whether you need to look at real-time intelligence, batches of information or longer term trends from deeper analytics. For example, the safety and security analysis we conduct on airplanes falls into all three of these categories at different levels. It’s not just about, say, potential crash data, but longterm analysis of trend-related intelligence, which can give historical information on components and contextualise that with recent reports on the current state of play. This data allows us to identify a component that is worn and needs replacing, so we can prevent a problem from becoming bigger, replace the component and get the new equipment tested and in place for the next flight. For an effective IoT analytics platform, there are three important interfaces to consider. There needs to be an interface for the data scientists to create their long-term prognosis. There also needs to be an interface for the data engineers to get high-performance access for the online use cases. Finally, there needs to be a way to let the business managers use the intelligence and visualise ways to use it to run the enterprise more efficiently.
In May 2016, we completed a survey of enterprise IoT in global corporations. We found that the biggest priority among the survey group was analytics, with 21% of those questioned saying IoT data analytics capabilities are important to their IoT service. More people nominated this category than any other category followed by device management. IoT Now: What advice would you offer from a technologist’s perspective? DJ: Many predict that IoT will soon impact every single enterprise. My advice depends a bit on whether the enterprise is acting as a consumer of IoT or creates products and will be a producer of IoT. When the enterprise is a consumer of IoT services, the key to success is choosing services that are open and can be integrated into other services. For example, an enterprise selling apples may have farming equipment and trucks and cameras at different points of the production process, but unless they can tie them all together, they won’t be able to get consistent (and most cost-effective) management as those apples proceed from the orchard to the warehouse to the shops. Our survey of all the professionals who are involved in deploying IoT programs, across a range of industries, identified that integrating software and platforms is most popularly nominated as the most complex task. One fifth of those surveyed mentioned this first. Only security (which was nominated in 18% of cases) came close, but security and integration are co-dependent. When acting as a producer of IoT, enterprises
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US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
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The best way to tackle the challenge of analytics is to start by thinking about the answers you need and how quickly you will need them
Our survey of all the professionals who are involved in deploying IoT programs, across a range of industries, identified that integrating software and platforms is most popularly nominated as the most complex task
must be able to tie their services into those created by others. So they must they must choose technologies and platforms that readily tie into the ecosystem. We are actually focused primarily on the IoT producers. We want to help them take the journey from unconnected product to connected product with an IoT-First approach. IoT Now: Which innovation excites you most about the future of the IoT? DJ: As a technologist, I’m super-excited about where we are right now. Overall, it’s still early in the IoT evolution. I think there are several drivers that need to continue to emerge in order to take IoT to the next level. We have to have low-cost devices and sensors. That area has benefited already quite a bit from the sensors, modules, and processors being produced in mass quantity at low cost for mobile phones. We have to have low-cost connectivity. That’s being delivered by cellular in many cases but also by WiFi and new LowPower IoT networks. We also have to have low-cost ways to analyse all the data. It’s been amazing to see all the open source Big Data technologies emerge over the last 6 or 7 years. Finally, we also need new ways to interact with products. Now, nearly everyone is walking around with a smart phone and there is a new emergence of voice interactive agents like Amazon’s Alexa. I have to say that I really believe this IoT-First concept will create a lot of value for consumers, for product-makers, and even help the world save resources. We already talked about the Nest thermostat. It saves the consumer time and money and also helps the power companies be more efficient. Another simple example is a watering system that does not water lawns or crops when it rains
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
or is about to rain. Imagine how much water could be saved. There are hundreds of thousands of such products that can be empowered to talk to each other and use a machine form of common sense. IoT Now: What advice would you give to a company just getting started with planning their IoT programme? DJ: There is endless scope for disruption in this industry. If I were starting out I would be very focused on how to re-imagine the product interactions around IoT and connectivity. Try starting from a clean slate without preconceptions on how users will interact. Focus also on how not just to use the connectivity to pull information out but also how to tie into other information as part of a bigger ecosystem. Once you have done that then it’s important to get something working quickly in order to get feedback and improve rapidly. IoT Now: From your perspective, why are some IoT programs more successful than others? DJ: We see those that struggle are the ones that try to execute in areas where they don’t have the expertise. If you don’t leverage the talents of key partners, you will likely struggle too. If you are not strong in all of the seven elements of the IoT, then it won’t work. Make sure you do your own part very successfully and get the best you can from partners in the other areas. Nobody can be best at everything. We see a lot of enterprises fail at data management and analytics with respect to scale. We have seen companies struggle when they attempt to go it alone, and we like to help them to focus on areas where they have the maximum value.
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AUGMENTED REALITY
PTC's CEO, Jim Heppelmann
Caterpillar shows how augmented and virtual reality technology plus IoT can benefit industry OK. Rewind five years, says Jeremy Cowan. Imagine you’re the CEO of PTC, Inc. a US-based computer software company that since 1985 has specialised in 2-dimensional & 3D design software, product, application and service lifecycle management (PLM, ALM & SLM), and service management solutions. Long story short, you already help enterprise customers from mining to oil & gas, and manufacturing to retail and healthcare to maximise the lifetime and efficiency of their hardware, software and services. But how should you support and prepare for the changes that big data and wider, cheaper connectivity are enabling for your clients? This is in a nutshell was the challenge facing Needham, Massachussetts-based PTC, Inc., delivering technology that enables industrial customers to aggregate, analyse, and deploy product information to support their decisionmaking. In 2011 PTC acquired MKS, producer of a Software System Lifecycle Management (SSLM) solution. In 2014 the company acquired both ThingWorx, a major player in the growing Internet of Things (IoT), and Axeda to enable customers to establish secure connections and remotely manage a wide range of machines, sensors, and devices.
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Which is good because the industries you serve are evolving at ever greater speed. They see IoT and data analytics providing the connectivity, customer and business intelligence to move away from a pure manufacturing role of hardware and devices into becoming service providers. Your customers are shape-shifting to Industry 4.0 (to use a European term).
How else could you meet their needs? Well, PTC's CEO Jim Heppelmann used 2015 to acquire the Vuforia™ augmented reality (AR) technology platform. This was designed to accelerate PTC’s strategy to provide technologies and solutions that blend the digital and physical worlds. In the same year ColdLight’s Neuron was bought for its automated predictive analytics platform. Scroll forward to 2016, and at LiveWorx, PTC’s annual gathering in Boston of more than ▼
Long story short, you already help enterprise customers from mining to oil & gas, and manufacturing to retail and healthcare to maximise the lifetime and efficiency of their hardware, software and services
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
Caterpillar demonstrated mixed AR & VR-support for its XQ35 genset
4,000 clients, partners analysts and media, Jim Heppelmann tells his audience how the company is working with its customers to blend Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (VR) with the Internet of Things to deliver business intelligence and control that would have seemed fanciful only a few years before. Take Caterpillar, for example. The American-based company is well-known for its broad range of industrial machinery in construction, materials handling and power generation, to name just a few sectors. CAT, however, sees new revenues in providing more than generator sets, it’s offering Power as a Service. In order to optimise the service to its customers, CAT now wants to simplify the start-up, use, testing and fault management of its complex gensets. If it can use Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality it can deploy equipment operated by less expensively-skilled staff, it can show new users how to manage and maintain the hardware on site, and it can support them from a remote location with more experienced staff if a fault needs fixing. Expensive truck rolls can be minimised, saving customers millions of dollars a year in Operational Expenditure (OpEx). At this year’s LiveWorx in Boston, Terri Lewis, account executive at Caterpillar Inc., and Jim Heppelmann demonstrated the use of PTC’s Vuforia technology which has already enabled CAT to create a prototype Mixed Reality (AR & VR combined) to give users an iPad view of the internal workings and components of a CAT XQ35 genset. As Heppelmann said, “People think of the Internet of Things (IoT) as a way to connect and monetise products and services. But that leaves out people. PTC is investing time and money in AR/VR, it’s a convergence of the physical, digital and human experience. The genset is used to power pumps,
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
compressors and other equipment on construction sites, or at concerts for lighting and sound.” “CAT is changing,” said Lewis. “We’re in the rental business, where the whole experience needs to be easy.” Another benefit of AR and VR support is that dealers can provide customers with connected use to understand how the equipment is being used in the field. AR explains and simplifies the start-up procedure, for example guiding the user to turn a handle to select the correct voltage for the application, and confirming that the operating voltage is 12.4v, that the unit is 98% charged and functioning on 120v supply. At a glance on the iPad screen it can give a readout showing the genset was last serviced 1,750 hours ago and is ready for another service. It even shows the user how to replace an oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and how to change the oil. The AR functionality provides a full service manual when needed. The VR functionality enables the service engineer to look inside the machine to identify a faulty part, and the engineer can be instructed on how to replace the item. Everything appears on the iPad screen.
At a glance on the iPad screen it can give a readout showing the genset was last serviced 1,750 hours ago and is ready for another service
Jay Wright, president and general manager of Vuforia Technology, PTC, talked about how AR and VR are changing working practices and getting dramatic reactions from new users. "It's like you're showing them (customers) fire for the first time. When you put this tablet in front of them or glasses on their heads it's like Wow!" Development work is continuing at CAT, supported by PTC’s Vuforia technology, and the new technology is not available yet. When it is, Lewis said, “it will transform the whole sales and marketing experience. IoT has existed for years, but the technology only recently democratised. Now any smart person with a problem to solve can transform industry.”
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AREA REVIEW
IoT on the US East Coast Last year, IoT Now looked at how the East Coast telecoms sector and its historic IT connections was influencing the development of IoT, mainly through the focus on the industrial internet. As Guy Daniels reports, an East Coast technology business is now more likely to be software and analytics focused than pure ICT engineering, although these historic ties mean there is a strong industry focus with IoT companies in the region, which is regarded as the home of the “industrial internet”.
The author is freelance ICT writer, Guy Daniels
The group was formed in 2014 by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel with the aim to “break down the barriers of technology silos to support better access to big data with improved integration of the physical and digital worlds to unlock business value”. In March this year, the IIC aligned itself with the Plattform Industrie 4.0 organisation, based in Germany – the other centre of excellence for the digital transformation of industry. The companies set out to explore the alignment of their two architecture models and succeeded in creating a clear roadmap to ensure future interoperability. They are also going to be collaborating in the areas of IIC Testbeds and I4.0 Test Facility Infrastructures. “Industrie 4.0's strong foundation in industrial manufacturing and process combines well with the IIC's emphasis on emerging IIoT applications in healthcare, transportation, power, and smart cities,” said Stan Schneider, member of the IIC Steering Committee. “We look forward to driving the rapid growth of the IIoT across all industries.” One of the IIC’s founder members, the GE industrial conglomerate, is headquartered in Connecticut. Its IoT activities fall under the GE Digital division, and its latest innovation is the creation of a Smart Airline Baggage
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Management system. Working with Oracle and Machine to Machine Intelligence, and in collaboration with the IIC, they have created a connected baggage solution to improve management, reduce check-in times, increase communication with passengers, and contribute to airline risk management. The testbed is part of a broader aviation ecosystem vision aimed at reducing the instances of delayed, damaged and lost bags leading to lower economic risk exposure to the airlines, and brings together various fragmented systems across the aviation ecosystem. The testbed will be hosted on Predix, GE’s cloud-based platform for the Industrial Internet. Oracle is providing airline applications built on its Airline Data Model and M2Mi is providing device management, connectivity, data handling and instream analytics. “The success of the Industrial Internet requires team work across the ecosystem, and this testbed is a great example of collaboration,” said Shyam Nath, Industrial Internet Architect, GE Digital. “By hosting the testbed on Predix and working with M2Mi and Oracle, we hope to help airlines increase efficiency and improve passenger experience.” Massachussetts-based PTC, a computer software company specialising in design software, product, application and service lifecycle management solutions, has embraced the IoT and big data movement by acquiring specialist companies to meet the changing needs of its customers (it bought ThingWorx in 2014 for $112 million and Axeda for a further $170 million later in the same ▼
The North Eastern states of the USA are home to some of the major vertical markets companies – from manufacturing to healthcare – and most of them are already looking to integrate IoT solutions into their workflows and services. What’s more, these deployments are generally large scale, and it’s no surprise that Boston is the headquarters of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC).
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
year, then followed with the purchase of augmented reality company Vuforia and predictive analytics firm ColdLight in 2015). (Also see pages S9-10.) "Our business strategy has been centered on helping companies transform how they create, connect, operate and service products," said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. "Sensor data by itself creates value, but that value is magnified dramatically when companies use predictive analytics to process that data into many forms of actionable knowledge that can transform the way they do business.” Heppelmann also wants to blend augmented reality with IoT to deliver a new level of business intelligence and control. “People think of the IoT as a way to connect and monetise products and services, but that leaves out people,” he explained. “PTC is investing time and money in AR/VR – it’s a convergence of the physical, digital and human experience. The genset is used to power pumps, compressors and other equipment on construction sites, or at concerts for lighting and sound.” Boston-based TetraScience was created to modernise research by bringing cloud software to the laboratory. Founded by scientists and engineers from local universities Harvard and MIT, TetraScience has developed an open IoT platform to connect and manage research equipment and instruments. Its solution is purpose-built for science and used across industries including pharma, biotech, food production, oil and gas, and plastics, allowing research teams to increase productivity. It recently received investment from Digital Science (jointly located in Boston and London) to expand Digital Science’s research management portfolio. The IoT scene centred around Boston is thriving, harnessing the academic excellence
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
of the region as well as the historic manufacturing culture. But it’s not the only IoT hub on the East Coast. Not far from Washington DC, northern Virginia houses a number of technology firms, many of them in the Dulles Technology Corridor. This is less a “Silicon Valley of the East” and more of a community that values the proximity to major air routes and the centre of government. In Chantilly, Virginia, Encore Networks manufactures wireline, cellular and satellite VPN routers. It recently announced a deal with Corner Media Partners to supply fully managed LTE data connectivity for digital Kiosks and interactive advertising displays (pictured top right). Encore’s wireless VPN router is designed for high-availability IoT applications in fixed or portable locations supporting not only digital signage but also business continuity, video surveillance, pointof-sale retail units and ATMs. Its management system enables customers to manage, monitor and configure their routers from a centralised location through the cloud.
The IoT scene centred around Boston is thriving, harnessing the academic excellence of the region as well as the historic manufacturing culture
Corner Media, which is also located in Virginia, works with US property owners to integrate digital media displays and mobile data points to help advertisers reach and engage consumers in the out-of-home environment. “Digital out-of-home advertising and real time communication is an integral part of the retail environment,” said Joe Kunigonis, president of Corner Media. “We work closely with partners like Encore to tailor specific solutions for each of our client’s unique media real estate applications.” The East Coast is still firmly routed in industrial and business-focused IoT development. It’s the practical applications and implementations of connected technology that will power the next industrial revolution.
www.plattform-i40.de www.iiconsortium.org www.iiconsortium.org/ baggage-management.htm www.ptc.com www.tetrascience.com www.digital-science.com www.encorenetworks.com
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CTIA PREVIEW
Are you and your business ready for an everything-connected world? Are you ready for the mobile-first revolution? Wireless innovation through the Internet of Things (IoT) is making other industries more efficient and effective, which means businesses and consumers are quickly adopting a mobile-first mentality. Imagine this was your daily routine: • In the morning, automated, real-time notifications on your phone provide you the fastest commute based on traffic or train/bus schedule, and your alarm uses this information to wake you up earlier or later to get you work in time. • Just before noon, your favourite treadmill is reserved because you remotely schedule time on it, and then your lunch arrives at the same moment you return to the office. • After work, your phone gives you recommendations for dinner options that are close to your kids’ soccer game–in an unfamiliar part of town–so you can pre-order and pick up the food on your way home, all without getting caught in traffic. This will soon be the future as Americans demand and adopt a mobile-first life using the Internet of Things (IoT). While smart kitchens (refrigerators that can help you write your grocery list) and smart homes (temperature, lights and music adjusted when you leave and return) are already being introduced today, we’ll see more innovations and benefits on an even wider scale. In our communities, cities will install sensors on roads so that snow and salt trucks are deployed when needed. Instead of waiting until a water main break, sensors will be affixed to a municipality’s water supply pipes so that leaks are detected early. Garbage cans will have a sensor so that they are emptied when needed and not merely because it’s on the schedule. IoT is being used by companies to streamline their businesses for everything from fleet management to re-ordering materials “just-in-time” so there’s no need to worry about space to house excess products. Retailers are adopting beacon technology to recognise customers as they enter a store and push personalised coupons and discounts based on past purchases.
These kinds of opportunities that improve efficiency and effectiveness are why the IoT global market is projected to grow from $591.7 billion in 2014 to $1.3 trillion in 2019. If you haven’t deployed IoT into your business, what are you waiting for? If your customers haven’t already started to demand IoT efficiencies, will you be ready? That’s why you need to attend CTIA Super Mobility 2016. With 1,000 companies exhibiting products and services for connected businesses and consumers alike, you’ll be able to experience the latest mobile technologies and map out your company’s most effective mobile and IoT strategy. With hundreds of hours of educational programming and networking opportunities, CTIA Mobile Intelligence Conference connects you with experts to discuss crucial technology and implementation tactics so you can avoid others’ mistakes and stay ahead of your competition. 2016 tracks for the Mobile Intelligence Conference include: • Everything Connected: Smart City + Smart Consumer Explore smart city strategies and requirements as well as downstream consumer innovations created by IoT and 5G. • Everything Intelligent: Taking Networks To 5G - Gain the knowledge necessary to lead the evolution from 4G to 5G and what it means for network infrastructure. • Everything Enterprise: 5G Use Cases - Look at creating business plans that maximise 4G capabilities and leverage emerging 5G use cases. I’ll see you September 7-9 in Las Vegas for CTIA Super Mobility 2016
Report by Heather Lee Landers, Show Director & Conventions AVP
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH CTIA
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US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
CTIA PREVIEW
CTIA Super Mobility 2016 is smarter than ever Report by Heather Lee Landers, show director & conventions AVP This year, the CTIA Super Mobility 2016 show floor will transform into a Smart City so you can experience the latest wireless technologies. CTIA’s Smart City will be organised into different zones, including:
best business practices and key issues that are driving the next generation of wireless. Mobile Intelligence 2016 will feature four tracks:
• Enterprise + Industrial IoT Zone – Focuses on technology solutions for IoT, M2M, sensors, data security and business efficiency, whether for cloud, virtualisation or privacy applications, and includes: - M2M Zone where show goers can gain in-depth knowledge on machine-to-machine technologies that will transform nearly every industry vertical - Connected Car Lot, where visitors can see how wireless is impacting the auto industry, and discover the newest vehicle entertainment platforms and safety features
• Everything Connected: Smart City + Smart Consumer – Explore smart city strategies and requirements and the downstream consumer innovations created by IoT and 5G. • Everything Enterprise: 5G Use Cases – Learn about creating business plans that maximise 4G capabilities and leverage emerging 5G use cases. • Everything Intelligent: Taking Networks To 5G – Gain the knowledge necessary to lead the evolution from 4G to 5G and what it means for network infrastructure. • Everything Policy: How Washington Shapes Mobile – From cybersecurity and privacy to spectrum, discover how policymakers are influencing the wireless industry.
• Connected Life + Technology Zone – Featuring the latest wireless products and services that connect individuals and communities, such as: - Drone Airfield with air shows demonstrating the latest drones - Startup Lab, where investors, inventors and entrepreneurs can connect
With 300,000 square feet of exhibits, new interactive destinations and more than 200 educational hours, CTIA Super Mobility 2016 is the can’t-miss event of the wireless industry. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas on September 7-9.
• Innovation Zone – Here you’ll be able to find the most upto-date advances in all things mobile. This zone includes: - 5G Launchpad Smart Experience where attendees can explore emerging concepts and use cases for nextgeneration network technologies - AR/VR Arcade Smart Experience, filled with the latest augmented and virtual reality gear, devices, content and games - Smart Home Experience, featuring consumer electronics, appliances, entertainment and energy controls to transform your home Attendees can also participate in the CTIA Mobile Intelligence Conference, an educational, open-dialogue program where participants gain insight into crucial technical intelligence,
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
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AREA REVIEW
IoT on the US West Coast When IoT Now looked at the West Coast Internet of Things scene last year, we identified the abundance of software talent and access to start-up support and funding as principle reasons behind the creation of such a strong IoT community. We focused on a number of prominent companies of all sizes, but the vast majority were targeting IoT devices, mainly – though not exclusively – aimed at the smart home market.
Starting our West Coast journey inland in Nevada, Dronesmith Technologies is creating services and tools to build, run, and scale drone applications. Earlier this year, Dronesmith partnered with Resin, who are based further up the West Coast in Seattle, on a project that would allow an in-flight drone to update software on-demand. They gave themselves three weeks to integrate a thermal camera onto a drone to illustrate how it could be of value in a search-and-rescue scenario, using on-board sensors and remote-sensing techniques to aid human operations with machine intelligence. Dronesmith’s “Luci” dual processor architecture enabled the Resin developers to deploy code wirelessly, remotely and in realtime. Luci is a standalone programmable device, so users can develop on it and use it on any drone platform that they want. Three weeks later, and ready for its debut at Mobile World Congress, the company had created the first standalone, wirelessly programmable autopilot. Seattle-based Resin.io aims to bridge the gap between the cloud and IoT devices, making it simple to deploy, update, and maintain code running on remote devices, bringing web development and deployment workflow to hardware. Resin.io was recently selected to participate
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
in the European Commission-funded “Adaptive Gateways for Diverse Multiple Environments” (AGILE) project. Its platform will enable fast and robust cloud compilation of new gateway and maker app features, including same-day updates, as well as device monitoring and maintenance in difficult environments such as behind NATs or firewalls. “As more devices become connected devices, the ability to seamlessly push live updates over-the-air becomes a critical business requirement,” said Alexandros Marinos, founder and CEO of Resin.io. The company has since partnered with Samsung to enable developers to build, deploy and manage software on Samsung Artik devices. “Resin.io has built a highly robust and elegant management platform that solves a real problem for companies struggling to deploy and manage IoT software with both speed and security,” said Curtis Sasaki, VP of Ecosystems, Samsung Electronics. “Through this collaboration, software developers will have an easier experience building, deploying and managing a wide range of IoT applications, whether it’s an early hackathon project or a complex deployment to a fleet of thousands of IoT devices.”
Stephan Grinzinger of Lorentz
John Horn: Leave behind obsolete technologies
A number of global technology companies also see the potential of the coder community on the West Coast. For example, Samsung has based its Artik business unit in San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley. The goal of Samsung Artik is to provide tools to reduce IoT product development ▼
This year, as Guy Daniels reports, there’s another trend coming into play, and that is the role of software services. What’s more, the community is incredibly connected and inter-dependent.
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AREA REVIEW
Dronesmith Technologies enables users to build, run and scale drone applications
IoT starts living up to its promise when the interaction between data, devices and services becomes transparent, and the user can focus on what the devices are trying to say - Abhi Rele, Samsung Artek
timelines, getting products to market faster. It has an end-to-end ecosystem strategy, with access to modules, the network stack and cloud on-boarding, removing technology bottlenecks and enabling businesses to focus on their product or service. Samsung Artek is creating APIs for IoT, in an attempt to break down the silos that are forming around clusters of devices and apps that don’t interoperate, and hence drive the large-scale adoption of IoT among consumers and businesses. Let the device manufacturers use their expertise to make these IoT “things”, whilst giving developers the resources to make devices interoperable and grow a developer ecosystem. Using the Samsung Artek Cloud, which launched in April, developers have access to built-in open APIs to collect and store sensor data from connected physical devices and device clouds, and gain access to normalised data and pre-analytics. “IoT starts living up to its promise when the interaction between data, devices and services becomes transparent, and the user can focus on what the devices are trying to say,” said Abhi Rele, Director of Product Marketing at Samsung Artek. “We’re enabling developers to help IoT live up to its ideal – allowing the end user to benefit from all this connectivity without having to think about the underlying technology.”
www.dronesmith.io www.resin.io
That’s not to say there aren’t great examples of IoT devices and connectivity services on the West Coast. Santa Clara-based Aeris offers a complete stack of technology from an online management portal to an application enablement platform, with cellular technologies ranging from GSM and CDMA to LTE. In May it announced that its Aeris IoT Solutions platform had been deployed by Lorentz, a manufacturer of solar powered water pumping solutions to enable enterprises to provide clean drinking water for people, livestock and for irrigating agricultural crops in over 130 countries.
www.artik.io/overview/ www.artik.cloud www.aeris.com www.ingenu.com
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Lorentz has installed Aeris global SIMs in its products and by utilising Aeris’ single global access point name, its systems can be deployed on a plug-and-play basis without
the need to configure local network settings. It also gives Lorentz near real-time access to data usage, alerts and management over the SIM life cycle. “Mass global deployment is only possible by working with a reliable cellular network partner who can give us end-to-end monitoring of our solution,” explained Stephan Grinzinger, global head of sales with Lorentz. “As water pumping is a life-critical application, we need real-time data with robust alerting and reporting capabilities, which Aeris can deliver through its carrieragnostic network.” And finally for this year’s West Coast roundup, San Diego-based Ingenu is a provider of dedicated IoT networks to other companies looking to connect machines. With its licensed partners, Ingenu now provides connectivity in 25 countries over 38 private networks via its branded “Machine Network”, using what it calls Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA) technology for the low power wide area (LPWA) networks. “The rapid global deployment of a network for machines changes that dynamic and allows companies everywhere to leave behind obsolete technologies, and build and deploy IoT solutions with stability for decades to come,” claims John Horn, CEO of Ingenu, who is aiming perilously high with his wish that RPMA becomes the global standard for IoT connectivity. One of its latest customers is the City of Dallas, which will be deploying its Machine Network to serve a population of more than 4.4 million people. It believes it can provide coverage with only 17 access points, as opposed to the “10 to 30 times” the cellular infrastructure it believes would be needed to provide similar coverage. “The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area is leading the country in technology innovation,” said William Finch, chief information officer, City of Dallas. “IoT is an important technology strategy for the region, and the Machine Network will accelerate the deployment and adoption of limitless IoT solutions.”
US Report IoT Now - June / July 2016
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