“Previously, our e-commerce business could only support about 1,500 daily orders. Using Zebra’s warehouse mobility solutions, we now complete more than 10,000 orders daily,” said Malik Bin Murad Ali, Director of IT, HR, Digital and Loss Prevention & Security, MYDIN. “We constantly look for ways to gain better operational productivity to improve our customer experience. This is why we are equipping our front-line staff with more advanced technology tools to drive better results.”

Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad (MYDIN) has successfully introduced Zebra’s warehouse mobility solution (WMS) at its distribution centre at Seremban to support its fast-growing e-commerce business.

MYDIN selected Zebra’s TC21 mobile computers enabling its front-line workers to improve task accuracy and on-the-job efficiency. The devices are equipped with enterprise-class durability and removable batteries for dependable around-the-clock operations, and the power to run all the applications needed at work.

They are powered by the user-friendly Android operating system which reduces onboarding time. The TC21 devices were part of MYDIN’s adoption of a cloud-native warehouse management system from AC2 Group.

The post MYDIN digitises warehouse operations to support growing e-commerce business appeared first on FutureIoT.

It is this diversity of form, function and technology, and the proliferation of multiple standards or protocols that has limited the ability of IT and security teams to integrate the security of IoT technologies into the enterprise.

According to Amit Bareket, VP for Secure Service Edge at Check Point Software Technologies, the challenge lies in the transformation of corporate networks due to mobility and cloud computing. He explained that this shift has redefined the Internet as the new corporate network.

“Employees accessing cloud resources from outside the office necessitates opening up corporate resources to the internet, introducing significant security risks,” he added. “Traditional network security measures are often inadequate in this new landscape.

“There's a pressing need to rethink security strategies to effectively mitigate various cyber threats, as evidenced by recent high-profile attacks like the oil pipeline incident in the United States. This shift will undoubtedly remain a top priority for every CIO and CISO over the next five years.”

Amit Bareket

Securing OT is not that easy

Bareket commented that part of the security challenge lies in the sheer number of devices that need to be connected to the network. Finding all the devices remains a challenge, he opined.

Reflecting on the transitions many organisations had to undergo during the COVID-19 pandemic, he pointed out that the rapid transformation caught many off guard. He cited the global shutdowns that occurred during the pandemic.

“Suddenly, businesses that never envisioned remote operations have to thrust themselves into a new reality where remote work became the norm almost overnight,” he commented. “This abrupt shift left CIOs and CISOs grappling with uncertainty: Would we revert to the old ways, or was this the new normal? It became increasingly clear that remote work was here to stay, challenging our preconceptions about the pace of change.”

He added that what was initially projected to take 5—10 years unfolded within a single year. “I think today we stand in a strong position with robust solutions to meet the demands of this new landscape,” he continued.

SASE to the rescue

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is the convergence of connectivity and security helping organizations to achieve a consistent security posture by implementing a decentralised concept where security is provided directly at the source, with the management of all involved components done in the cloud. Bereket says SASE is just a secure network over the internet. SASE is a secure network infrastructure over the internet, encompassing various components such as users, cloud resources, and IoT devices.

Unlike traditional endpoints, IoT devices cannot typically accommodate agent or app installations, necessitating a network-level approach to security. He used Check Point's integration with SD-WAN devices and gateways as an example claiming it facilitates the creation of a unified network under the SASE platform.

“This integration provides visibility into IoT devices and enables security enforcement at the network level. Check Point's IoT security features, including device discovery and policy enforcement, play a crucial role in securing these devices within the SASE framework,” he continued.

SASE promises to bring IoT into the security framework of the organisation.

Asked whether IT leaders have heard the SASE story and are incorporating the technology into the overall network architecture he opined it has already happened.

“It’s evident that the internet is now the new corporate network. It is here to stay,” he started. He recalled a recent conversation with a major bank: “It was clear that they recognise this shift and understand that embracing solutions like SASE is inevitable,” he revealed.

“The pace of digital evolution will only accelerate, with forecasts from Gartner projecting a 30% year-over-year growth in the market for the next three years. By 2027, this market is expected to reach US$25 to US$28 billion from US$9 billion in 2024, further emphasising the significance of this shift in networking and security paradigms,” he concluded.

Click on the PodChat player and listen to Bareket elaborate on the intersection of IoT and SASE in OT security.

1. What are the top challenges faced in OT security in 2024?
2. What are the key components of OT security?
3. For a long time, the security of operational technology has been kept out of the IT portfolio. Given the recent rise in attacks against critical and industrial systems, do you see a convergence of IT and OT security and who will lead the charge?
4. How does IoT fit into SASE (and vice versa)?

The post PodChats for FutureIOT: The intersection of IoT and SASE in OT security appeared first on FutureIoT.

IDC defines edge as the information and communications technology (ICT) related actions that are performed outside of the centralized data centre, where edge is the intermediary between the connected endpoints and the core IT environment.

Characteristically, edge is distributed, software-defined, and flexible. Edge is the movement of computing resources to the physical location where data is created, transacted or stored, thereby increasing the enablement of business processes, decisions, and intelligence outside of the core IT environment.

"Edge computing will play a pivotal role in the deployment of AI applications," said Dave McCarthy, research vice president, Cloud and Edge Services at IDC. He added that to meet scalability and performance requirements, organisations will need to adopt the distributed approach to architecture that edge computing provides. OEMs, ISVs, and service providers are taking advantage of this market opportunity by extending feature sets to enable AI in edge locations.

Across 19 enterprise industries, IDC segments edge ICT spending for more than 500 named enterprise use cases in six domains. In the service provider industry, investments for edge services delivery are built on infrastructure spending for multi-access edge computing (MEC), content delivery networks, and virtual network functions. Combined, these three use cases will account for nearly 22% of all edge spending this year.

For enterprise adopters, including the public sector, examples of edge-named use cases with large investments and rapid growth through 2027 include augmented maintenance (augmented reality), production asset management, AI-augmented supply and logistics, augmented diagnosis and treatment systems, supply chain resilience, in-home remote patient monitoring, and in-store contextualized marketing.

Examples of emerging edge use cases that are forecast to have the fastest spending growth over the 2022-2027 period include autonomous mining operations, site design and management (construction), pipeline inspection (utilities), augmented training (multiple industries), and expert shopping advisors & product recommendations (retail).

"Enterprise investments have continued to shift the past 24 months toward infrastructure expansion and greenfield deployments. Companies are acting on plans to build more robust local computing infrastructure capabilities. And through it all, customer-facing new services and products and enabling new business processes are top enterprise drivers," said Marcus Torchia, research vice president, Data & Analytics at IDC.

"Over the next two years, the share of planned investments moderately favours MEC offerings. Yet on balance, enterprises are looking to rationalize total service provider outlays. This sets up a dynamic market of capex and opex-based edge offerings competing for investment dollars through 2027."

Marcus Torchia

Across enterprise end-user industries, the sheer size of discrete and process manufacturing will account for the largest portion of investments in edge solutions this year, followed by the retail and professional services industries.

IDC expects all 19 enterprise industries profiled in the spending guide will see five-year compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) in the low-to-mid teens over the forecast period. The service provider segment will see the greatest CAGR of 19.1%.

The largest investment share will continue to be led by hardware, at close to 40% of total spending, to build out edge capabilities especially driven by service provider infrastructure. Hardware spending will be driven by investments in edge gateways, servers, and network equipment.

Over the forecast period, adoption of provisioned services by enterprises will surge, surpassing hardware share by 2026 for the first time. Within provisioned services, connectivity and IaaS will represent the greatest share and fastest growth categories, respectively. On-premise software will be a critical component of edge infrastructure but remain the smallest category in terms of overall spending.

IDC predicts that China will experience the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with CAGRs of 16.2% and 15.3%, respectively.

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Picking up the project, UnaBiz purportedly will together with ACMV expert, D-Team Engineering to:

1. Replace the Air Handling Unit (AHU) at the plant room located adjacent to the service corridor.
2. Replace the Variable Volume Air (VAV) Controller sets located within the office areas.
3. Deploy close to 800 wireless IAQ monitoring sensors and 50 LoRaWAN gateways to monitor the IAQ levels of all five Suntec City Office Towers to ensure consistent IAQ standards and monitor the performance of the new ACMV systems.

According to Steven Kong, senior manager of operations of APM Property Management, the main purpose of the rejuvenation plan is to help maintain comfort and a stable temperature in all five office towers. A data-driven ACMV system ensures good air quality for shoppers and tenants, while a high energy-efficiency system helps optimise energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.

For this project, UnaBiz will install Milesight IAQ sensors and gateways, with Actility ThingPark Enterprise on-premises IoT platform on a LoRaWAN network. The deployment will be carried out in phases starting with Tower 4, Tower 2, Tower 3, Tower, 1 and Tower 5.

 In total, there are about 2.3 million square feet of office space. Tower One to Four is 45-storey representing the 4 fingers and Tower 5 is 18-storey representing the thumb.

The IAQ sensor is a comprehensive 9-in-1 solution that integrates nine types of sensors to measure various ambient conditions including CO2 concentration, temperature, humidity, light, TVOC, barometric pressure, PM2.5, PM10, formaldehyde and motion. This energy-efficient sensor is designed for real-time monitoring and collecting reliable IAQ data 24/7.

UnaBiz Singapore’s managing director, Jonathan Tan acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated to us the importance of IAQ monitoring as the majority of us spend our time indoors. By integrating indoor IAQ monitoring with the new ACMV system, Suntec City can prioritise tenant well-being, and optimise airflow and energy consumption through data-driven ventilation.

The post Suntec City Office Towers to enhance indoor air quality for tenant comfort appeared first on FutureIoT.

Enterprises continue to embrace IoT strategies to streamline operations, boost efficiency, and improve customer experiences. From hospitals to manufacturers to public sector agencies, IoT device fleets are critical for meeting these modernization goals.

However, the acceleration in connected device deployment opens new windows for cybercriminals and exposes networks to potential breaches.

Kenan Frager, VP of Marketing at Asimily, warns that vulnerable IoT devices continue to be a glaring cybersecurity weak spot for many enterprises. He opines that businesses are lured by the benefits the devices offer but do not take the necessary effort to check if such technologies are sufficiently secure.

“Regardless of industry, an attack on IoT infrastructure can and will result in operational downtime, loss of IP, loss of revenue, and reputational harm.”

Kenan Frager

He notes that regulatory compliance adds another layer of pressure, with steep fines and sanctions looming for breaches that affect HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIST, SOC 2, and other increasingly stringent mandates.

Report findings

Breach tactics continue evolving: Cybercriminals seeking confidential proprietary data to sell for financial gain look for and infiltrate vulnerable and often-unsecured IoT devices to establish initial access to an enterprise’s network.

That tactic supports ransomware attacks as well, with criminals gaining access via IoT endpoints, encrypting data, and extorting ransoms. In other cases, nation-state-sponsored groups are motivated to shut down or disrupt the services of their targets.

A common tactic is harvesting vast fleets of vulnerable IoT devices to create botnets and utilize them to conduct DDoS attacks. Attackers also know they can rely on unresolved legacy vulnerabilities, as 34 of the 39 most-used IoT exploits have been present in devices for at least three years.

Routers are the most targeted IoT devices, accounting for 75% of all IoT infections. Hackers exploit routers as a stepping stone to access other connected devices within a network. Security cameras and IP cameras are the second most targeted devices, making up 15% of all attacks.

Other commonly targeted devices include digital signage, media players, digital video recorders, printers, and smart lighting. The Asimily report, IoT Device Security in 2024: The High Cost of Doing Nothing also highlights the especially consequential risks associated with specialised industry equipment, including devices critical to patient care in healthcare (including blood glucose monitors and pacemakers), real-time monitoring devices in manufacturing, and water quality sensors in municipalities.

Cyber insurers are capping payouts. Cybersecurity insurance is becoming more expensive and difficult to obtain as cyberattacks become more common. More insurers are now requiring businesses to have strong IoT security and risk management in place to qualify for coverage—and increasingly denying or capping coverage for those that do not meet certain thresholds.

Among the reasons why cyber insurers deny coverage, a lack of security protocols is the most common, at 43%. Not following compliance procedures accounts for 33% of coverage denials. Even if insured, though, reputational damage remains a risk: 80% of a business’s customers will defect if they do not believe their data is secure.

Manufacturing is now the top target: Cybercriminals are increasingly focusing their attention on the manufacturing, finance, and energy industries. Retail, education, healthcare, and government organizations remain popular targets, while media and transportation have been de-emphasized over the past couple of years.

“There’s a clear and urgent need for more businesses to prioritise a more thorough risk management strategy capable of handling the unique challenges of the IoT,” said Shankar Somasundaram, CEO, Asimily.

“While organisations often struggle with the sheer volume of vulnerabilities in their IoT device fleets, crafting effective risk KPIs and deploying tools to gain visibility into device behaviour empowers them to prioritise and apply targeted fixes.”

Shankar Somasundaram

He added that this approach, coupled with a deeper understanding of attacker behaviour, enables teams to distinguish between immediate threats, manageable risks, and non-existent dangers.

“The right strategy equips organizations to focus efforts where they matter most, maximising their resources while ensuring the security of their IoT ecosystem at scale,” he concluded.

The post Rising risks from accelerated use of unchecked IoT in enterprise appeared first on FutureIoT.

Smart parking utilises a combination of sensors and real-time data to provide road users with information on closest available parking spaces and prices, through either signage, apps or dashboards. This helps reduce congestion and emissions produced by vehicles searching for suitable parking spaces.

Dynamic pricing vital in reducing city congestion

The report urges city municipalities to seriously consider investing in and implementing smart parking initiatives within highly congested cities. The advantages surrounding dynamic pricing in smart parking can not only be used to strategically increase revenue, but also have the ability to ease ongoing congestion issues. This is achieved by lowering prices in less congested parking areas; making them more attractive to drivers.

Research author Cara Malone commented: “With more data than ever available and the low latency that 5G provides, parking solutions have become highly responsive. In cities where on-street parking is a major issue, dynamic signage can be deployed to utilise available parking more efficiently at quieter times; significantly reducing congestion.”

Data analytics to optimise transit routes 

Juniper Research recommends smart parking vendors offer data analytics services to municipalities and governments as a priority. This data is critical to analysing parking and occupancy patterns, which can be used to optimise transit routes and development; helping shift citizens to public transport and providing significant value for cities.

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The latest Nozomi Networks Labs OT & IoT Security Report revealed that “network scans” topped the list of network anomalies and attack alerts, followed closely by “TCP flood” attacks which involve sending large amounts of traffic to systems aiming to cause damage by bringing those systems down or making them inaccessible.

“TCP flood” and “anomalous packets” alert types exhibited significant increases in both total alerts and averages per customer in the last six months, increasing more than 2x and 6x respectively. 

"These trends should serve as a warning that attackers are adopting more sophisticated methods to directly target critical infrastructure, and could be indicative of rising global hostilities,” said Chris Grove, director of cybersecurity strategy at Nozomi Networks.

He posited that the significant uptick in anomalies could mean that the threat actors are getting past the first line of defence while penetrating deeper than many would have initially believed, which would require a high level of sophistication. “The defenders have gotten better at protecting against the basics, but these alerts tell us that the attackers are quickly evolving to bypass them,” he added.

Alerts on access control and authorization threats jumped 123% over the previous reporting period. In this category “multiple unsuccessful logins” and “brute force attack” alerts increased 71% and 14% respectively.

This trend highlights the continued challenges in unauthorized access attempts, showing that identity and access management in OT and other challenges associated with user passwords persist.

The top critical threat activity seen in real-world environments over the last six months:

1.            Network Anomalies and Attacks – 38% of all alerts

2.            Authentication and Password Issues – 19% of all alerts

3.            Access Control and Authorization Problems – 10% of all alerts

4.            Operational Technology (OT) Specific Threats – 7% of all alerts

5.            Suspicious or Unexpected Network Behaviour – 6% of all alerts

ICS vulnerabilities

With this spike in network anomalies top of mind, Nozomi Networks Labs has detailed the industries that should be on highest alert, based on analysis of all ICS security advisories released by CISA over the past six months.

Manufacturing topped the list with the number of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) in that sector rising to 621, an alarming 230% increase over the previous reporting period. Manufacturing, energy and water/wastewater remained the most vulnerable industries for a

third consecutive reporting period – though the total number of vulnerabilities reported in the

The energy sector dropped 46% and Water/Wastewater vulnerabilities dropped 16%. Commercial Facilities and Communications moved into the top five, replacing Food & Agriculture and Chemicals (which both dropped out of the top 10).

Healthcare & Public Health, Government Facilities, Transportation Systems and Emergency Services all made the top 10.

In the second half of 2023:

• CISA released 196 new ICS advisories covering 885 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) – up 38% over the previous six-month period
• 74 vendors were impacted – up 19%
• Out-of-Bounds Read and Out-of-Bounds Write vulnerabilities remained in the top CWEs for the second consecutive reporting period – both are susceptible to several different attacks including buffer overflow attacks

Data from IoT Honeypots

Findings reveal that malicious IoT botnets remain active this year, and botnets continue to use default credentials in attempts to access IoT devices. From July through December 2023, it was revealed that:

• An average of 712 unique attacks daily (a 12% decline in the daily average compared to the previous reporting period) – the highest attack day hit 1,860 on October 6.
• Top attacker IP addresses were associated with China, the United States, South Korea, India and Brazil.
• Brute-force attempts remain a popular technique to gain system access – default credentials remain one of the main ways threat actors gain access to IoT. Remote Code Execution (RCE) also remains a popular technique – frequently used in targeted attacks, as well as in the propagation of various types of malicious software.

The post Beware of network anomalies and attacks appeared first on FutureIoT.

At the top of Marr’s list of IoT trends is security. He posits that these billions of connected IoT devices represent a cybersecurity risk, putting security and privacy at the top of the totem pole of trends.

Another trend he sees is AI-augmented IoT. “IoT devices are not just connected they're becoming smarter. Imagine smart gadgets that communicate efficiently with each other preventing digital chaos,” predicts Marr.

He predicts that the smartwatch will become our new personal assistant thanks to generative AI in wearables – possibly spelling the end of AI assistants like Siri and Alexa.

The post IoT trends in 2024 appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research predicts the global installed base of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in warehouses will surpass 500,000 by 2030.

“There are now many options to automate a warehouse. Both stationary and mobile automation solutions have continued to expand to new form factors and are becoming more effective as Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing grows,” explains Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

He estimates that new warehouse buildings dropped by as much as 35% in 2023 compared to 2022 because of economic headwinds and demand shifts, with the reduction expected to continue into the first half of 2024.

However, he believes that as construction picks up later this year, incorporating automation into new builds will be top of mind for organisations.

“While automation is of key interest, companies should continue to invest heavily in augmenting their manual workers with digital devices and wearables to boost worker experience while introducing automation for basic movement tasks. The most efficient warehouses are those that focus on both areas,” concludes Wiggin.

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ABI Research forecasts that by 2026, the installed base of connected devices will reach more than 70 billion installations, creating an expansive IoT attack vector in the IoT environment.

Most of these devices are low-power, storage limited, and with weak computational power, which means these devices are increasingly connecting to the cloud environment for centralized storage, data analytics, real-time monitoring, remote access, and updates in firmware and software.

Connecting to the cloud environment creates yet another compromise vector for these devices.  An effective IoT device-to-cloud security strategy should target security in three vital areas: device, network, and cloud.

“Device security often means securing the chipset and the data stored inside the device from being breached. Network security securely transfers data between the IoT device and the cloud. Cloud security allows the data to avoid intrusion while sitting in the cloud,” says Michael Amiri, senior industrial and IoT cybersecurity analyst at ABI Research.

In addition to embedded security in device design and cloud provider security offerings, end-users need to ensure the implementation of robust authentication practices, especially given the nature of remote access and remote work regarding the IoT environment.

Growth opportunities in network security

In such an environment, Amiri explains, “Security vendors need to include cloud security solutions at the forefront of their marketing strategies. Emphasising cloud solutions is fundamental in a market where IoT devices increasingly rely on the cloud for storage, data handling, computation, remote management, and updates.”

IoT security technology is already experiencing a surge in demand, which will probably accelerate if new regulations for IoT and cloud connections are passed. A case in point is a recent Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) mandate for medical device manufacturers in the U.S. ABI Research spoke to SBOM service providers, and they unanimously believe regulation has been a significant driver for their services.

“An explosive increase in IoT connections and devices is evident in the next three to four years. North America and the Asia region show the highest level of growth, followed by Western Europe. These will be the largest markets for IoT and cloud security solutions. Traditional markets for IoT security solutions have been the consumer, financial, enterprise, and government verticals. Yet automobile, healthcare, and manufacturing have seen a strong push for IoT security,” Amiri concludes. 

The post Laying the groundwork for secure IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

The move is part of the beverage firm’s digital transformation strategy. Coca-Cola says by introducing Industrial 4.0 capabilities into its plant, it will be able to build supply chain resilience into its system and increase plant capacity in anticipation of future growth opportunities.

XSQUARE’s Springer AGVs have been integrated into the plant’s shop floor and automated warehouse to transport finished goods within the premises. The forklifts have been incorporated with Coca-Cola’s existing sub-systems and operate in hybrid working environments using XSQUARE’s Xymphony software, which allows for seamless data interoperability and increases operational efficiency.

Gerardo Artavia, plant general manager at Coca-Cola Singapore, says the introduction of the AGVs is part of the company’s efforts to continuously improve processes, create higher value-added jobs for its workforce, and contribute to Singapore’s vibrant ecosystem for advanced manufacturing.

Jens Bohnwagner, CEO of XSQUARE, says as consumer expectations in the region rapidly evolve, warehouses must step up their capabilities. “Our technology is not just about automation; it's about enhancing human efforts and ensuring efficiency in every aspect.”

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Below are Seagate’s predictions for data storage in the AI era

As generative AI becomes more democratized, data storage will drive AI success.

Businesses will be saving more operational data to teach AI, machine learning, and deep learning models moving forward; more companies will train models on both external and internal data so they can benefit from their proprietary information.

Hyperscale tech giants are expected to accelerate investment into cloud capacity to support AI program maturation. AI will also drive increased IT spending and data storage demand in the enterprise, as businesses seek a competitive edge through improvements to productivity and efficiency.

Data centre refreshes will benefit from leaps forward in hard drive areal density.

With nearly 90% of data in cloud data centres residing on hard drives, there is an opportunity to replace fleets of lower-capacity hard drives with higher-capacity drives, as and when refresh cycles come.

This includes the use of heat-resisted magnetic recording (HAMR) in high-density drives, which will mean significant power and space savings and massive TCO efficiencies—including CPU, RAM, and floor space. Not to mention help reduce carbon footprint with more durable and energy-efficient storage.

Flash and hard drive technology will continue to coexist in the data centre in 2024.

The exponential data growth will drive demand for mass-capacity hard drives, whose synergy with flash storage will continue to support modern workloads. Hard drives will remain the most cost-effective option for most capacity-centric storage tasks.

Seagate claims hard drive storage will offer mass data storage at less than one-fifth the cost of comparable all-flash solutions on a per bit basis, and that the value gap will not come close to closing next year—or over the next decade.

Data storage will shape three major applications of the future.

Edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT): The integration of edge computing with IoT technologies is pushing the boundaries of data storage, demanding unprecedented scalability, latency, and operational flexibility to correlate real-time data with vast historical datasets for immediate analysis and forecasting.

Quantum computing and data processing: The rise of quantum computing demands new data storage architectures to prevent data loss due to the volatile nature of qubits. This will require quantum-safe cryptographic solutions.

Genomic data and precision medicine: A single human genome requires up to 200GB of storage space. As this data accumulates across millions of individuals, healthcare systems face logistical hurdles and ethical and privacy concerns.

Advanced analytics tools using machine learning algorithms are also being fine-tuned to analyse this vast amount of data swiftly and accurately. This evolving data infrastructure aims to pave the way for a future in healthcare where genomic profiles guide everything from preventive measures to targeted therapies, thereby enhancing patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.

The post Seagate: No AI without data appeared first on FutureIoT.

“When we look at the backdrop for 2024, we are still seeing many of the 2023 trends impacting fortunes,” says Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer at ABI Research. “High inflation, cost pressures, and reduced demand continue. Major markets like the US, Germany, and China face extended manufacturing recessions. Monetary policy's focus on curbing inflation hampers tech funding. Yet, there are signs of hope: inflation is dropping, central bank policies might change, and job markets recover. The global political landscape is the one outlier not on the trajectory to positive movement. That withstanding, 2024 could be a watershed year as we collectively turn a corner. It won’t be smooth, and it won’t be linear, but 2024 holds the promise of technology providing the acceleration engine to move us out of the past few years in the doldrums.”

What won’t happen in 2024?

Enterprise 5G

5G will fail to attract enterprise interest in 2024 – just like in 2023. In deciding about investments in connectivity technologies, enterprises are much more interested in use cases and outcomes than in the name of the connectivity technology—especially because the implementing enterprises are not connectivity technology experts.

Mainstream foldable devices

Thinner and lighter designs, better hinges, crease-free displays, fold and flip form factors, and larger cover screens—these features are convincing consumers to switch to foldable devices.

This is not for lack of trying, as the roster of competitor foldable devices is impressive, including flip and fold variants.

Network APIs

Despite the efforts of GSMA's Open Gateway and CAMARA initiatives, Network APIs will not likely create significant business opportunity. And will suffer the very same fate as GSMA’s OneAPI project in 2012, which was abandoned soon after it was launched.

It is true that the telco operators desperately need enterprise revenue and use cases in 2024, but the same problems that faced network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) a decade ago remain today: application developers are already addressing their needs through either aggregators or hyperscalers. Releasing fancy new network API initiatives will not automatically attract developer attention.

Generative AI at the edge

Enterprises will deploy generative AI in the cloud but not at the edge. The challenge with running generative AI at the enterprise edge will be in terms of selecting a good use case, deploying the correct generative AI framework/model, and balancing Return on Investment (ROI) expectations.

Robotaxis

Don’t expect robotaxi operations in 2024. The complexity of unsupervised autonomous driving in the real world is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in interactions with more vulnerable road users.

What you can expect is greater scrutiny following the Cruise robotaxi accident.

“ABI Research is privileged to sit in a powerful position between the tech innovator communities and those companies looking to utilize technology in their operations. Our goal is to provide the key decision tools businesses need to act with speed, appropriateness, and efficiency. 2024 will be challenging, but it also holds great promise and opportunity,” Carlaw concludes.

The post Technologies with no hope in 2024 appeared first on FutureIoT.

However, these devices often lack proper security controls and are insufficiently tested for vulnerabilities. Sophisticated cyber adversaries increasingly attempt to exploit these devices, as evidenced by a growing number of CISA ICS advisories identifying significant threats to many life- and safety-critical devices.

The EMB3D Threat Model, a collaborative effort by MITRE, Red Balloon Security, and Narf Industries, provides a common understanding of the threats posed to embedded devices and the security mechanisms required to mitigate them.

“Together, we are committed to enhancing the cyber posture of critical infrastructure sectors that rely on Operational Technology (OT) technologies. This collaboration exemplifies the power of collective expertise and underscores MITRE's dedication to advancing the resilience and security of vital systems in today's interconnected world.”

What is EMB3D

EMB3D aligns with and expands on several existing models, including Common Weakness Enumeration, MITRE ATT&CK, and Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, but with a specific embedded device focus.

It provides a cultivated knowledge base of cyber threats to devices, including those observed in the field environment or demonstrated through proofs-of-concept and/or theoretic research. These threats are mapped to device properties to help users develop and tailor accurate threat models for specific embedded devices.

For each threat, suggested mitigations are exclusively focused on technical mechanisms that device vendors should implement to protect against the given threat with the goal of building security into the device.

EMB3D is intended to offer a comprehensive framework for the entire security ecosystem—device vendors, manufacturers, asset owners, security researchers, and testing organisations.

“Utilities have been forced to extreme measures to secure our infrastructures because of concerns about ICS device insecurities,” says Niyo Pearson of ONEGas.

“The EMB3D model will provide a means for ICS device manufacturers to understand the evolving threat landscape and potential available mitigations earlier in the design cycle, resulting in more inherently secure devices. This will eliminate or reduce the need to ‘bolt on’ security after the fact, resulting in more secure infrastructure and reduced security costs.”

EMB3D is intended to be a living framework, where new threats and mitigations are added and updated over time as new threat actors emerge and security researchers discover new categories of vulnerabilities, threats, and security defences.

Anticipated to be released in early 2024, EMB3D will be a public community resource, where all information is openly available, and the security community can submit additions and revisions.

“We encourage device vendors, asset owners, researchers, and academia to review the threat model and share feedback, ensuring our collective efforts remain at the forefront of safeguarding our interconnected world,” said Yosry Barsoum, vice president and director, Centre for Securing the Homeland at MITRE.

“Insights, expertise, and a collaborative spirit are invaluable as we work together to strengthen the resilience of our digital infrastructure. Together, we can build a safer and more secure future.”

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From ensuring secure financial transactions to enhancing border control and streamlining retail interactions, advanced biometrics' ability to provide robust security while improving user experience marks a new era in sectors such as financial services, government & law enforcement, retail, automotive, healthcare, and consumer goods, says GlobalData.

Saurabh Daga, associate project manager of disruptive tech at GlobalData, comments: “Biometric technologies are transforming various sectors by uniquely identifying individuals through traits like fingerprints, voice, and facial patterns. The integration of AI and machine learning has boosted their accuracy and ability to detect fraud, especially in finance and healthcare. As privacy regulations evolve, the providers and implementors of biometric technologies are also adapting upgraded secure and ethical data practices. This blend of innovation and security is positioning biometrics as a key ingredient in future technology solutions, balancing user experience with individual rights.”

GlobalData’s “Advanced biometrics: emerging trends and technologies in authentication” report delves into over 60 real-life implementations of biometric technologies. The report categorizes these implementations based on the end-use sectors and applications.

Daga says “Advanced biometrics are likely to be a game-changer for a multitude of industries. Their ability to enhance security, streamline processes, and offer personalized experiences is reshaping the way businesses and governments operate.”

“By harnessing the power of advanced biometrics in combination with technologies such as AI, blockchain, and IoT, industries can unlock new levels of security and convenience, ultimately shaping a more secure and user-friendly future,” he concluded.

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Getting better with time

IoT elevators are proving to be more efficient than traditional elevators compared to next-generation elevators.

With a growth rate valued at US$18.4 Billion, in 2022 the hardware demand has boomed significantly in the past few years. Based on the data that is being collected from daily usage of elevators, artificial intelligence is currently being used to assist both operators and mechanical contractors in keeping up with their daily routines finding ways to manage the flow of elevator traffic better and finding ways to prevent problems before they occur.

The integration of third-party systems with elevators is expected to become more prevalent as technology develops in the future. In addition, construction companies are raising their demands for efficient and safe technologies in the global elevator market.

The growth of the market will be driven by the increase in urbanization and the increased demand for residential & commercial amenities will significantly raise the market for IoT in elevators markets. These trends will likely lead to traction for the IoT market in elevators.

Devices powered by IoT technology can manage big data streams and perform predictive maintenance in elevators.

Key takeaways

• India to emerge as the dominant IoT in elevators market, reaching US$ 6.0 Billion by 2032
• China is the fastest-growing market, registering a CAGR of 14.6% across the decade

By component type, hardware to register maximum IoT in elevator usage, growing at a 12.1% CAGR

Preventive maintenance to emerge as the top application, growing at a rate of 13.9% through 2032

“With growing technology, AI and machine learning can be used to simulate the adoption and growth of smart elevators in the future,” remarks an analyst at Fact.MR.

Competitive landscape

Prominent manufacturers of IoT in elevators are eyeing technological innovations to provide their customers with the most accurate and precise elevator system arrangements. To enhance their presence across significant geographies, companies are forging collaborative agreements with government entities.

The need for smarter elevators has led to innovative IoT solutions being developed by several players in the current market landscape which will further boost various innovations over time.

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In the report, Cybersecurity in Medical Devices, GlobalData forecasts the market for cybersecurity in medical devices to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% between 2022 and 2027, reaching US$1.1 billion.

Persistent challenges that must be addressed

There are several cybersecurity challenges in the medical devices industry, including legacy devices and outdated software. The vulnerabilities in medical devices pose significant risks, as they can compromise patient safety, privacy, and the overall integrity of healthcare systems.

Legacy devices are older medical devices that operate on outdated software, making them hard to update and ultimately vulnerable to cyberattacks. Additionally, a key piece of cybersecurity is training healthcare professionals who are using the tools that are at risk. Healthcare professionals should be able to recognize cyber threats so that action can be taken quickly, avoiding the potential detrimental outcomes of cyberattacks.

Alexandra Murdoch, senior medical analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The increasing number of digital health tools and the need for cybersecurity is important. However, as many digital health devices are interconnected, there is a larger attack surface, putting medical devices at higher risk of cyberattacks.” 

According to GlobalData, the growth is largely driven by the increasing connectivity and digital integration of medical devices, which makes them more susceptible for cyberattacks.

While cyberattacks are more likely with the adoption of digital health and connected devices, several strategies can be employed to mitigate said risks.

Murdoch explains: “Manufacturers should ensure that their devices are compatible with regular software updates and patching to address vulnerabilities. Additionally, implementing encryption and authentication mechanisms can safeguard data transmitted between devices, and using network segmentation to isolate medical devices from other critical systems can limit the potential impact of cyberattacks.”

As medical devices advance, addressing cybersecurity concerns is necessary to ensure patient safety and to maintain the integrity of healthcare systems. Collaboration, awareness, and the adoption of robust cybersecurity measures are essential components of a comprehensive strategy to mitigate risks.

Murdoch concludes: “By implementing these strategies, the medical device industry can work toward creating a more secure and resilient healthcare system.”

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Schneider Electric will integrate Hailo Technologies’ advanced processors within Schneider Electric solutions. By integrating the Hailo-8 AI processor within its industrial automation solutions, Schneider Electric will unlock new intelligence at the edge and drive innovation for its customers, with significant and immediate improvements across several common manufacturing tasks.

Anticipated benefits because of the integration

• Pick and place: achieving object detection tasks six times faster than central processing units (CPUs)
• Quality control: running classification processes 20 times faster than a CPU
• Yield optimization: improving output and throughput, reducing waste by 15% on average

Hailo Technologies is leading the AI chip industry for edge devices, with

Hailo makes technology that enables new computing possibilities for sectors like automotive, security, retail, and manufacturing. Its Hailo-8 processor is an efficient and compact AI processor with low power consumption, enabling real-time, high-accuracy data analysis at the edge.

“We are always looking to partner with companies that can help us deliver the most cutting-edge solution available on the market,” said Aurelien LeSant, senior vice president of innovation & technology and chief technology officer for industrial automation at Schneider Electric.

He explained that the Hailo collaboration reinforces our commitment to innovation and next-generation technology. It signifies an important step in delivering intelligent, energy-efficient solutions that will shape the future of industries.

“We are proud to work with Schneider Electric, an industry pioneer that has recognized the transformative potential of integrating AI capabilities into its industrial automation solutions,” said Eyal Barnea, VP of business development at Hailo Technologies. “Our technology will empower its customers to create new powerful, cost-efficient, and smart AI-based solutions quickly and easily.”

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While traditional RAN vendors currently dominate the mMIMO market, momentum for Open RAN is building as the technology matures, with pioneering deployments from operators like Rakuten and DISH.

“Advanced AI and ML techniques are poised to help close the performance gap by enhancing key capabilities such as beamforming and channel estimation,” states 5G, 6G and Open RAN research analyst Larbi Belkhit. “Integration of these models, likely in the Distributed Unit (DU), will be instrumental for Open RAN vendors to maximize spectrum efficiency.”

Companies such as DeepSig are already demonstrating that AI-powered software can improve Open RAN mMIMO efficiency. Its OmniPHY solution leverages ML for improved channel estimation, beam optimization, and interference mitigation in 5G networks.

As AI/ML matures, such solutions applied to Open RAN mMIMO will boost performance and energy consumption closer to traditional RAN levels.

Belkhit predicts that the integration of AI and ML techniques, along with other innovations in energy efficiency and GPU acceleration, will accelerate performance improvements closer to traditional RAN networks.

“This will remove critical barriers to Open RAN adoption and pave the way for flexible, interoperable 5G deployments for network operators rather than reliance on radio network equipment from traditional vendors currently dominating the market, such as Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia," Belkhit concludes.

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There are nine operational AutoStore warehouse projects with four more in the planning stage. This will position DHL Supply Chain as one of AutoStore’s largest 3PL clients, reinforcing their commitment to digitalisation and automation.

The nine existing Systems effectively operate 800,000 bins, with the forthcoming four Systems elevating the total number of bins to a remarkable 1.2 million. In the future, DHL intends to construct five further facilities in addition to those already in operation or planning.

This innovative automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) technology has been developed to efficiently manage and optimise inventory using vastly reduced warehouse space. Its highly modular and scalable design makes it a preferred solution for e-commerce and businesses handling smaller products such as fashion and tech items.

The partnership aims to accelerate the implementation of this technology that enhances abilities to meet diverse client needs.

A fleet of more than 1,000 robots will enhance operational efficiency and throughput

Markus Voss, COO and CIO at DHL Supply Chain, emphasises the importance of this collaboration: "We are pleased to expand our existing relationship with AutoStore as we continue to implement our digitalisation and automation strategy in a growing number of warehouses, allowing us to better and faster serve our customers.”

He commented that AutoStore’s standardised and modular technology perfectly aligns with DHL’s aim to make operations more efficient, enabling swift scalability and adaptability across various use cases and end markets – a crucial factor for DHL as a third-party logistics provider.

“Through a standardised approach and dedicated stock availability we will be able to significantly drive down implementation times,” he added.

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Warehousing today, of course, is much more convenient with innovations around track and trace, robot automation, wearables and warehouse management systems (WMS) coming together under hybrid, multi-cloud to facilitate improved optimisation of assets.

The Zebra Technologies paper, Warehousing Vision Study 2023, reports that warehouse leaders are investing in technology and intelligent automation to increase inventory visibility and resiliency.

State of warehousing in ASEAN

Vivien Tay, vertical solutions marketing lead with Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific, observes that while warehouses in the ASEAN market are growing, growth rates have slowed when compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She recalls that during the pandemic when people stayed home, there was a sharp increase in online shopping. Businesses responded by stocking up on inventory and building more warehouses. Post-pandemic, fewer new warehouses are being built.

“The ASEAN market is very diverse. On one hand, we have the developed markets like Singapore, which are more advanced in their modernisation plans, compared to a less developed market like Vietnam, where most businesses we speak to have a general understanding of modernisation but are unclear of where and how to begin,” said Tay.

She cited the example of Alpro Pharmacy, a diversified community pharmacy chain in Malaysia, that saw the limits of pen and paper to manage inventory movements. Increased demand promoted the chain to deploy mobile computers and RFID. The modernisation increased the operational efficiency of order fulfilment in the e-commerce division by 80% and allowed them to meet the increase in orders without additional workers.

Challenges to modernising

The path to modernisation is not going to be easy. Tay noted that even in mature markets like Singapore, there remain industries that hold on to their legacy warehouse management systems. These do not integrate well with modern devices in the warehouse.

She opined that employees are the most important asset of a warehouse. “For many warehouses, associates have often been working for a long time and are used to manual operations, which may cause them to be averse towards adopting new technology on short notice,” she continued.

“The barriers to entry are often not as high as they’d think, as there are some devices in the warehouse that are specifically designed to be user-friendly, such as the Android devices which use the same operating system as many smartphones out there.”

Vivien Tay

She posits that adopting a phased approach is the key to implementing modernisation plans smoothly. “Warehouses that want to kickstart the digitalisation process can start with basic scanners before moving on to sensor-based technologies like RFID,” she suggested.

Automation and robotics in ASEAN

Mordor Intelligence estimates the warehouse robotics market at US$6.74 billion in 2023 and forecasts this to more than double to US$15.22 billion by 2028.

The analyst cites the emergence of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the advent of a network of connected systems as helping industries perform a multitude of tasks, such as material batching, picking, ordering, packaging, warehouse security, and inspection, as well as improve the operational efficiency by huge margins.

Tay says for operators who have not begun their automation journey, the main challenge they might face is the integration of hardware devices and software solutions.

She opined that empowering employees is also a key aspect to consider. She adds that once operators receive the buy-in of their associates and begin upskilling them with smart devices, associates can move on to engage in higher-value tasks in the warehouse.

“The other challenge I foresee is related to the e-commerce boom. While the e-commerce boom is slowing down due to growing competition in the space, many businesses are struggling with returns management. Efficient handling of returns management is key to managing evolving consumer demands,” she continues.

In terms of robotics, she comments that while markets like China are ahead of the curve and deploying robots beyond the warehouse, such as in consumer-facing roles in shopping malls and restaurants, it is not as prevalent in ASEAN yet.

“The main obstacle to the widespread adoption of robotics in ASEAN is typically the cost in investment and lack of knowledge in the implementation and integration with existing systems,” says Tay.

Sustainability and warehouse modernisation

According to Tay, sustainability has emerged as one of the top priorities for warehouse decision-makers in the upcoming years, led by recent government regulations and sustainability directives, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and Net Zero by 2050 commitments.

Southeast Asia is beginning to catch up on sustainable warehouse operations, says Tay, deploying technologies like solar panels, efficient lighting, and connecting to energy monitoring software to maximise efficiency.

Warehousing in 2024 and beyond

A central theme of Zebra’s 2023 Warehousing Vision Study is supply chain agility and resilience. The study found that decision-makers are accelerating modernisation projects to meet evolving consumer demands and reduce operational challenges.

Tay explains that returns management is one of the top challenges that businesses face, especially for e-commerce. “Interestingly, research has shown that return rates for e-commerce sales are between 15 and 20%, more than twice the median return rate for all sales categories,” she comments. “Decision-makers recognise they are under pressure to improve performance in returns management, inventory management, and warehouse productivity and output while adjusting to shifting consumer e-commerce demands.”

According to Tay, the warehousing landscape will continue to expand over the next five years. A slowing e-commerce boom notwithstanding warehousing will continue to experience an upward trend.

She predicts that businesses will build more warehouses closer to the consumers, moving away from a large, centralised warehouse system to multiple smaller distribution centres. “Another trend we see in last-mile delivery is the availability of drop-off options for consumers,” she continued.

On the topic of automation, businesses are beginning to empower their employees with automation and technology. The study concurs with this – as it found that employees are happier when they are equipped with technology.

RFID will continue to be a key technology in the warehouse, helping to increase inventory visibility and reduce out-of-stocks. Robots will also increasingly have a larger role to play in the warehouse alongside humans, taking over simple tasks in the picking process to free up associate’s time to move up the value chain.

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Alongside huge development attention that has been devoted to connectivity and the selection of the right network, a third area – the antenna – needs to be given equal attention because of the fundamental impact it has on device performance.

However, antenna decisions are often neglected until the end of the development process, resulting in unnecessary compromises and sub-optimal siting of antennas that could have been avoided with better planning and design.

This Quectel white paper addresses the importance of antenna decisions. It examines the differences between embedded antennas vs external antennas, looks at the common mistakes in antenna specification and design, and gives tips for the designing of embedded antennas and how to overcome the challenges faced.

Review topics:

• Embedded vs external antennas
• Antenna location
• Deployment criteria
• Performance requirements
• Ease of installation
• Tips for embedded antenna design success

Click on the link to download your copy of this paper.

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The Quectel paper describes how, as volumes of IoT devices grow, there are now many more use cases that justify the adoption of combo antennas. Until now, the adoption of combo antennas has been constrained due to their higher cost than traditional single-technology antennas.

However, although combo antennas are relatively complex to develop, they are simple to install because only a single mounting is required for the device to then be able to access multiple forms of connectivity.

This results in lower cost of operation and faster time to market for projects that utilize combo antennas than for deployments that need to connect multiple different antennas.

Click here to download this white paper.

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Adding to the observation, Gartner distinguished VP analyst and chief of research Chris Howard says CIOs and other executives must evaluate the impacts and benefits of strategic technology trends, but this is no small task given the increasing rate of technological innovation.

“For example, generative and other types of AI offer new opportunities and drive several trends. But deriving business value from the durable use of AI requires a disciplined approach to widespread adoption along with attention to the risks.” Chris Howard

The top strategic technology trends for 2024 are:

Democratised Generative AI

Generative AI (GenAI) is becoming democratised by the confluence of massively pretrained models, cloud computing and open source, making these models accessible to workers worldwide. By 2026, Gartner predicts that over 80% of enterprises will have used GenAI APIs and models and/or deployed GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% in early 2023.

GenAI applications can make vast sources of information — internal and external — accessible and available to business users. This means the rapid adoption of GenAI will significantly democratise knowledge and skills in the enterprise. Large language models enable enterprises to connect their workers with knowledge in a conversational style with rich semantic understanding.

AI Trust, Risk and Security Management

The democratisation of access to AI has made the need for AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (TRiSM) even more urgent and clear. Without guardrails, AI models can rapidly generate compounding negative effects that spin out of control, overshadowing any positive performance and societal gains that AI enables. AI TRiSM provides tooling for ModelOps, proactive data protection, AI-specific security, model monitoring (including monitoring for data drift, model drift, and/or unintended outcomes) and risk controls for inputs and outputs to third-party models and applications.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, enterprises that apply AI TRiSM controls will increase the accuracy of their decision-making by eliminating up to 80% of faulty and illegitimate information.

AI-augmented development

AI-augmented development is the use of AI technologies, such as GenAI and machine learning, to aid software engineers in designing, coding and testing applications. AI-assisted software engineering improves developer productivity and enables development teams to address the increasing demand for software to run the business.

These AI-infused development tools allow software engineers to spend less time writing code, so they can spend more time on more strategic activities such as the design and composition of compelling business applications.

Intelligent applications

Intelligent applications include intelligence — which Gartner defines as learned adaptation to respond appropriately and autonomously — as a capability. This intelligence can be utilised in many use cases to better augment or automate work.

As a foundational capability, intelligence in applications comprises various AI-based services, such as machine learning, vector stores and connected data. Consequently, intelligent applications deliver experiences that dynamically adapt to the user.

A clear need and demand for intelligent applications exist. In the 2023 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey, 26% cited the talent shortage as the most damaging risk for their organisation. Attracting and retaining talent is CEOs’ top workforce priority, while AI was named the technology that will most significantly impact their industries over the next three years.

Augmented-connected workforce

The augmented-connected workforce (ACWF) is a strategy for optimising the value derived from human workers. The need to accelerate and scale talent is driving the ACWF trend. The ACWF uses intelligent applications and workforce analytics to provide everyday context and guidance to support the workforce’s experience, well-being, and ability to develop its skills. At the same time, the ACWF drives business results and positive impact on key stakeholders.

Through 2027, 25% of CIOs will use augmented-connected workforce initiatives to reduce time to competency by 50% for key roles.

Continuous threat exposure management

Continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) is a pragmatic and systemic approach that allows organisations to evaluate the accessibility, exposure and exploitability of an enterprise’s digital and physical assets continually and consistently.

Aligning CTEM assessment and remediation scopes with threat vectors or business projects, rather than an infrastructure component, surfaces not only the vulnerabilities but also unpatchable threats.

By 2026, Gartner predicts that organisations prioritising their security investments based on a CTEM program will realise a two-thirds reduction in breaches.

Machine customers

Machine customers (also called 'custobots') are nonhuman economic actors that can autonomously negotiate and purchase goods and services in exchange for payment. By 2028, 15 billion connected products will exist with the potential to behave as customers, with billions more to follow in the coming years.

This growth trend will be the source of trillions of dollars in revenues by 2030 and eventually become more significant than the arrival of digital commerce. Strategic considerations should include opportunities to either facilitate these algorithms and devices or even create new custobots.

Sustainable Technology

Sustainable technology is a framework of digital solutions used to enable environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes that support long-term ecological balance and human rights. The use of technologies such as AI, cryptocurrency, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing is driving concern about the related energy consumption and environmental impacts.

This makes it more critical to ensure that the use of IT becomes more efficient, circular and sustainable. Gartner predicts that by 2027, 25% of CIOs will see their compensation linked to their sustainable technology impact.

Platform Engineering

Platform engineering is the discipline of building and operating self-service internal development platforms. Each platform is a layer, created and maintained by a dedicated product team, designed to support the needs of its users by interfacing with tools and processes. The goal of platform engineering is to optimise productivity, and the user experience and accelerate delivery of business value.

Industry Cloud Platforms

By 2027, Gartner predicts more than 70% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms (ICPs) to accelerate their business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023.

ICPs address industry-relevant business outcomes by combining underlying SaaS, PaaS and IaaS services into a whole product offering with composable capabilities.

These typically include an industry data fabric, a library of packaged business capabilities, composition tools and other platform innovations. ICPs are tailored to cloud proposals specific to an industry and can further be tailored to an organisation’s needs.

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“Weak enforcement of security standards for IoT device manufacturers coupled with the proliferation of shadow IoT devices at the enterprise level poses a significant threat to global organisations. Often, threat actors target ‘unmanaged and unpatched’ devices to gain an initial foothold into the environment,” said Deepen Desai, global CISO and head of security research at Zscaler.

He encourages organisations to enforce zero trust principles when securing IoT and OT devices - never trust, always verify, and assume breach. “Organisations can eliminate lateral movement risk by utilizing continuous discovery and monitoring processes to segment these devices,” he continued.

Consistent growth in attacks

With the steady adoption of IoT and personal connected devices, the report found an increase of over 400% in IoT malware attacks year-over-year. The growth in cyber threats demonstrates cyber criminals’ persistence and ability to adapt to evolving conditions in launching IoT malware attacks.

Additionally, research indicates that cybercriminals are targeting legacy vulnerabilities, with 34 of the 39 most popular IoT exploits specifically directed at vulnerabilities that have existed for over three years.

The Mirai and Gafgyt malware families continue to account for 66% of attack payloads, creating botnets from infected IoT devices that are then used to launch denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against lucrative businesses.

Botnet-driven distributed DDoS attacks are responsible for billions of dollars in financial losses across industries around the globe. In addition, DDoS attacks pose a risk to OT by potentially disrupting critical industrial processes and even endangering human lives.

Industries favoured by attackers

Manufacturing and retail accounted for nearly 52% of IoT device traffic, with 3D printers, geolocation trackers, industrial control devices, automotive multimedia systems, data collection terminals, and payment terminals sending the majority of signals over digital networks.

However, the quantity of device traffic has created opportunities for cybercriminals, and the manufacturing sector now sees an average of 6,000 IoT malware attacks every week.

Moreover, these substantial IoT malware attacks can disrupt critical OT processes, which are integral in many industrial manufacturing plants like automotive, heavy manufacturing, and plastic & rubber.

This creates long-term challenges for security teams at manufacturing businesses but also demonstrates that industrial IoT holds a substantial lead in adopting unique IoT devices (nearly three times more than other sectors). This increase is critical as manufacturing organisations continue adopting IoT tools for automation and digitization of legacy infrastructure.

Education is another sector that suffered from outsized attention from cybercriminals in 2023, with the propagation of unsecured as well as shadow IoT devices within school networks providing attackers with easier access points.

The wealth of personal data stored on their networks has made educational institutions particularly attractive targets, leaving students and administrations vulnerable. In fact, the report found IoT malware attacks in the education sector increased by nearly 1000%.

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The Nokia 20203 Threat Intelligence Report claims that 60% of attacks against telecom mobile networks are linked to IoT bots scanning for vulnerable hosts for use in distributed denial of service attacks.

Impact of unmonitored technology on security

Many say the weakest link is humans. I'd argue that the IoT devices that have been quietly sitting in the business perimeter present just as big a clear and present danger to consumers and enterprises. This has been repeatedly highlighted in cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.

Steven Scheurmann, regional vice president for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks, says the escalation of cyberattacks on IoT and OT devices is a significant concern in ASEAN, with 60% of organisations acknowledging increased security risks associated with IoT. He pointed out that Unit 42's IoT Threat Report highlights that 57% of IoT devices are susceptible to medium to high-severity attacks.

He opined that the primary reason behind this trend is the expansion of the attack surface, as hackers exploit unsecured IoT and OT devices newly connected to networks.

“These devices often lack security updates and configurations, making them easy targets. Also, they may store sensitive personal data, making them attractive to hackers, particularly in sectors like healthcare. This evolving threat landscape is deeply concerning.”

Steven Scheurmann

The sum of the parts is better

It is widely known that IT teams and those with operational technology oversight have not, traditionally, seen the need to work together. However, recent attacks against critical infrastructure and supply chains suggest that threat actors are looking at multiple channels to penetrate an organisation.

“Across ASEAN and globally, organisations possess a multitude of diverse devices, including traditional endpoints like PCs and smartphones, cloud-based applications, and a mix of on-premises and hybrid cloud systems,” said Scheurmann. “In recent years, this fragmentation has become prevalent, resulting in varied configurations, standards, and compliance measures. This lack of uniformity creates vulnerabilities that attackers exploit.”

He suggested that by integrating IoT and OT under the shared responsibility of IT and security departments, enterprises can establish consistency, standardisation, and compliance, making it more challenging for hackers to breach systems.

“While this transition is positive, there is a learning curve involved, and our role is to educate the market on achieving this level of standardisation,” continued Scheurmann.

Factors driving a convergence of oversight

A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the USA noted that hackers targeted government, military, and civilian networks across the Asia Pacific leveraging malware to obtain confidential information. The malware targeted both the data on victim machines as well as audio captured by infected machines’ microphones.

Scheurmann says securing critical infrastructure, like airports and telecommunications, at the national level is paramount to safeguard citizens in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

He pointed out that protecting these vital assets is essential to prevent catastrophic disruptions and ensure public safety.

“The supply chain is another critical aspect, with many organisations reliant on interconnected third-party systems. Disrupting the supply chain can affect the delivery of goods and services, impacting everyone,” he added.

He explained that legacy systems pose unique challenges; identifying and managing them is a fundamental step in cybersecurity. “Without visibility, it's impossible to secure these systems effectively. Addressing these issues is complex but essential for comprehensive security,” he elaborated.

Protecting an expanding attack surface

The pandemic has accelerated organisations’ use of connectivity solutions. As enterprises start to connect IoT devices, sensors and instrumentations into the corporate network to acquire real-time visibility of assets or processes may have had the unintended consequence of exposing an organisation to threats previously not thought of by both security and IT teams.

“5G technology presents an incredible opportunity for organisations to scale services dramatically, impacting various sectors such as manufacturing and healthcare. It enables real-time decision-making on production lines and allows doctors to provide remote guidance in critical medical situations,” said Scheurmann.

He pointed out that the challenge lies in the speed at which data is transferred and shared – a breach could result in data being disseminated and compromised within seconds.

“Moreover, the connectivity of critical infrastructure through 5G raises concerns about potential attacks disrupting vital services like transportation and financial markets,” he posited. Despite these risks, he opined, the focus should be on harnessing 5G's benefits through education, preparation, and expert support, ensuring responsible and transformative use.

Expanding the protection envelope

Asked what steps should organisations then take to mitigate cybersecurity risk related to operational technology and IoT? And, more importantly, who should get involved?

Scheurmann believes that bringing OT and IoT devices into the realm of security and business units offers an opportunity to establish standards, governance, and policies. He added that this includes clear procedures, ongoing training and awareness, and a risk mitigation framework to anticipate and respond to incidents effectively.

He explained that visibility and tracking become crucial as more devices connect, ensuring a swift response to potential attacks. Resilience plays a critical role, ensuring systems can recover swiftly in the event of an attack.

“Delays in system restoration can have a significant impact, such as prolonged ATM network outages affecting everyday transactions for millions of people, emphasising the importance of quick recovery in a robust governance framework,” warned Scheurmann.

Predictions and advice for 2024

Recognising that Asia will continue to experience a shortage in skills and expertise, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity, Scheurmann believes that automation is pivotal for IT departments. He explains that automation ensures consistency in compliance, policy enforcement, and standardisation, allowing IT teams to focus on higher-priority tasks.

“For IT leadership, rationalising and consolidating the security stack is essential, given the proliferation of disparate products in response to recent challenges like COVID-19. Streamlining security measures simplifies administration and enhances effectiveness.

“Beyond IT, cybersecurity discussions must become a central boardroom topic, with every organisation recognizing the risk of potential cyberattacks. Leaders should prioritise cybersecurity strategy, investment, and integration into their overall business framework for successful digitisation,” concluded Scheurmann.

Click on the PodChat player to hear in detail Scheurmann’s take on how enterprises in Asia can mitigate OT and IoT cyber risks.

1. What is the impact of unmonitored and unsecured IoT devices on a system’s cybersecurity, and why is it one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges across ASEAN?
2. Why do the majority of ASEAN organisations (82%) see value in having a common team that looks after IT and OT infrastructure and systems? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
3. What factors are driving organisations’ focus on securing IoT/OT in their future cybersecurity strategies?
4. What are the specific cybersecurity concerns related to 5G-connected IoT devices, and how do organisations plan to address them?
5. What steps should organisations take to mitigate cybersecurity risks related to OT? Who should get involved?
6. Coming into 2024, more devices and sensors will be added to the enterprises. What is your advice for operations, IT and leadership to improve the overall organisational security posture?

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While these pillars are developing asymmetrically from a metaverse perspective, changes to regulations, standardisation, technological advancements, and new business models will synergistically impact all these areas to keep the metaverse buildup moving forward. This progress is expected to push core (high metaverse engagement) metaverse user growth to 1 billion users by 2030.

ABI Research expects key inflexion points within the next three to four years as developments within the three pillars accelerate the pace of metaverse adoption. This is primarily within the consumer segment that developmentally lags the industrial market. In the consumer space, this growth is expected to push metaverse revenue close to US$50 billion by 2030.

Michael Inouye, principal analyst, metaverse markets and technologies at ABI Research, explains, “While we refer to the metaverse, we shouldn’t place too much value on this term – it is not a market in of itself, and it certainly didn’t start when Facebook changed its name.”

He suggests that the metaverse should be viewed as a useful way to codify ongoing market transitions and industry trends rather than positioning it as a new phenomenon – this is why we remain confident progress toward this future metaverse is still ongoing.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the spotlight, but it’s not replacing metaverse it is a critical enabling technology and a catalyst toward this future,” he continued.

New XR devices like Apple’s Vision Pro highlight the potential for spatial computing, which creates a stronger bridge between pre-existing workflows and applications in more immersive environments. Updates to technologies like Wi-Fi (e.g., Wi-Fi 7) will improve wireless tethering between mobile devices and XR viewers – making these devices more accessible to a broader audience.

New business models tied to digital asset ownership will come out of gaming and social media markets (beyond what is happening in Web3), spurring content development akin to what was seen with streaming video.

All these key developments will impact the demands and needs of networks and computational resources, creating new opportunities across value chain players, from operators to hyperscalers, retailers/brands, and industrial companies.

Inouye concludes, “Look at the trends around privacy, shifting power and control to the consumer, industry 4.0, network convergence, live service gaming, etc., and you start to see the clear parallels and pathway toward a future metaverse – even if the future isn’t referred to the metaverse, a similar future is still very much in the cards.”

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The (hybrid) approach combines the scalability of cloud technology and the control of on-premise infrastructure. This means businesses can quickly scale up their operations while keeping security at the forefront.

According to the company, the hybrid cloud enables businesses to have full control over their cellular-connected networks, with on-site process controls. By requiring on-site authentication, the risk of hacking remotely is substantially reduced. This added security layer protects against potential cyber threats, similar to the added security that two-factor authentication provides.

The company says that integrating a business’ public key infrastructure (PKI), ensures companies retain full control over their environment. The company explains that all operations require local authorization, offering separation of duties and thorough auditing of the management system. This, combined with Semtech’s unique device-to-cloud security strategy, sets a new industry standard for security and control.

“In addition to the on-premise infrastructure security component, Hybrid Cloud features leverage the inherent advantages of cloud technology, providing scalable infrastructure that evolves with a customer’s business needs, minimizing the need for hefty hardware investments and enabling rapid deployment to meet operational demands,” said David Markland, vice president of AirLink Networking Solutions, Semtech.

He went on to explain that “With this new solution, customers can rely on the expertise and robust security framework of a premier cloud platform gaining the freedom to concentrate on what truly counts - their core business operations.”

Commenting on the announcement, Dan Shey, vice president at ABI Research says Semtech’s Hybrid Cloud is a new and unique approach to an industry-wide problem for securing management.

“With the introduction of this new network management feature, Semtech is offering a solution that combines the trust and controls of on-premise security services with the scalability benefits of the cloud. For any enterprise, Hybrid Cloud is an easy-to-implement, cost-effective way to start building their zero-trust security framework,” he continued.

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The partnership aims to transform the cleaning industry, especially in the face of the current tight labour shortage post-pandemic as companies look to use manual labour less and make smarter decisions about how, where and when to deploy machines.

Through this cooperation, SBRSG and Conrad Maintenance aim to transform the cleaning business by integrating and scaling with robotic solutions. SBRSG will be able to accelerate the growth and adoption of "Cleaning Digital Transformation" through Conrad Maintenance and provide high-quality and low-cost cleaning with substantial cost savings.

Raymond Ng, founder and chief executive officer at Conrad Maintenance, says its partnership with SBRSG allows for the enhancement of world-class cleaning services that will seamlessly integrate all Conrad’s offerings into one user-friendly system making it easier than ever for the company to manage its cleaning and facility maintenance solutions.

Advanced cleaning services utilising robots have been proven to significantly reduce costs and improve cleanliness, allowing employees to gain new technical skills and work with new technologies. Conrad Maintenance will leverage SBR’s knowledge and experiences accumulated in a smart facilities management service.　

Coinciding with SBRSG’s investment in Conrad Maintenance is the launch in Singapore of SmartBXTM (Smart Business Transformation) – a facilities management service which Kenichi Yoshida, chief business officer at SoftBank Robotics says brings unparalleled automation, convenience and robotics solutions to their customers.

“This move signals the true transformation of SoftBank Robotics to a Robot Integrator and a robotics services provider in the cleaning space while delivering the seamless integration of robotics, AI and sensors on top of cleaning efficiency and efficacy,” he added.

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First developed on 23 January 1973, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, now on its 50^th anniversary, has become a problem-solving tool for front-line workers in warehouses and other industries.

Zebra Technologies’ 2023 Global Warehousing Study revealed that 58% of warehouse decision-makers plan to deploy RFID by 2028 which will help increase inventory visibility and reduce out-of-stocks.

One of the key findings of the that was that a majority of APAC warehouse associates and decision-makers are on the same page regarding the importance of achieving better accuracy and determining availability.

Seventy-nine percent of both groups surveyed acknowledge they need better inventory management tools to drive these outcomes.

Accelerating modernization to manage returns

Globally, 73% of warehouse decision-makers have or will be accelerating timelines of modernization projects, with decision-makers in Asia Pacific (APAC) similarly aligned at 69%. This should help with returns management which climbed to the top operational challenge cited by nearly half of warehouse decision-makers surveyed (47% globally, 40% in APAC) — the study records an increase of 5 percentage points year-over-year in the APAC region.

"The surge in returns mirrors the expansion of e-fulfilment in recent years, signalling a pressing need for transformative measures throughout the supply chain,” said Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) sales vice president for Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.

To him, this underscores the imperative for warehouse leaders to embrace technological advancements to adeptly manage returns, while simultaneously elevating agility, strengthening inventory visibility, and fine-tuning demand forecasting.

“Besides enhancing efficiency, the modernization of operations with technology also facilitates real-time, informed decision-making,” he continued.

“The focus extends beyond return logistics; it encompasses enhancing agility, bolstering inventory visibility, and refining demand forecasting. This holistic approach aims to boost operational efficiency, enabling agile and informed decision-making in the fast-paced realm of supply chain management."

Christanto Surdayamo

This comes about as the majority of warehouse decision-makers (76% globally, 75% in APAC) say they are under pressure to improve performance while adjusting to shifting consumer e-commerce demands. Inaccurate inventory and out-of-stocks continue to significantly challenge productivity according to nearly 80% of warehouse associates and decision-makers.

Both groups — associates (82% globally, 79% in APAC) and decision-makers (76% globally, 79% in APAC)—acknowledge they need better inventory management tools to achieve better accuracy and determine availability. To combat these issues, a significant portion of decision-makers (91% globally, and 88% in APAC) are addressing this need, citing plans to invest in technology to increase visibility across the supply chain by 2028.

Optimizing operations to increase visibility

Warehouse decision-makers are also augmenting their front-line workers by automating their warehouses to ultimately optimize their operations and increase their inventory visibility.

A recent study by Interact Analysis reveals that despite a recent slowdown in demand for automation projects (in part due to a reduction in warehousing construction), this demand is expected to return to growth in 2024.

The Zebra study found that seven-in-10 warehouse decision-makers (69% globally, 70% in APAC) already have or are planning to automate workflows by 2024 to support warehouse associates and shift them toward more customer-centric, high-value tasks.

Close to half of warehouse decision-makers believe automation increases worker efficiency and productivity by reducing manual picking, order errors and cycle time. Meanwhile, around eight-in-10 warehouse associates globally (81%) and in APAC (78%) agree using more technology and automation helps them meet or exceed productivity goals.

Complementing the rise in productivity, this empowers associates’ mentality towards their work - eight in ten warehouse associates (83% globally, 82% in APAC) surveyed also feel more valued when their employers provide them with technology and automation tools to help them work.

Similarly, more than eight-in-ten of global (88%) and APAC (84%) warehouse decision-makers say adding warehouse technologies, including devices and robotics, attracts and retains employees which is extremely important during labour shortages.

More than half of the surveyed decision-makers plan to implement machine learning (52% globally, 57% in APAC) and predictive analytics (59% globally, 63% in APAC) software solutions in their facilities by 2028.

“At the heart of warehouse operations, workers remain an indispensable asset, underscoring the pivotal need for decision-makers to delicately balance the requirements of both human labour and automation,” said Vivien Tay, vertical solutions marketing lead, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific. “

She added that the synergy between workers and automation is essential, as the value of automation is realized through its augmentation of human productivity and efficiency, directly impacting throughput, capacity, and customer satisfaction.

Prioritising sustainability in decision-making

Ultimately, warehouse decision-makers are choosing solutions based on their ability to help them build sustainable operations, driven largely by regulations, energy costs or shortages along with customer, worker and investor expectations.

For example, 77% of global warehouse decision-makers are focused on reducing emissions and waste while 84% of warehouse decision-makers recognize the importance of their warehouse technology solutions maximizing battery life.

These sentiments are echoed within APAC as well, with 74% and 78% of APAC decision-makers resonating on these areas respectively.

Other sustainable elements decision-makers prioritise today include ensuring accurate mobile device swap-out time, connecting to energy monitoring software to maximize efficiency, offering buy-back and certified refurbishment/circular economy programs, and the use of reusable and recyclable materials.

Beyond their operations, 81% of global warehouse decision-makers (79% in APAC) also say it is important that technology vendors have sustainability measures in place for running their businesses. Ultimately, warehouses must continue to implement agile strategies to avoid inefficiencies, preserve resources, and provide employees with a performance edge.

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The use cases for accurate timing have been around for decades. Timing is what enables communication systems to work, time is essential for global navigation systems to function, and timing is what makes automation possible.

SiTime is a precision timing company supplying industries with oscillators – devices that generate oscillatory currents or voltages by non-mechanical means. Quartz crystals have been used in timekeeping technology including clocks, watches, computers, and other devices that keep time.

On 19 September 2023, SiTime announced the SiTime Epoch Platform – designed to solve the most complex timing issues in electronics and claiming to disrupt 100-year-old quartz-based technology.

The SiTime Epoch Platform is a micro-electromechanical system-based, oven-controlled oscillator that delivers an ultra-stable clock to the data centre and network infrastructure equipment. SiTime claims that over time the Epoch technology will be extended to other high-growth electronics markets, such as aerospace and defence, and industrial controls among others.

FutureIoT spoke to Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing at SiTime, to discuss precision timing and its significance across a wide expanse of use cases.

What follows is a discussion on the significance of SiTime’s Epoch announcement, and how it changes things when it comes to precision timing.

"Timing is the heartbeat of electronics pretty much any electronic device will require timing. We are now in the era of intelligent connected devices, every electronic device that you use now is likely connected and likely can make decisions on their own, to some kind of intelligence on the device."

Piyush Sevalia

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“Organisations worldwide are under mounting pressure to ensure their IoT and connected devices are protected while navigating an increasingly complex digital landscape that requires complete trust,” said

Ellen Boehm, senior vice president, IoT Strategies and Operations at Keyfactor, says the survey demonstrates the importance of identity-first security for those who manufacture IoT devices and those who deploy and operate them in their environment to establish digital trust at scale.

She opines that most organisations implement PKI solutions in their IoT security strategy, which is a huge step in the right direction.

“Ensuring that IoT device security is managed throughout its lifecycle will go a long way in both eliminating costly certificate outages and enhancing the long-term viability of IoT within the enterprise.”  Ellen Boehm

Highlights of the survey

Unrelenting attacks: 89% of respondents’ organisations that operate and use IoT and connected products have been hit by cyberattacks at an average cost of US$250K. The March attack on Amazon’s Ring that exfiltrated sensitive customer data such as recorded footage and credit card numbers is an example of the increase in IoT attacks. 

In the past three years, 69% of organisations have seen an increase in cyberattacks on their IoT devices.

Boehm says many IoT security strategies fail to prevent and protect against IoT-targeted cyberattacks because organisations lack the proper education and support needed to fully understand the task at hand.

She added that over half of respondents agree that their organisation doesn’t have the proper awareness and expertise to prepare for IoT device cyberattacks, spotlighting the need for more guidance to fully secure their devices.

“Organisations can’t protect against what they cannot understand,” she called out.

Proliferating growth of IoT devices: Respondents reported a 20% average increase in the number of IoT and connected products used by organisations over a three-year period.

IT is not fully confident in the security of IoT and connected devices: About 88% of respondents agree that improvements are needed in the security of IoT and connected products in use within their organisation. 37% of respondents reporting that significant improvement is needed and 60% reported that some improvement is needed.

When it comes to specific strategies, 4 in 10 organisations report that they strongly agree they would benefit from using a PKI to issue digital identities on the IoT and IIoT devices in their environment.

IoT security budgets being diverted to cover costs from outages: While budgets for IoT device security are increasing year over year, with an anticipated increase of 45% in the next five years, 52% of that budget is at risk of being diverted to cover the cost of successful cyber breaches on IoT and connected products.

Pointing fingers on responsibility: 48% believed that the manufacturer of IoT or connected devices should be at least mostly responsible for cyber breaches on their products.

The post Securing IoT and connected devices is a global challenge appeared first on FutureIoT.

While cellular connectivity by far remains the preferred option for global "low power wide area" (LPWAN) wireless connectivity, the diversity of real-world commercial applications often requires hybrid solutions that also encompass technologies such as Wi-Fi and LoRa.

The ability of communications products to readily adapt to multiple radio access technologies such as cellular, Wi-Fi, and LoRa is referred to as wireless harmonization.

IIoT vendor Blues announced a series of enhanced offerings based on its flagship product, Notecard. The expanded Notecard offerings include Notecard Cell+WiFi, Notecard WiFi, Notecard LoRa, and Notecard Chips Edition options that enable additional reliable and hybrid connectivity, positioning accuracy, and scalable development.

Jim Hassman, Blues' president and chief revenue officer, says multiple connectivity options are necessary to empower businesses to transform physical products into data-driven intelligent services.

The expanded Notecard offerings give Blues customers the flexibility to optimize their connection method for sending and receiving information between devices anywhere, at any time.

"Whether our customers are developing ten devices or vastly scaling operations, or have devices located in fixed, remote, or mobile locations, our expanded Notecard offerings are affordable, accessible, and customizable," said Hassman.

Blues' industry-first Notecard Cell+WiFi offering integrates cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity options into one device. Its dynamic fallback modes deliver a more resilient and reliable network, enhanced geolocation, and expanded coverage and provide the flexibility to combine or switch between connectivity options. Blues' Notecard LoRa provides enhanced wireless penetration, as well as an inexpensive way to deploy large fleets of devices.

All Notecards seamlessly integrate with Notehub, Blues' software service designed to securely route Notecard data to the customer's cloud application of choice. Additionally, Notecards are plug-compatible and field upgradeable, enabling even non-technical users to easily swap between connectivity options or 'generations' of radio access technologies, such as from 2G to 5G.

Blues is introducing three new Notecard options beyond its existing Notecard Cellular offering:

Notecard Cell+WiFi – The new Notecard Cell+WiFi incorporates both cellular and WiFi support out of the box. Customers can default to cellular and turn off Wi-Fi, vice versa, or enable both to ensure highly reliable connectivity despite location. The offering also provides expanded international and domestic coverage with enhanced carrier support.

Notecard WiFi – The new Notecard Wi-Fi addresses customer demand for a simple, low-cost way to connect localized clusters of indoor devices securely to the cloud.

Notecard LoRa – The new Notecard LoRa offering addresses customer demand for connecting potentially large clusters of outdoor devices to the cloud. Packaging low-power LoRaWAN technology in a novel form, the offering shares the same ease of use and just works provisioning as its Notecard counterparts.

The Notecard Cell+WiFi offering is available for purchase immediately. The Notecard WiFi and Notecard LoRa offerings are available for beta testing by interested customers and will be available for purchase later this year.

A challenge facing organisations when they scale to hundreds of thousands of devices is the need to reduce costs by whatever means possible. One approach to reducing costs is a process known as chip-down design.

Blues is introducing a new Notecard design option for customers who reach that level of scale:

Notecard WiFi and LoRa Chips Editions – Blues' new chip-down design option for Notecard allows customers to scale their solutions more economically without the need to compromise security or modify firmware designed for the system-on-a-module (SOM) Notecard versions.

These new, easy-to-implement Notecard offerings enable organisations of all sizes to create intelligent, data-driven devices in industries including manufacturing, clean energy, and healthcare.

"After years of connectivity struggles, we found Blues and adopted the Notecard/Notehub solution. The Blues cellular solution solved connectivity, security, and scalability issues," said True Manufacturing Company. "Now, with this announcement of the expanded family of Notecards, Blues has really listened to customers and delivered a solution that leads industry trends. This is the kind of innovative partnership that allows OEMs to succeed in the IoT space."

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A Gartner survey revealed that 86% of business leaders see sustainability as an investment that protects their organisation from disruption.

The Cradlepoint W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter is designed for distributed sites that require secure cellular connectivity or failover in the event of a primary link disruption. It enables the enterprise to guarantee connectivity while furthering sustainability goals.

Key benefits include:

Connectivity offerings for the expansion of 5G: The refreshed modem features the latest 5G standards with 3GPP Release 16 specifications, providing customers with expanded carrier aggregation and band combinations as service providers grow their 5G services.

More sustainable design: Compared to its predecessor, the W1855-5GC Wideband Adapter is 78% smaller and 74% lighter, requiring 30% less energy when under load. In addition, the device is securely packaged with 84% less packaging, and comes with an aluminium housing reinforcing Cradlepoint’s commitment to sustainably sourced and recycled materials.

Centralised device management and visibility: With Cradlepoint NetCloud Manager, lean IT teams can successfully manage the deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting of each device from centralised locations, reducing unnecessary complexity and costly on-site visits.

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Therefore, to better understand the smart device market, IDC has divided the usage scenarios into six "smart life" scenario groups: leisure and entertainment, mobile office, learning and education, fitness and health, smart home, and smart mobility.

As the summer vacation ends, the new education semester will bring more focus on new scenarios in education that are enabled by smart devices and associated ecosystem developments.

Sales for key devices in learning and education in Summer 2023

The device sales total in the month of July (including tablets, children's smart watches and PCs) was higher than the monthly average over the first half of 2023. However, we have seen sales trends vary strongly by-product as they follow very different product development cycles.

Smart Tutoring Tablets are a popular and rapidly developing category in the education and learning devices market with new players still joining. In the first half of 2023, 2.19 million units were shipped to the learning and education market - an increase of 37% over last year; In July 2023, 410 thousand units were shipped - an increase of 49% over July 2022.

Kid's smartwatch sales for children were stable with sales in the first half of 2023 at 6.88 million units, up 1% from 2022. Demand is supported by an increase in children's outdoor activities but is still recovering. Sales in July 2023 were down 3% from July last year at 1.6 million units, with more demand expected in August as new products are released.

K12 and College PCs recorded historically high sales during the pandemic, such that shipments in the following first half of 2023 dropped by 26% at 5 million units; In July 2023, this significantly recovered, with sales down only 12% YoY at 1.04 million units.

Five key sales highlights over the Summer

The Chinese lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, increased sales with a new closed-loop grass-roots live broadcasting solution;

Summer promotions drove sales in the recycling end of the second-hand market and second-hand platforms also tried summer sales;

The E-commerce platforms that support student identity authentication have improved the efficiency of sales to their members;

Consumer choice has been improved with promotions that integrated the devices across areas such as entertainment and fitness;

Summer promotions are demonstrating an increased convergence of online and offline channels, such as in experiential retail and short-term leases for temporary tenants.

Market size and forecasts

IDC forecasts the market for devices used in education and learning scenarios to reach US$110.2 billion in 2023, up 4.2% from 2022. It is expected to grow by 9.6% year-on-year in 2024, and the market size will exceed US$150 billion by 2027.

In education and learning, many hardware manufacturers work with different software and service providers, including AI solution providers and cloud service providers.

Smart device trends

Growth to be driven by personalisation

The market size and per capita expenditure have increased as devices and services have improved functionality, and personalization and widened their value-add.

Device innovation will intensify

From the rise of the Internet to the application of AI, new technology has brought about product category expansion and stronger growth across the learning and education market.

IDC forecasts shipments of products for use in learning and education to reach 99.3 million units in 2023 and are expected to exceed 100 million units in 2024. In addition, it is estimated that by 2027, more than 90% of these devices will be equipped with AI-enhanced functionality.

The influencers: AI, security, health factors and content resources

AI has become one of the core differentiators in personalization and value-add;

Endpoint security will expand across content security, information security, user safety etc.

Health-related functions have become an important upgrade direction, using sensors and other technical advances to protect eyes, correct posture, encourage regular exercise, monitor sleep, etc.

Increased content drives the creation of ecosystems and is an important differentiator, that especially attracts parents.

Sophie Pan, assistant research director at IDC China, believes that despite the age of the market for smart devices in education, it will remain strong for many more years with new suppliers joining the ecosystem to meet changing user's needs.

"We will also see a growing space for innovation and improvement of smart devices used in learning and education due to new technology being easy to put into application; high market segmentation; and user's needs changing from one generation to the next whilst their remains stable within-generation demand," she added.

Generative AI and large language model AI will continue to be a catalyst for the development of smart devices in education, specifically towards greater personalization and value-add.

The post AI to fuel growth in learning devices appeared first on FutureIoT.

The performance of the combined unified threat management (UTM) and firewall markets drove the growth of the overall market in 2Q23 with revenue growth of 9.7% compared to 2Q22. The intrusion prevention systems (IPS) market grew 2.3% year over year, while content management and virtual private networks (VPN) both experienced a single-digit year-over-year decline in the quarter.

"Supply chain constraints that have impacted the hardware-based markets continue to improve and IDC expects the security appliance market to maintain a healthy rate of growth in the years ahead as hardware-based security platforms remain a key component in a customer's cybersecurity investment strategy," said Carlo Dávila, research manager, Enterprise Trackers at IDC.

Competitive landscape

* Note: IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide security appliances market when there is a difference of 1.0% or less in the share of revenues or shipments among two or more vendors.

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Also, the total worldwide enterprise and service provider (SP) router market recorded US$4.6 billion in revenue in 2Q23, a 9.4% year-over-year increase.

Ethernet switch market highlights

The Ethernet switch market's growth of 38.4% in 2Q23 builds on annualized growth of 31.6% in 1Q23. Through the first half of 2023, the Ethernet switch market is up 35.2% compared to the first half of 2022.

A major driver of growth in the market continues to be the easing of supply chain issues that began during the global pandemic. With improved component availability, vendors are increasingly able to recognise revenues from fulfilling backlogged product orders.

This trend is particularly relevant in the non-datacentre segment of the Ethernet switching market, where revenues grew 52.5% year over year in 2Q23, while port shipments rose 16.6%. Revenues in the datacentre portion of the market rose 21.7% year over year in 2Q23, while port shipments declined 2.4%.

Meanwhile, the higher-speed segments of the Ethernet switch market continue to see strong growth in the datacentre segment, driven by hyperscalers and cloud providers building datacentre network capacity.

Market revenues for 200/400 GbE switches rose 61.9% year over year and 100GbE revenues increased 18.5% in 2Q23. Revenues for the 25/50 GbE segment increased 54.2% year over year. ODM (original device manufacturer) Direct sales continue to be an important part of the datacentre segment, rising 12.2% compared to 2Q22 to make up 12.6% of the datacentre segment's revenues.

Lower-speed switches, which are typically deployed in enterprise campus and branch locations, showed strength too, driven in part by the continued easing of supply chain constraints. Revenues for 1GbE switches rose 53.1% year over year in 2Q23.

10GbE switches rose 18.1% year over year in the quarter. And 2.5/5GbE switch revenue – also known as multi-gigabit Ethernet switches – rose 157.5% year over year in 2Q23.

In the Asia/Pacific region, the Ethernet switch market grew 7.7%, with the People's Republic of China market falling 7.8% year over year and Japan's market growing 18.9%.

"The Ethernet switch market's continued growth momentum is indicative of enterprises, hyperscalers, and services providers worldwide continuing to efficiently invest in higher-speed and feature-rich platforms to support new applications such as Generative AI workloads," said Vijay Bhagavath, research vice president, Cloud and Datacentre Networks at IDC.

He noted that the component shortage issues continue to ease, allowing vendors across the Ethernet switching market to recognise revenues from backlogged orders and book new orders.

"The Ethernet switching market will continue to be dynamic in the quarters and years to come as supply chains normalize and high-performance network capacity continues to be built out," he concluded.

Router market highlights

The service provider segment, which includes both communications SPs and cloud SPs, accounted for 77.5% of the market's total revenues in 2Q23. Revenues in the service provider segment increased 14.8% year over year while revenues in the enterprise segment declined 6.1% in the quarter. The Asia/Pacific region the market rose 3.0% year over year.

Vendor highlights

Cisco's Ethernet switch revenues increased 55.3% year over year in 2Q23, giving the company a market share of 47.2%. Cisco's combined service provider and enterprise router revenue grew 18.1% in the quarter, giving the company a market share of 35.9% in 2Q23.

Arista Networks saw Ethernet switch revenues increase 42.6% year over year in 2Q23, giving the company 10.4% market share.

Huawei's Ethernet switch revenue increased 17.7% in 2Q23, giving the company a market share of 9.0%. The company's combined SP and enterprise router revenue rose 10.8%, giving the company a market share of 33.3% in the quarter.

HPE's Ethernet switch revenue increased 78.8% in 2Q23, resulting in a market share of 7.1%.

H3C's Ethernet switch revenue declined 10.9% year over year 2Q23, giving the company a market share of 4.1%. In the combined service provider and enterprise routing market, H3C's revenues decreased 10.0% in 2Q23, resulting in a market share of 2.0%.

Juniper's Ethernet switch revenue grew 35.2% year over year in 2Q23, resulting in a market share of 2.9%. Juniper's routing revenue increased 2.5% year over year in 2Q23, giving the company a market share of 10.3% this quarter.

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“Continuing to educate global businesses about the evolving and increased risk being introduced to their attack surface through managed and unmanaged assets is a key mission of ours,” said Nadir Izrael, Armis CTO and Co-Founder. “This intelligence is crucial to helping organisations defend against malicious cyberattacks. Without it, business, security and IT leaders are in the dark, vulnerable to blind spots that bad actors will seek to exploit.”

Armis’ research, analysed from the Armis Asset Intelligence Engine, focuses on connected assets with the most attack attempts, weaponised Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) and high-risk ratings to determine the riskiest assets.

Assets with the highest number of attack attempts

Armis found the top 10 asset types with the highest number of attack attempts were distributed across asset types: IT, OT, IoT, IoMT, Internet of Personal Things (IoPT) and Building Management Systems (BMS).

This demonstrates that attackers care more about their potential access to assets rather than the type, reinforcing the need for security teams to account for all physical and virtual assets as part of their security strategy.

Top 10 device types with the highest number of attack attempts:

Engineering workstations (OT)

Imaging workstations (IoMT)

Media players (IoT)

Personal computers (IT)

Virtual machines (IT)

Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices (BMS)

Servers (IT)

Media writers (IoMT)

Tablets (IoPT)

Mobile phones (IoPT)

“Malicious actors are intentionally targeting these assets because they are externally accessible, have an expansive and intricate attack surface and are known weaponised CVEs,” said Tom Gol, CTO of Research at Armis.

He pointed out that the potential impact of breaching these assets on businesses and their customers is also a critical factor when it comes to why these have the highest number of attack attempts.

"Engineering workstations can be connected to all controllers in a factory, imaging workstations will collect private patient data from hospitals and UPSs can serve as an access point to critical infrastructure entities, making all of these attractive targets for malicious actors with varying agendas, like deploying ransomware or causing destruction to society in the case of nation-state attacks. IT leaders need to prioritise asset intelligence cybersecurity and apply patches to mitigate this risk,” explained Gol.

Assets with unpatched, weaponised CVEs vulnerable to exploitation

Researchers identified a significant number of network-connected assets susceptible to unpatched, weaponised CVEs published before 1/1/2022.

Zooming in on the highest percentage of devices of each type that had these CVEs between August 2022 and July 2023, Armis identified the list reflected in Figure A. Unpatched, these assets introduce significant risk to businesses.

Assets most susceptible to unpatched, weaponised CVEs published before Jan 1 2022

Assets with a High-Risk Rating

Armis also examined asset types with the most common high-risk factors:

• Many physical devices on the list that take a long time to replace, such as servers and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), run end-of-life (EOL) or end-of-support (EOS) operating systems. EOL assets are nearing the end of functional life but are still in use, while EOS assets are no longer actively supported or patched for vulnerabilities and security issues by the manufacturer.
• Some assets, including personal computers, demonstrated SMBv1 usage. SMBv1 is a legacy, unencrypted and complicated protocol with vulnerabilities that have been targeted in the infamous Wannacry and NotPetya attacks. Security experts have advised organisations to stop using it completely. Armis found that 74% of organisations today still have at least one asset in their network vulnerable to EternalBlue – an SMBv1 vulnerability.
• Many assets identified in the list exhibited high vulnerability scores, have had threats detected, have been flagged for unencrypted traffic or still have the CDPwn vulnerabilities impacting network infrastructure and VoIPs.
• Half (50%) of pneumatic tube systems were found to have an unsafe software update mechanism.

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KEENON Robotics and Daesung Industrial have signed a business cooperation agreement marking a significant milestone in KEENON's expansion efforts within the Korean market, and further bringing cutting-edge service robots to businesses and transforming customer experiences.

Through this cooperation, more businesses in Korea will have even greater access to a range of advanced indoor delivery robots from KEENON. The KEENON DINERBOTs, along with the versatile BUTLERBOT, will be available through Daesung distribution channels.

These state-of-the-art robots are designed to enhance productivity and elevate customer experiences across various industries, especially the hospitality industry. DINERBOT is designed with food and beverage service in mind and features open trays, reliable navigation and a user-friendly interface, while BUTLERBOT features a secure, enclosed cabinet and can autonomously ride elevators.

By offering a range of DINERBOT robots as well as the BUTLERBOT W3, both companies are poised to meet the growing demand for intelligent automation solutions and intelligent indoor delivery solutions across sectors such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, and more.

Daesung will support the success of business partners by providing KEENON's excellent service robot solutions through close collaboration with customers and partners.

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Resource-constrained HDO security and IT teams continue to face operational difficulties in sufficiently securing critical systems from increasingly sophisticated attacks, as their vast and heterogeneous IoMT device fleets complicate management and, left unchecked, offer a broad attack surface.

Asimily's Total Cost of Ownership Analysis on Connected Device Cybersecurity Risk report highlights the unique cybersecurity challenges that healthcare delivery organisations (HDOs) face and the true costs of their IoT and IoMT security risks.

Key findings

Emerging cybersecurity trends and challenges: The report reveals the top cyberattack strategies impacting HDO medical devices right now: ransomware attacks that spread to devices and disrupt services, third-party-introduced malware that impacts device performance, and devices communicating with unknown IP addresses to enable remote breaches.

Cyberattacks on healthcare providers have become remarkably common: the average HDO experienced 43 attacks in the last 12 months. Unfortunately, many of those attacks are successful, with 44% of HDOs suffering a data breach caused by a third party within the last year alone.

The high cost of doing nothing: For HDOs, today’s high-failure status quo can be catastrophic. Cyberattacks cost HDOs an average of US$10,100,000 per incident. Worse, cyber incidents are directly responsible for a 20% increase in patient mortality. 64% of HDOs also reported suffering from operational delays, and 59% had longer patient stays due to cybersecurity incidents.

Those financial and operational burdens are pushing many HDOs to the brink: the average hospital operating margin sits at 1.4% in 2023. Currently, more than 600 rural U.S. hospitals risk closure, in an environment where a single cyberattack can put a smaller HDO out of business.

Poor device health leads to poor outcomes: HDO security and IT teams face a high-risk environment where the average medical device has 6.2 vulnerabilities. Adding to this challenge, more than 40% of medical devices are near end-of-life and poorly supported (or unsupported) by manufacturers.

Cybersecurity resources and staffing are limited: Even when device vulnerabilities are recognised, HDO security teams can fix only 5-20% of known vulnerabilities each month.

Cyber insurance is no longer enough: As ransomware attacks and breaches have skyrocketed in recent years, cyber liability insurers are introducing coverage limits and capped payouts, making it a less and less effective recourse for HDOs. At the same time, cyber insurance also fails to address the costly reputational damage an HDO suffers following a breach.

The report concludes that adopting a holistic risk-based approach is the most cost-efficient and long-term-effective path for HDOs to secure their critical systems and IoMT devices.

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These advancements promise a more secure and robust infrastructure, positioning the sector on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution.

GlobalData’s FutureTech Series report, “Transformer in Utilities 2.0 – How Tech is Driving the Sector Innovation”, highlights more than 30 disruptive forces in power and utilities as emerging, accelerating, and maturing innovation areas based on their rate of growth in innovation.

Kiran Raj, the practice head of disruptive tech at GlobalData, says the emergence of digital twins has revolutionized transformer asset operations by offering insights, paving the way for real-time monitoring and proactive maintenance.

He added that by harnessing AI and machine learning, extensive data can be analysed to anticipate potential system disruptions, ensure consistent energy output, and extend equipment longevity.

Vaibhav Gundre, a project manager for disruptive tech at GlobalData, adds that the transformer asset landscape is being redefined through the surge in patents and innovative breakthroughs, which are accelerating technological advancement and fostering knowledge proliferation.

He further posits that these advancements highlight a significant shift from reactive strategies to predictive solutions, reflecting the dedication to not only address current grid necessities but also anticipate upcoming challenges.

5G makes its mark

5G technology is reshaping the transformer sector with real-time monitoring and swift data transmission. In February 2022, Jiangxi Mingzheng patented a 5G-enabled transformer safety system for remote fault detection, comprising a base, radiator unit, rotating top, and two infrared cameras attached to a ring.

Advancements in AI are streamlining the diagnostics of the transformer sector. In January 2022, Onepredict filed a patent for an AI-driven method to predict transformer states. The process considers transformer data, assesses if the oil has been filtered, and utilises different prediction models accordingly to determine the transformer’s condition.

Robotics is modernising transformer maintenance and inspection. In December 2021, Hitachi Energy patented a submersible robot to inspect liquid-cooled transformers. Using cameras, it captures and wirelessly transmits internal images to a base station for analysis.

“The fusion of 5G with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) highlights the power sector’s commitment to uninterrupted connectivity, laying the groundwork for remote operational capabilities and insights-driven decision processes."

Vaibhav Gundre

"Concurrently, the incorporation of robotics and drones is reshaping how inspections are approached, enhancing safety, speed, and depth of evaluations. This technological synergy holds the potential for significant advancement in both efficiency and safety benchmarks within the sector,” he concluded.

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Against this backdrop, the global hearables market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.7% from 2023 to 2030 to reach sales of US$131 billion in 2030.

GlobalData’s report, “Hearables in Medical Devices – Thematic Intelligence,” reveals that Apple, Bose, and Nuheara have added hearing aid-like sound amplification systems to their consumer-grade devices, positioning them as alternatives to hearing aids. Vendors will likely continue to add sound amplification systems to their hearables to target consumers with mild hearing disabilities.

Tina Deng, a principal medical devices analyst at GlobalData, cites the most obvious use of hearables as aiding individuals with hearing impairments. In the US, the FDA eased hearing aid regulations in 2022, allowing for the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids for adults ages 18 years older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. giving rise to a billion-dollar market.

"This not only increases the public’s access to hearing aids but also enables more vendors to step into the billion-dollar hearing aids market. It can be expected that the future generation of AirPods will have more hearing-aid-like features,” she added.

Hearables equipped with sensors and connectivity can be used for biometric monitoring. For example, they can determine body temperature via a wearer’s ear canal, which is considered more accurate than wrist temperature.

Hearables can collect data such as a user’s heart rate and activity level, and then transmit this information to healthcare professionals when needed. This enables doctors to monitor patients’ health conditions in real-time, make informed decisions, and provide timely interventions.

Some hearables include biofeedback sensors that can measure physiological indicators of stress and anxiety, such as heart rate variability. Users can then receive real-time feedback and practice relaxation techniques.

Hearables that are equipped with accelerometers and gyroscopes can detect sudden movements or falls. These devices can automatically alert caregivers or emergency services if a fall is detected, which is particularly useful for elderly individuals who are at risk of falls.

“While hearables hold promise for these healthcare applications, they should be developed and used in compliance with relevant regulations and standards to ensure safety, accuracy, and privacy."

Tina Deng

"As technology continues to advance, the potential uses of hearables in healthcare may expand even further, contributing to improved patient outcomes and more personalized healthcare experiences,” she added.

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In its report, Hype Cycle for Mobile Robots and Drones, 2023, Gartner experts said that many organisations already deploying mobile robots will expand their fleet in the next three years. It’s likely companies will have hundreds, if not thousands, of mobile robots in use, while drones will be deployed in more targeted ways, such as for inspection at a location or delivery of critical goods like medicines to remote areas.

“By 2027, over 75% of companies will have adopted some form of cyber-physical automation within their warehouse operations,” said Dwight Klappich, vice president and fellow in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice. “Labour shortages and challenges retaining talent, coupled with technology advances such as machine learning and AI, will continue to drive adoption of smart robots.”

The 2023 Hype Cycle includes several technologies that have been rated “transformational,” including machine learning (see Figure 1), which is expected to hit mainstream adoption within the next five years. Additionally, many technologies with “high” impact will also mature within the next few years, creating an accelerated market for increasingly capable smart, autonomous and mobile robots and drones.

Figure 1: Gartner Hype Cycle for Mobile Robots and Drones, 2023

Advanced technologies accelerate the adoption of smart robots

Smart robots are nearing the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” where early publicity produces success stories, but expectations rise above the current reality of what can be achieved. These AI-powered, often-mobile machines help supply chains automate multiple physical tasks.

Smart robots can rely on advanced technologies such as machine learning to incorporate tasks into future activities or support unprecedented conditions.

As companies expand their use of robotics, most will eventually have heterogeneous fleets of robots from different vendors performing various tasks, which will require standardized software that can easily integrate into a variety of agents and robot platforms.

As such, multiagent orchestration (MAO) platforms, which help orchestrate work are “on the rise” in this year’s Hype Cycle. MAO platforms will reduce the time, effort and cost to onboard new robots and will lower support costs, ultimately making organisations more efficient.

Klappich noted that in the past year, we’ve seen increased interest in smart robots and MAO platforms as companies are looking to further improve logistic operations, support automation and augment humans in various jobs.

“Rapidly emerging and evolving technologies, like MAO, will enable organisations to leverage heterogeneous fleets of mobile robots to assist with more complex activities, delivering cost savings and productivity benefits.”

Dwight Klappich

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“The video surveillance market is experiencing a transformation as more cloud video surveillance systems emerge, diversifying a market that capital expenditure costs have historically dominated,” says Lizzie Stokes, IoT networks & services analyst at ABI Research.

“Enterprise companies, lines of business, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are looking to take advantage of surveillance insights and are searching for new storage and analytics service models to ease implementation, drive faster time to market, lower costs, and improve ROI.”

Lizzie Stokes

According to ABI Research, high upfront on-premises installation and integration costs traditionally drove video surveillance market service revenue. Professional services revenue dominated the market, facilitated by System Integrators (SIs) who often design and install customers’ surveillance systems.

Market trends

However, two prominent market trends have led video surveillance users to divert investments away from new camera deployments to cloud data services.

Stokes explains that as video resolutions have improved, data loads have become heavier and more costly to store. At the same time, regulation is driving more firms to save their video footage.

Stokes says these market dynamics have created a demand for scalable and cost-effective cloud data storage solutions.

The other trend she observes has to do with video surveillance users increasingly viewing video data as untapped business intelligence.

"Video surveillance cameras are already tracking employee behaviour, observing customer actions, and monitoring goods as they journey through the supply chain and the factory floor. Many video surveillance users—enterprises and SMEs—are searching for streamlined cloud video analytics services to mine raw video data for operational insights,” she adds.

Video Surveillance-as-a-Service (VSaaS) companies are responding to these market trends, offering cloud data storage, cloud video analytics, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications that produce vertical-specific insights.

New customer demand will eventually diversify the market’s revenue structures, with more customers paying for video surveillance services through recurring fees. Traditional video surveillance companies providing on-premises and cloud offerings include Honeywell, Milestone Systems, and Bosch. Newer companies featuring cloud video surveillance services include Verkada, Eagle Eye Networks, and Wasabi Technologies.

“VSaaS vendors are redefining how video surveillance can be offered and deployed,” Stokes concludes. “As video analytics applications expand and video data in the market explodes, new video surveillance companies have the opportunity to disrupt the market’s traditional revenue structure.”

Early stages

Sunny Chua, Wasabi Technologies' general manager for Singapore, acknowledges that the transition to the cloud for video surveillance is still in the early stages but certainly picking up speed. He points to the 5G deployment across the region as facilitating the use of intelligent video surveillance devices as well as advanced analytics at the edge.

"The ability for these smart cameras to relay information back in real-time is contributing to innovative use cases in digitally advanced markets like Singapore, such as live footage used complementarily with 3D mapping technology to provide live insights on crowd management and weapon detection via virtual patrols," he elaborated.

Another area where he sees an opportunity for VSaaS is smart cities where spending in the region is expected to more than double between 2023 and 2028 to reach US$42 billion.

"Intelligent video surveillance is an especially important part of the puzzle in smart city development - enabling everything from smart traffic management to furthering sustainability ambitions by providing predictive insights on facilities utilisation in buildings," added Chua.

He believes these ongoing digital developments will ultimately drive workflow modernisation and transformation. "This makes Asia a ripe ground for VSaaS providers that can offer domain-specific services for the deep and reliable automation that a digital era demands while expediting the transition and minimising risks," he concluded.

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ABI Research says AGV seaport deployments worldwide will have a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 26% from 2022 to 2030 and exceed 370,000 global deployments by 2027.

“Automation improves port operations' reliability, consistency, and workplace security. Also, from an environmental perspective, automation can lead to efficient operations and faster services. Automated ports are also far safer than conventional ports,” explains Adhish Luitel, supply chain management & logistics senior analyst at ABI Research.

He notes that the number of human-related disruptions falls as performance becomes more predictable with automation and data capture solutions.

In addition to AGVs in seaports, adopting solutions in other modalities of the global supply chain, such as rail, air, and road, has also seen growth. Automaton solution providers, including VisionNav Robotics, Konecranes, HERE Technologies, and VDL Automated Vehicles, have provided various automation and digital tools that enhance operational efficiency and visibility across different modalities.

Rail camera systems in rail infrastructure are a particularly growing sector. Over 29,000 inspection robots were deployed in rail infrastructure globally in 2022.  This number is set to grow to over 43,000 by 2030 with a CAGR of around 5%, falling in line with the rising rail freight volume.

Over 14 billion tons were transported in 2022 via rail freight. This number is set to grow to over 16 billion by 2030.

“Automation in various modalities, despite its benefits, can also bring costs of which supply chain managers might need to be wary. Although automation can streamline workflows and make tasks easier in the long run, they come at the expense of initial potential productivity losses that come with equipping workers with the right skillsets to operate and maintain these solutions."

Adhish Luitel

"So, there is a change management aspect of which managers and authorities must be more mindful,” Luitel concludes.

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Omdia’s research further reveals that over 900 million connected cars will be on the road at the start of the next decade, eclipsing the installed base of popular consumer devices such as payTV set-top boxes and tablets. These vehicles will include a plethora of screens in the front and rear of the cabin which are growing each year to enable video and gaming services.

As seen with their approach across other product categories, platform owners Google and Apple are looking to become key gatekeepers within the car environment with their respective in-car software solutions.

Amazon is bringing its immensely popular Fire TV entertainment solution in-vehicles for media consumption too. In response, Car OEMs are developing their own software solutions to keep drivers within their own ecosystems, allowing them to retain control of the whole consumer experience across both the vehicle and the software.

Over the next few years, all new car sales will include connectivity as a standard feature enabling services and subscriptions in the car cabin as the industry pivots its focus to repeated revenues in a new business model. Monetization strategies are already being put in place through add-on subscriptions ranging from cloud gaming services to heated seats and even the cars themselves.

Omdia principal analyst David Tett noted the ongoing uncertainty as to consumers’ willingness to pay extra for in-car services particularly as they correlate it with value for money given average journeys range between 15-30 minutes.

"Although it has been difficult to monetize, native car-based services are expected to provide such opportunities over the coming years. This potential has meant many stakeholders consider automotive as a key area for future growth," he concluded.

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Drivers of growth

With few alterations to the market structure, factory automation has developed gradually. However, due to technological disruptions, macro trends including reshoring, a worldwide shortage of trained workers, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, the rate of change is quickening.

Over the course of the projection period, it is predicted that the factory automation market will grow significantly because of the increased need for automation for reliable and high-quality production.

Additionally, industry participants are focusing on improving the manufacturing process efficiency to produce goods that are both affordable and of high quality, which has a big impact on the size of the factory automation market.

Factors influencing factory automation

The demand for factory automation solutions is driven by the development of 5G wireless technology and the adoption of Industry 4.0 in several industries, including fibre & textiles, infrastructure, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and others.

Industrial IoT, digital twin, and digitization The rise of teach-less robots, soft programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and digital twins are predicted to be the three major trends in the factory automation sector. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Factories with fully functional automation systems will unquestionably outperform businesses with fewer or no robotics. Theoretically, those with the most advanced automation systems may generate more than three times as much as their rivals.

Systems that automate tasks can also operate for longer periods of time. Even if factories with fully developed automation systems must produce more complex items, this helps to boost the volume of output.

Additionally, since machines are programmed to operate with extreme precision and exceptional efficiency, automation systems guarantee that there is little room for human error throughout manufacturing. It is also known that one robot can produce at a rate comparable to three to five workers. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Modern automation makes it possible for factories to run considerably more cheaply. Nowadays, a few individuals and a few robots produce goods instead of hundreds of workers on an assembly line.

Gaining a profit and a return on investment (ROI) will be simpler for businesses. Payroll, benefits, insurance, and sick leave costs can all be decreased by using more robots and fewer workers. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

The automation systems in factories can now be upgraded continuously to work in a more environmentally responsible manner. Modern systems are known to have a smaller environmental impact.

Modern machinery is more accurate and controlled, uses less power, and produces less waste heat. Machines can also be mounted on walls, which are typically underused in traditional factories and can be placed in tight corners to save even more floor space.

Additionally, it permits businesses to add more machines inside the plant. Additionally, robotics' accuracy reduces the amount of scrap produced during production. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Not only will manufacturing be more affordable because of robots, but it will also be much safer. The days of factory workers accidentally hurting themselves while the product was being made are long gone. Humans are still required, but only to manage and supervise production, apply the finishing touches, and check and guarantee the quality of the final items. This factor is expected to drive the Factory Automation Market.

Market segmentation

The factory automation market is segmented by component (sensors, controllers, switches and relays, industrial robots, drives, others), control and safety system (distributed control system (DCS), supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), manufacturing execution system (MES), systems instrumented system (SIS), programmable logic controller (PLC), human-machine interface (HMI)), and by industry verticals (automotive manufacturing, food and beverage, oil and gas processing, mining, others).

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Ghirardelli Square is largely considered to be the first successful real estate adaptive reuse project in the US. With its more than 100-year history, this specialty retail and dining complex today houses shops and restaurants. It was originally a chocolate factory established by Italian immigrant Domenico “Domingo” Ghirardelli.

“Water detection systems for commercial and multifamily properties must be affordable, require minimal maintenance, and consume little energy to provide a good return on investment and environmental benefits."

Dean Fung-A-Wing, chief executive officer and founder, Kairos Water

Kairos Water specialises in operational risk management solutions for commercial and residential properties. For the project, the company’s leak detection strip sensors and gateways based on Semtech’s LoRa technology operate on a LoRaWAN network and connect to the cloud to enable real-time monitoring.

If any water leaks are detected, these LoRa-enabled sensors send an instantaneous alert to facilities management so that any potential damage to the property can be greatly reduced or eliminated with quick action.

Previously, rainfall led to water intrusion into one of the main switchgear rooms at Ghirardelli Square, resulting in temporary interruptions for the building and neighboring businesses. With the application of Noah Multifunction Leak Sensors, based on LoRa technology and running on a LoRaWAN network, the site team addressed this challenge comprehensively. The patented asset protection system detected multiple leaks within the first month itself, successfully preventing substantial damage.

“With Semtech’s LoRa technology, our discrete Kairos sensor solutions significantly impact even the most challenging real estate assets. Our sensors install in seconds while providing data, coverage, and protection for up to 10 years,” said Fung-A-Wing.

Non-intrusive facility management systems

Integrating state-of-the-art leak protection systems without disrupting the tenant and customer experience, or critical infrastructure, is a typical challenge that acquirers and restoration teams encounter across the United States.

“Having built a real estate home service business and witnessed the aftermath of over 3,000 water damage incidents made me realise the size of this problem that plagues about 14,000 homes a day in the US,” said Fung-A-Wing.

Putting modern, non-intrusive facility management systems at the heart of all risk mitigation efforts is critical to preserving these iconic assets.

“The United States spends upwards of one billion dollars annually on restoration projects, promoting economic, environmental, and educational benefits for businesses and consumers,” said Tom Mueller, executive vice president and general manager, IoT System Products Group at Semtech.

“As we modernise and preserve more historical locations, we must use minimally invasive, low-power and long-range risk mitigation solutions that do not disrupt the cultural experience."

Tom Mueller, Semtech

"From water leaks to smoke detection, to air quality, to power management, and more, LoRa is the answer. And, in the case of Ghirardelli Square, who doesn’t like a wonderful piece of chocolate?” Mueller said.

Semtech’s LoRa technology continues to be the de facto LPWAN wireless platform of IoT devices with more than 300 million LoRa end nodes deployed across the globe. Semtech's LoRa chipsets connect sensors to the cloud and enable real-time communication of data and analytics. This prompt management helps to enhance the efficiency and productivity of sustainable IoT use cases such as agriculture, industrial, transportation, and more.

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From wearable health trackers that continuously monitor vital signs and activity levels, to smart implants that transmit patient data to healthcare professionals, the IoT medical devices landscape promises personalised and proactive healthcare.

However, with these advancements come challenges related to data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance, which must be effectively addressed to ensure these transformative technologies' safe and widespread adoption.

Kow Ping, executive director and co-founder of Well Being Digital (WBD101), opines that the medical market is traditionally very conservative, with major brands like Philips and GE and Mindray having dominated it for years.

Commenting on the growing inclusion of health applications in IOT devices, Ping says IoT devices have been playing a key role in early detection applications, by key brands, such as Apple, Samsung and Huawei.

"At WBD101, we support technology for our customers, creating IOT devices for Tele-rehabilitation, and Telemedicine. We see this segment as an underserved market, especially with many countries’ ageing at-home policies," commented Ping.

Future trends

The IoT medical devices market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth US$41.5 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach US$166.5 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 32.1% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.

The market for IoT medical devices is driven by factors such as the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the need for efficient and cost-effective healthcare solutions, the rising adoption of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, and advancements in sensor technology, connectivity, and data analytics.

However, interoperability & transparency issues, the high setup and operational costs, and data privacy concerns in IoT medical devices market are expected to restrain market growth to a certain extent.

Commenting on the industry's challenges, Ping adds that diagnostic tools require long and arduous regulatory approvals and it’s a tough market for IoT devices.

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In June 2021, Soracom completed a joint iSIM Proof of Concept in collaboration with Sony Semiconductor Israel (Sony), a leading cellular IoT chipset provider, and Kigen, which focuses in secure authentication for cellular IoT devices. These partnerships have now been expanded to include new iSIM-compatible modules from Quectel and Murata.

“iSIM technology matches perfectly with Soracom's Subscription Containers feature, which lets users download new profiles over the air as needed,” said Ken Tamagawa, CEO and co-founder for Soracom.

Soracom is a technology partner to more than 20,000 startups, SMBs, and enterprises, connecting more than 5 million IoT devices globally. The company offers robust solutions specifically designed to make it easy to build, operate, and scale IoT deployments.

“iSIM represents the future of SIM technology, and this collaboration puts our customers at the leading edge of IoT development.”

Ken Tamagawa, Soracom

A game changer in IoT development

iSIM technology offers significant advantages over existing SIM and eSIM technology, including reduced physical size, simplified circuitry, minimal board footprint, improved processing capacity, greater energy savings, higher security, lower cost and simplified commercial distribution.

The iSIM standard integrates communication modules, SIM and eSIM functions into a single System-on-Chip (SoC) device and offers a hardware-secured area within the chip for optimal data integrity.

“iSIM technology is a game changer for anyone who wants to secure data originating from connected devices whether it’s for delivering unique customer experiences or for AI solutions."

Vincent Korstanje, CEO of Kigen.

“The commercial availability of iSIM on Soracom’s network is the result of extensive collaborative testing of the Kigen iSIM OS using the market-leading modules and chipsets," he added.

According to Dima Feldman, VP of product management and marketing at Sony Semiconductor Israel, noted that the development of iSim technology will greatly contribute to the evolution of cellular IoT devices.

“The combination of Soracom’s LPWA modules and iSIM technology accelerates implementation efforts for customers, allowing them to develop advantages in cost, size, security, and power consumption.”

Increased interest

Customer interest in iSIM-compatible products has increased steadily since 2021 and module vendors have expanded related product offerings.

Soracom’s expanded partnerships will allow interested customers to secure the Quectel BG773 and Murata Type 1SC iSIM-compatible modules for use in IoT deployments.

"This product is a compact, power-saving, low-cost cellular LPWA module that can be used in a variety of IoT applications,” said Akira Sasaki, general manager, communication module division, Murata Manufacturing.

"Together with leading companies in the cellular IoT industry, we have developed a solution that will let our customers bring a new generation of IoT products to market."

Akira Sasaki, Murata

Michael Wallon, SVP sales APAC + ANZ, Quectel Wireless Solutions, said: "By combining our iSIM-enabled communication modules with the Soracom connectivity platform, customers can easily implement integrated, cost-effective, sustainable and secure IoT solutions at scale, while streamlining their global IoT deployment and paving the way to a smarter world."

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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched Seniors Lab, a pilot digital programme for integrated senior care, in partnership with Sree Narayana Mission (SNM) in Singapore, to help seniors live and age with confidence.

Seniors Lab seeks to enhance the well-being and inclusivity of Singapore’s ageing population by innovating care delivery systems. Designed to address challenges in rising healthcare costs, the programme leverages Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to create an integrated care delivery system that will lower the cost of care delivery, while helping seniors of SNM lead safer, more comfortable, and independent lives.

By integrating IoT-enabled sensors installed in the seniors’ homes, Seniors Lab digitally detects and reports movement, activity levels, falls, social isolation indicators and other medically relevant parameters, while ensuring privacy. These sensors can be integrated with wearables and devices, as well as healthcare ecosystems and concierge service providers, to further ensure a holistic approach to senior care.

The Seniors Lab programme builds on the success of the SHINESeniors programme, a research initiative of the SMU-TCS iCity Lab, a joint venture between Singapore Management University (SMU) and TCS.

Aspirations of the Seniors Lab

The new programme has introduced a range of new and extended features, including emergency linkages and concierge services, such as ambulance services and companions, attendants, shopping and groceries, and bill payments.

It also allows for the tracking of medically relevant parameters, adding another dimension to comprehensive senior care, enabling them to live more independently.

K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law commented: "Singapore’s resident population is ageing rapidly. In 2022, our residents aged 65 years and above made up 16.6% of the total resident population, which makes Singapore one of the most rapidly ageing societies in Asia. Our environment must evolve to adapt to the growing needs of our elderly."

"I am glad and welcome more similar corporate-charity collaborations like TCS and SNM for Seniors Lab, to raise greater awareness and provide creative living solutions for our seniors to remain active, healthy and live life with purpose and dignity, and for society to benefit from their collective wisdom and experience."

Ameet Nivsarkar, Country Head for TCS Singapore, says the partnership with SNM and the launch of Seniors Lab addresses the underserved needs of the silver generation.

"Losing a sense of autonomy and loneliness at an old age can be a very difficult experience for many," he continued. He added that these efforts and others like them aim to help drive inclusivity and social interaction in Singapore.

"We strive to create a healthier ageing landscape by leveraging technology to empower our seniors in ageing independently, which complements the Healthier SG initiative," said S Devendran, CEO of SNM Singapore.

"We hope to achieve this through ‘Living with Confidence’, a sensor-based IoT technology and data analytics, which allows remote monitoring and timely alerts through a mobile application. Our seniors can take comfort in knowing that they are not alone and get to age in place confidently. This creates a safe and healthy ageing landscape for seniors of today and tomorrow." S Devendran

The Seniors Lab promotes active engagement and participation among seniors, enabling them to shape their ageing journey with dignity and fulfilment. These initiatives are offered through partnerships with Non-Profit Organisations and healthcare providers, with the collective aim of enabling seniors to thrive as active and engaged members of their communities.

TCS aims to extend the Seniors Lab programme to other parts of the world.

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The analyst attributes continued spending on IoT to come from rising demand for remote operations, supply chain efficiency, deployment of commercial 5G, and increasing digital footprint are driving IoT adoption in the region. IoT investments are expected to reach US$435 billion in 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% between 2023 and 2027.

"IoT connectivity technology both fixed and wireless continues to improve and play an increasingly important role in IoT adoption," says Bill Rojas, adjunct research director for IDC Asia/Pacific.

He goes on to add that power-saving IoT devices built with 5G enhanced Machine Type Communications technologies such as 5G Reduced Capacity (RedCap) will start to be introduced into the market to gradually replace LTE Cat 3/4 devices.

He posits that the result will be more video-enabled endpoints and advanced analytics. 5G Non-Terrestrial Network satellite connectivity is expected to be introduced to the market during the forecast period further extending the reach of IoT to remote areas. 

Industry use cases

“Use cases include disaster recovery and response, oil & gas, mining and resources monitoring. 5G-enabled mobile private networks in manufacturing, transportation and utilities will take advantage of mid-band and mmWave IoT device connectivity enabling 4K video cameras and ultra-low latency for automated mobile robots.

Fibre-connected smart sensors for many applications including monitoring of bridges and highways, and control of smart elevators, traffic lights, and streetlights are starting to gain traction and be combined with wireless technologies to provide robust scalable solutions", he added.

Discrete and process manufacturing will see the largest investment in IoT solutions in 2023 and throughout the forecast period, accounting for more than one-third of all IoT spending in the region. State/local government and professional services are the following largest industries in terms of IoT spending.

Use cases beyond industry and into processes

The potential to improve the quality, efficacy, and customer experience of their products and services is what motivates these organisations to invest in IoT. State/local government and telecommunications will deliver the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with CAGRs of 15.1% and 14% respectively.

IoT use cases that see the highest spending in 2023 are manufacturing operations, production asset management, supply chain resilience, inventory intelligence and public safety and emergency response which follow similar growth patterns as the host industries.

Together these use cases will make more than one-third of the overall IoT spending in the region. The use cases that will experience the fastest spending growth represent the diverse application of IoT technologies – electric vehicle charging, next-generation loss prevention and agriculture field monitoring.

“Organisations are more focused on data-driven operations to address specific business goals and customer challenges, and investing in the IoT ecosystem is crucial. The majority of the enterprises indicated in an IDC survey that they are collecting or plan to collect biometric, video, and transactional data to achieve the above goals”, says Sharad Kotagi, market analyst at IDC IT Spending Guides, Customer Insights & Analysis.

From a technology perspective, in 2023, the largest portion of spending is expected to remain in the services category, representing roughly 40% of the overall IoT spending in the region. The emphasis on IT/OT convergence, as organisations build cross-functional IoT centres of excellence, has increased their reliance on system integrators and other outsourcing partners.

The hardware market for IoT will be the second-largest technology group in 2023, primarily driven by purchases of modules and sensors. The software will be the fastest-growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 13% with a focus on application and analytics software purchases. Connectivity spending will grow at 7.6% CAGR during the forecast period and will account for 7.9% of the total spending in 2027.

Country landscape

China (PRC) - continues to hold the largest share, with more than 60% in 2023, followed by South Korea and India. Countries with the fastest IoT spending in 2023 are China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The advent of smart factories and Industry 4.0, along with government-led IoT programs and policies, has sped up IoT adoption across the Asia Pacific nations.

The post Where IoT spending will go from 2023 to 2027 appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research forecasts automated storage & retrieval system (AS/RS) revenues are expected to surpass US$15 billion globally by 2030, and warehouse management system (WMS) revenues are expected to exceed US$10 billion by the same period.

“Global supply chain challenges over the last three years have highlighted the need for digitalisation and a deeper restructuring of inventory management. Labour constraints, geopolitical trade shifts, and inventory gluts continue to pressure warehouse operations, and the most impacted organisations continue to be those with lower focus on digital transformations,” states Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

Competitive landscape

AS/RS vendors, including AutoStore, Ocado, and Swisslog, as well as autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendors such as inVia Robotics, Locus Robotics, and Vecna Robotics, are leading the structural automation charge.

Established and emerging WMS vendors such as Blue Yonder, Manhattan Associates, and Snapfulfil continue to add new functionalities to orchestrate and optimise both manual and automated workflows.

The growth in automation and management systems and high investment in hardware and devices are expected to increase worker productivity, as manual worker involvement remains necessary alongside the adoption of automated equipment.

Global shipments of handheld devices for warehouse workers will grow at a CAGR of 20% to 2030, led by market leaders such as Zebra and Honeywell.

The new warehouse building is expected to drop by as much as 35% in 2023 compared to 2022. It is creating an even greater incentive to invest in the automation of current facilities to ease operational constraints.

Disruption to new developments will be short-lived, with steady growth in warehouse construction expected to 2030, led by a much greater CAGR in global e-commerce fulfilment centre development at 18%.

“Successful deployments by Tier One organisations continue to spur the adoption of technologies within small-medium enterprises. Solutions providers must continue to offer accessible adoption through as-a-service models and scalable structures, and exploring partnerships with complementary technology will be key to deploying market-leading end-to-end solutions,” concludes Wiggin.

The post Warehouse automation is essential to resilience appeared first on FutureIoT.

The report noted that alongside strong growth in biometric devices, rising in revenue from US$7 billion in 2022, consumer electronics (smartphone, tablet, wearable) biometric capability will markedly increase in future years. Fingerprint sensor revenues will remain at a steady US$1.5 billion annually, with attach rates for face, voice, vein, ECG, and gesture biometrics increasing rapidly.

There are two angles to look at regarding the biometrics market. “First, we have dedicated devices, predominantly in the government and security space, as well as in enterprise, healthcare, and BFSI institutions. These are often specialised by application, for instance, a biometric enrolment kit for citizens’ identities, or eGate systems which use biometric verification to clear those crossing a border,” explains Lucas Stewart, research analyst at ABI Research. “Second, we can look at smartphones and tablets as a vessel for biometric authentication.”

ABI Research notes a strong uptick in the biometric capabilities of said devices, with low-end models increasingly equipped with biometric technologies and the overall smartphone user base seeing growing biometric penetration.

Stuart posits that given convenience and user experience, we see a trend of biometric verification often going through a personal device where possible, that is using your smartphone or other to capture or verify your own biometric data, where apps and web pages increasingly incorporate biometric means of authentication as a password replacement or way to verify oneself.

“Alongside the usability factor, this trend is underpinned by a clear need for mobility. In terms of standalone biometric devices, the need for mobility in these larger scale kits manifests with movement toward more handheld and portable devices,” Stuart continues.

Biometric locks are a key area of opportunity and something we will see more and more of as smart home concepts progress. Regarding other key growth areas, the border control market should also be closely monitored.

Stewart reiterates that there is a significant opportunity here with the need for more efficient and secure international border crossing becoming clear post-COVID as traveller volumes continue to rise.

ABI Research forecasts biometric locks as the most rapidly growing device type within the wider market, rising from 9.3 million shipments in 2022 to 35.5 million in 2027. Similarly exhibiting strong growth are eGates, at 12.8% CAGR from 2022 through 2027. These key figures sit alongside additional detail and granularity for multiple device types, by submarket and biometric modality.

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It predicts that this growth will be driven by the acceleration of 5G standalone deployments, with intensifying rollouts in home markets providing increased momentum and a strong value proposition for 5G standalone-specific roaming agreements.

Standalone networks provide greater network functionality over non-standalone 5G networks by leveraging next-generation network cores to provide these greater network speeds and latency to 5G IoT roaming connections; improving the value proposition of a roaming model.

West Europe as a key market for 5G IoT roaming

The research forecast that 21% of global 5G IoT roaming connections in 2027 will be found in West Europe, despite only accounting for 5% of the global population. It identified leading efforts from operators in the region to launch 5G standalone networks as key to incentivising IoT users to implement a roaming business model, thus driving the growth of IoT roaming connections.

Report author Elisha Sudlow-Poole opines that to further capitalise on the growth of 5G IoT roaming in West Europe, operators must form roaming agreements that leverage standalone 5G networks to improve network performance for roaming connections and provide the same level of service when roaming as they do on home networks.

Value-added services key to managing revenue leakage

In addition to 5G standalone-specific roaming agreements, the report urged operators to implement roaming analytics tools that leverage AI to maximise roaming revenue, as they enable operators to efficiently assess the significant amount of roaming data generated by 5G roaming connections in real time.

The report anticipated that key verticals, such as autonomous vehicles, will necessitate these advanced roaming solutions, owing to their data-centric nature. With this, the research emphasised that roaming analytics must be integrated directly into platforms to maximise their value proposition to network operators and enable swifter reconciliation of clearing for stakeholders.

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IoT development in Europe reflects enterprises' evolving digital transformation investment objectives related to cost reduction, process streamlining, automation, and enhanced customer experience. There are, nevertheless, varying dynamics in regional markets.

Central and Eastern European (CEE) organisations' investments, for example, remain significantly below the European market average, with expected single-digit increases over the forecast period.

In the last three years, many investments were put on hold in CEE, due to the various challenges related to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the overall pressured macro-economic environment.

However, as IoT has proven to be integral to cost reduction, process optimization, automation, and enhanced management and monitoring capabilities, IDC expects investments to accelerate by the end of the forecast period.

From an overall industry perspective, European IoT spending will be driven by investments from manufacturing, utilities, and professional services organisations. Prominent use cases will include production asset management, distribution automation, and infrastructure for smart buildings.

The fastest adoption of IoT will be seen across use cases such as irrigation management in the resources industry and fleet management in transport.

Notable updates in its latest IoT spending guide were made to the use case taxonomy across multiple industries (i.e., discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, retail, resource industries, transportation, and telecommunications).

Updates to the use case taxonomy reflect enterprises' evolving DX investment objectives, some of which were spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent business and societal disruptions.

In terms of technology, modules and sensors will continue to drive IoT-related spending.

This was followed by related services such as industrial maintenance to support the ongoing operation of device hardware ("things"), vertical business process outsourcing services, infrastructure as a service, and data as a service.

Low power wide area networks (LPWANs) will see the fastest-growing investments and will be a critical IoT area for telecom providers in the next few years.

Spending on analytics software will also increase, as organisations strive to turn data collected by connection endpoints into actionable insights.

"Due to the uncertain macroeconomic context, European organisations are expected to continue feeling pressure on budgets, with additional investments restrained in the short and medium term," says Alexandra Rotaru, senior research analyst with IDC's European Data & Analytics Team. "However, IoT will remain a critical tool for improving performance and efficiency and increasing automation capabilities. It will continue to be a key investment area, helping organisations to reduce costs and enhance productivity despite challenges."

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But with this broader connectivity comes more entry points for potential attackers, and capital decision-makers depend on up-to-date cybersecurity threat information to properly prioritise asset replacement and manage asset requests.

Yet many still lack a comprehensive strategy for incorporating medical device risk reduction into capital planning, which is increasingly concerning as cyber threats—and healthcare-industry data breaches that now average more than US$10 million per incident—continue to rise.

Hospitals must consider cyber risk when evaluating equipment purchases, maintenance, and device lifecycle management—including risk assessment, monitoring, and remediation.

“As security threats against healthcare systems continue to escalate, understanding and prioritising the current risk profile of each piece of connected equipment is critical for healthcare systems to avoid the kind of attacks that are costly to budgets and reputation,” said Peter Hancock, VP of global partnerships at Asimily.

Asimily announced plans to integrate its Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) risk management platform, with the CCM (Capital Cycle Management) solution from HANDLE Global to provide a single platform where healthcare system supply chain, security, and IT teams gain a holistic and always-current view of their organisation’s internet-connected assets.

This equipment visibility enables healthcare organisations to determine which assets or manufacturers are at risk of cybersecurity issues, and to track the status of cyber-related warnings and recalls.

Asimily uses AI-fuelled analysis to prioritise exploitable vulnerabilities and prescribe targeted, clinically-viable remediations—and identify when remediations are not possible and which assets may need to be replaced.

This critical information is dispatched to CCM to ensure that it is considered a key priority during the capital planning process and can empower a shift from reactive to proactive cybersecurity risk management.

CCM allows health systems to tailor priorities based on customisable risk thresholds for threats to cybersecurity, patient safety, product standardisation, and other factors provided by Asimily’s IoMT risk remediation platform.

“This integration with Asimily gives HANDLE’s CCM customers the ability to understand cybersecurity risks and precisely measure utilisation so they feel confident that they are making well-informed decisions about where to focus their capital spend,” said Kyle Green, CEO, HANDLE Global. "This is especially crucial as health system budgets continue to tighten and healthcare leaders are forced to make difficult budgeting decisions."

The post Partnership to optimise healthcare capital cycle end-to-end appeared first on FutureIoT.

"The last few years have shown that connecting with a digital infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a necessity," said Carlos M. González, research manager for the Internet of Things at IDC. "For organisations to excel in data-driven operations, investing in IoT projects is essential."

"Connecting devices to data networks to gather insight, expand operations, and increase performance are the hallmarks of executing an IoT ecosystem."

Carlos M. González

Industry perspective

Discrete and process manufacturing are the industries that will see the largest investment in IoT solutions in 2023 and throughout the forecast period, accounting for more than one-third of all IoT spending worldwide.

Professional services, utilities, and retail are the next largest industries in terms of overall IoT spending with roughly 25% of the worldwide total. State/local government and telecommunications will deliver the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast with CAGRs of 12.0% and 11.7% respectively.

IoT investment is a key building block to supporting an increasingly digital and distributed organisational footprint. Most of these investments are seeking solutions that can help organisations achieve a specific business goal or customer challenges, such as cost savings or supply chain efficiency. As such, use cases are the focus of most IoT investment plans.

Use cases

The two IoT use cases that will receive the most investment in 2023 are both closely tied to the manufacturing industries: manufacturing operations (US$73.0 billion) and production asset management (US$68.2 billion). The next largest use cases – inventory intelligence (US$37.6 billion), smart grid (electricity) (US$36.9 billion), and supply chain resilience (US$31.6 billion) – will benefit from strong investments from the Retail and Utilities industries.

The use cases that will experience the fastest spending growth represent the diverse application of IoT technologies – electric vehicle charging (30.9% CAGR), next-generation loss prevention (14.5% CAGR), agriculture field monitoring (13.9% CAGR), and connected vending and lockers (13.8% CAGR).

The influence of digital transformation is evident

IDC says updates to the IoT use case taxonomy in this release of the IoT Spending Guide reflect the evolving digital transformation investment objectives of enterprises.

Thematically, greater investment in goods production and supply chains resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and global reactions that caused massive business and societal disruptions are evident in the new use cases.

"These production and supply chain-related use cases can be seen in the discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, retail, and transportation industries," said Marcus Torchia, research vice president with IDC's data & analytics group. "Meanwhile, digital business investments are ramping up in other industries such as the resource industries. For example, IoT is helping to improve upstream supply chain processes in agriculture, such as growing, harvesting, and delivering higher quality products to market."

Technology view

From a technology perspective, IoT services will be the largest area of spending in 2023 and through the end of the forecast, accounting for nearly 40% of all IoT spending worldwide.

Hardware spending is the second largest technology category, dominated by module/sensor purchases. Software will be the fastest-growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 11.0% and a focus on application and analytics software purchases.

Regional view

Western Europe, the United States, and China will account for more than half of all IoT spending throughout the forecast.

Although Western Europe and the United States currently have similar levels of spending, Western Europe will expand its lead with an 11.0% CAGR over the 2023-2027 forecast, compared to an 8.0% CAGR for the United States.

China's IoT spending is forecast to surpass the United States by the end of the forecast due to its 13.2% CAGR.

The post IDC outlines growth drivers in industrial IoT in coming years appeared first on FutureIoT.

Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Alvin Tan, noted that Phase 2, which runs from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2025, continues from where Phase 1 ends and aims to enhance its Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to create an environment where humans and robots can interface and co-exist.

The lab, supported under Singapore’s National Research Foundation’s Research Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan, will develop over three years next-generation technologies aimed at overcoming labour shortage challenges for the manufacturing and intralogistics - the logistical flows of goods and materials that take place on a company's site – industries.

Said Delta Electronics chairman, Yancey Hai, the two organisations' shared core values have been essential for the success of Phase I of the Delta-NTU Corporate Lab, which developed 17 patents, including highly valuable intellectual property that will be leveraged for the new Corporate Lab Phase II.

"This includes 3D mapping for automated guided vehicles, human tracking and re-identification with machine learning, and motion planning for materials handling," continued Hai.

Rise of collaborative robots

Collaborative robotic systems are set to become a staple as businesses transit into Industry 5.0, and as the world grapples with a manpower crunch arising from an ageing workforce and declining birth rates.

Such systems include human-touch inspired robots that can adjust their grip to pick up a range of materials, from fragile glassware to volatile chemicals, and smart sensing, radar, and 3D sensors systems, which allow autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to operate in a dynamic environment with human traffic like hospitals and warehouses.

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5G adoption has progressed much faster than 4G, delivering faster download speeds and greater connectivity reliability. It is in the commercial sphere that large-scale deployment of 5G globally has transformed industries.

The automation of factories and application of AI and digital twins would not be possible without the low latency and high bandwidth provided by the 5th-generation technology. These innovative applications are also driving up revenue for operators and helping them achieve business success.

Network operators’ capital expenditure on 5G infrastructure was high, and they are looking for ways to drive up average revenue per user (ARPU) to realise returns on their investments. 5.5G is the evolution of 5G and will protect operators' investments while enhancing business value by building on 5G capabilities to expand business boundaries

5.5G is the essential upgrade for 5G

5.5G has 10 times better network capabilities than 5G, with downlink rates improved from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps and uplink rates improved from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. These attributes will be the driver of the network operator’s revenue as 5.5G will significantly improve user experience and network capabilities.

Multi-dimensional and guaranteed user experiences are becoming increasingly important for consumers. 3D cloud-based videos and games, naked-eye 3D calling, holographic meetings, and the XR experiences will bring users multi-sensory and realistic immersive experiences, which will require up to 10 Gbps and deterministic latency.

3D technology

3D technology, especially glasses-free 3D technology, has made remarkable progress recently. With the development of optics technology, dynamic eye tracking, and AI, glasses-free 3D tablets have been launched, which will bring a true-to-life experience.

There are two big advances driving this technological shift, first, it is much easier to generate content than before, for example, 2D live videos can easily be converted into 3D live videos with just 5s latency, and with the continuous improvement of AIGC, more 3D content can be quickly generated.

Secondly, the devices supporting this technology are expected to retail for only an additional $100 more than standard devices, making glasses-free 3D terminals easily accessible. Using the support of content and device, we are sure that glasses-free 3D products will provide a true-to-life experience and will revolutionize the industry in the near future.

Current 3D gaming requires 100Mbit/s download speeds, considering the resolution and Frames Per Second required, if we move to real-time 3D interaction in the future, the peak rate of the network needs to be more than 1 Gbit/s. These download speeds are all being facilitated by the innovative technical capabilities of 5G and 5.5G, such as low latency, fast uplink speeds and high degrees of positioning accuracy.

Digital transformation of the industry

On the industrial front, digitalization has already entered the fast lane. AI will be fully integrated into enterprise production processes, and the size of the 5.5G IoT market will grow rapidly. Our statistics show that more than 10,000 companies in various industries have used 5G already. However, many industries now have more challenging requirements.

Collaboration between robots and people in complex scenarios will impose greater requirements on next-generation industrial field networks and some manufacturing control scenarios will require the network to provide 4ms latency and 99.9999% reliability.

These new changes will pose higher requirements on networks, and it is here where stronger capabilities are needed to better support and serve the digital transformation of the industry.

Passive IoT

As a low-cost IoT technology, passive IoT allows 100 billion connections. Field tests have shown that it can reach a coverage distance of more than 200m, which is more than 10 times longer than that of RFID. 5.5G delivers deterministic experiences and supports passive IoT and sensing on top of conventional communications capabilities.

In the past, IoT has made significant progress. However, due to terminal costs, it has not emerged at scale.

These Passive IoT technologies could make sensor networks far more economically viable, while dramatically increasing the efficiency of warehouse stocktaking and other industrial processes. For example, the solution could be used to count 100,000 stock items in a warehouse with an accuracy of 99.99%.

For example, in the future, Passive IoT will be widely used in Oil & Gas and ports as the tags will be able to measure temperature, humidity and pressure, key data for predictive maintenance. In many scenarios, the collection terminal cannot use batteries because they are too flammable. Yet a passive IoT solution could be used to collect environmental information and the basic data required for predictive maintenance.

Passive IoT technology is expected to create more business opportunities in scenarios such as warehouse stock-taking, logistics tracking, and environmental monitoring.

6GHz Spectrum

All the services and changes demand significantly higher requirements on networks.

A sufficient spectrum is mandatory for sustainable service growth in the 5.5G era and beyond.

For these spectrums, the bandwidth of upper 6 GHz (U6 GHz) is the largest, with ultra-large-bandwidth, 6 GHz has achieved 10 Gbps in the downlink and 1 Gbps in the uplink. Due to the technological innovations achieved with extremely large antenna arrays (ELAA) coverage at 6GH is extended to match that of C-Band.

For ubiquitous coverage, medium and low-frequency spectrums are critical and necessary, for example, FDD and C-band cannot support evolution to 10 Gbit/s. Therefore, 6 GHz is a key resource for operators, especially considering future-oriented evolution. From a recent GSMA report, 6GHz will be commercially ready for large-scale deployment around 2026.

2023 will be a pivotal year for 5.5G. Progress has been faster than predicted in standards, spectrum, industry chain, ecosystem, and applications. 5.5G standards will be delivered in 3GPP Releases 18, 19, and 20. Release 18 will be frozen in H1 of 2024.

All those new changes will bring ten times or even a hundred times new opportunities to the industry by 2030.

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Staff at Foodstuffs have used mobile computers to perform core functions such as ordering stock age of stock, stocktaking, price verification and the recent online order pickle application.

Time to upgrade

According to Ian Colhoun, user technology manager for Foodstuffs South Island, the previous mobile technology the company was using, the mc3190, was nearing its end-of-life, and was starting to cause reliability issues. In addition, the costs and capability to develop additional applications on these devices were unsustainable. The company also identified that it needed a 3D bar scan going forward.

The upgrade includes Zebra’s TC51 and TC52 mobile computers, ET51 Android tablet, and RS5100 Bluetooth wearable scanner. The TC51 and TC52 mobile computers provide its retail associates with ready access to their inventory levels to reduce lost sales resulting from out-of-stock situations.

Having such crucial information at their fingertips would also enable retail associates to spend more time engaging with shoppers to provide a better shopping experience.

The ET51 Android tablet and RS5100 Bluetooth wearable scanner help streamline workflows and increase the scanning speed of its market online picking team, resulting in enhanced productivity from its retail backend.

Colhoun said that by digitalizing its processes, "we give our retail associates ready access to key information about our inventory levels from the shop floor to avoid facing out-of-stock situations."

“This also eliminates the hassle of leaving the shop floor to check our office computer for data to answer shoppers’ simple questions. Promptly responding to our shoppers’ questions with real-time information about available stock will vastly improve the overall shopping experience which is our utmost priority,” he added.

A global trend is underway

According to Zebra’s 15th Annual Global Shopper Study, retail associates expressed out-of-stock complaints as their number one frustration (43% globally and 38% in APAC). Globally, a whopping 76% (64% in APAC) of shoppers leave without the items they intended to purchase with 49% (44% in APAC) blaming it on out-of-stocks.

“In recent years, we are observing a trend of renewed consumer expectations across the region as more shoppers seek a seamless omnichannel shopping experience,” said Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) sales vice president for Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.

“With retailers pressured to keep up with rising shopper expectations, empowering retail associates with the right technology tools to effectively perform their duties will be crucial in responding to shopper needs and deliver on-demand effectively.”

Christanto Suryadarma

The post Kiwi grocery co-operative streamlines workflows appeared first on FutureIoT.

“Global robot installations grew tremendously throughout 2021 and have continued to do so in 2022, reaching record levels for industrial and collaborative robots,” explains ABI research director Lian Jye Su. He concedes that this recent boom is expected to fade a bit in 2023 due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and inflation.

In this PodChats for FutureIoT, Su discusses the latest trends in industrial automation, artificial intelligence and robotics in Asia.

1. Describe the state of industrial automation in Asia in 2023?
2. How has robotics technology evolved in recent years? (types and applications)
3. Beyond Korea and Japan, how are other markets in Asia adopting/deploying robotics?
4. Most “hardware” robotics use cases are designed to perform a single specific task (for example moving goods or welding components). As AI and machine learning matures, do you ever see robotics taking on more sophisticated functions?
5. Are cobots a sign of things to come?
6. In IT, we’ve seen the rise of “as-a-service”, what will robotics-as-a-service look like?
7. The terms industrial IoT, industry 4.0 and robotics – how are all these connected?
8. Where are the hurdles in the evolution of robots or robotics in industrial applications?
9. What is your advice for organisations looking to integrate advances in robotics into operations further?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Industrial automation trends in Asia appeared first on FutureIoT.

The journey to digitalisation

The first stage of digitalisation was to equip Alpro Pharmacy’s front-line workers with Zebra’s TC21 touch computers to replace their manual inventory management system using pen and paper. The mobile devices were introduced to assist with all inventory management tasks from receiving goods at Alpro Pharmacy’s distribution centre to picking goods for its retail stores and e-commerce orders.

This has enhanced Alpro Pharmacy’s efficiency by approximately 80% and improved its overall accuracy by reducing human errors. Digitalisation has also improved Alpro Pharmacy's business capacity by an estimated five-fold and has helped meet increased orders with its existing workforce, resulting in an even more delightful experience for customers across both online and offline channels.

The mobile devices also come with Zebra Mobility DNA (including Enterprise Home Screen and StageNow) – a suite of enterprise solutions designed to help maximise mobile user productivity and minimize IT complexities over the lifespan of a Zebra device.

Alpro Pharmacy subsequently introduced the RFD40 UHF RFID sleds, which seamlessly transformed their existing mobile devices into an advanced RFID solution. This is used for verification purposes when loading inventories at its distribution centre onto its delivery trucks and for the confirmation of goods received at its retail stores.

By providing this level of real-time visibility, Alpro Pharmacy has greatly improved its tracking accuracy leading to much more efficient operational workflows.

“Our shift from manual methods to Zebra mobile devices has improved our order fulfilment efficiency and enhanced our business capacity dramatically,” said Wong Siew Piin, director for operations management at Alpro Pharmacy. “When we added the RFD40 sleds to the equation, it seamlessly transformed our existing mobile computers into a cost-effective RFID solution that enabled us with even greater visibility and accuracy.

"Alpro Pharmacy constantly strives to improve our business practices to better serve our customers, and this digital transformation has helped us realize that goal.” 

Wong Siew Piin

Implementation of the Zebra Technologies solution came through its PartnerConnect reseller Inchz IoT.

According to Zebra's 15th Annual Global Shopper Study 80% of decision-makers participating in the study report that maintaining real-time visibility of out-of-stocks remains a significant challenge. Seventy-nine per cent say they need better inventory management tools for availability.  It is therefore not surprising that 82% said they have increased their focus on supply-chain operations.

Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) sales vice president for Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific, concludes that investment in the right technology will be crucial in achieving business agility and resilience.

"With more visibility and control over their operations, implementing technology-led solutions can help more retailers like Alpro Pharmacy effectively overcome today’s challenges and prepare for any future disruptions.”

Christanto Suryadarma

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A 650 Group report posits that the Observability market grew by 60% in 2022 and that cloud and subscription-based offerings are predicted to be most of the revenue during the forecast period as enterprises move to hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure.

The Deep Observability Market is a critical growth component for Observability Infrastructure vendors, as enterprises need to extract a significant amount of data from networks beyond logs to secure and automate their infrastructure.

“Operation teams, such as SecOps, NetOps, and CloudOps, are key beneficiaries of Deep Observability. These teams stress the importance of being proactive and less reactive to application performance, vulnerability detection, and issues in their production networks,” said Alan Weckel, founder and technology analyst at 650 Group.

“Deep Observability continues to add additional value-add features like decryption, application filtering, application metadata, and deduplication. Over the forecast years, this will help drive networking automation and AI-based networks.”

Alan Weckel

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eIM is a standardised eSIM provisioning tool allowing large-scale deployment and management of eSIM‑enabled IoT devices. eIM is defined in SGP.31 by the GSMA and standardises the process for the mass deployment of eSIM-enabled IoT devices.

eIM to accelerate IoT deployments

The report found that incumbent eSIM provisioning solutions, such as SMSR (Subscription Management Secure Routing), have hindered the growth of eSIMs in the IoT market by limiting the number of devices that can be provisioned and managed via a single user interface.

However, eIM solutions will reduce the cost of deployments by enabling multiple connections to be deployed at the same time; increasing the value proposition of eSIM use cases requiring mass deployments.

Only 2% of all eSIMs in use will be attributable to the IoT sector in 2023, according to the report. However, with the increased adoption of eIM tools, it predicts the growth of eSIM IoT connections will outpace the consumer sector which includes smartphones, over the next three years. By 2026, 6% of global eSIMs will be attributable to the IoT sector.

Logistics and Oil & Gas extraction to drive growth

The report anticipates that eSIM-enabled IoT devices in service will grow 780% globally over the next three years. It identified two key sectors that will benefit from eIM: logistics and oil & gas extraction. By 2026, it forecasts that these two markets will account for 75% of eSIMs in use globally; owing to their reliance on LPWA (Low-power, Wide-area) business models that necessitate the use of mass deployment processes.

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He opined that  Smart Corridors and Smart Poles are expected to redefine the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and the wider Smart Cities markets.”

Global investments in smart pole and smart corridor technologies will grow from US$10.8 billion in 2022 to more than US$132 billion in 2030. ABI Research estimates that more than 10.8 million smart poles will have been installed by 2030.

Smart poles are multi-functional aggregation points for smart urban infrastructure, built on top of smart streetlights and connected utility poles.

They represent a cost-efficient, scalable, and modular framework for deploying the whole spectrum of smart urban infrastructure, ranging from 5G small cells (in the form of cellular network densification) and Wi-Fi hotspots to surveillance and traffic cameras, signage and information displays, air quality and flood monitoring solutions, and charging points for two- and four-wheel vehicles and drones, including renewable energy generation.

Key smart pole technology vendors include Ubicquia, Verizon, Huawei, Signify, Nokia/LuxTurrim5G, and Ekin Smart City Solutions.

The new concept of smart corridors refers to technologies such as Cooperative Adaptive Traffic Lights (CATL) and roadside infrastructure enabling autonomous driving on 5G-enabled cross-border highways and optimizing traffic flow, road safety, and sustainable transportation across longer distances. 

Premium signal priority for freight and delivery vehicle pre-emption will offer new monetization opportunities for governments and road operators, ultimately leading to dedicated freight corridors. Key smart corridor government initiatives include the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2) digital program for funding and deploying 5G corridors and the U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

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Digital transformations are being used to ensure not only supply resiliency but also competitive differentiators. ABI Research says Cold Chain Track & Trace revenue for refrigerated containers (reefers) in the pharma industry is expected to reach US$2.9 billion globally by 2027 as companies look to tackle the US$35 billion worth of products lost to failures in temperature-controlled logistics within the industry each year.

“Both profit and human well-being play a role in the industry's structure and development. Pharma companies seek to innovate and deliver new drugs to the market. In contrast, governments and healthcare systems seek to regulate and ensure that drugs and medicines are verified and effective when reaching patients,” explained Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

He added that digital transformations offer a means to achieve both, helping to guarantee end-to-end (E2E) product integrity while delivering effectively and at a fair price. "Comprehensive solutions tackling contemporary pain points are critical for pharma companies to achieve the most efficient and robust routes to market," he continued.

One of pharma's most pressing issues is the need for increasingly granular traceability. Regulations such as the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) push companies away from manual processes and toward more sophisticated digital solutions.

These include Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), such as SnapFulfil, offering inventory management and stock flow optimisation, Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled traceability at a unit level from companies like Wiliot, reefer telematics from companies like Motive, and supply chain control towers from the likes of Optel Group that provide a layer of orchestration by bringing together systems and data siloes into a centralised platform.

In addition, pharma companies and retailers are also revolutionising their picking operations through robotic picking solutions from companies like RightHand Robotics, alongside Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) in warehouses and healthcare facilities. On top of higher speed, accuracy, and picking time, robotic deployments are helping to facilitate protected environments for temperature-controlled products and better resiliency to labour supply fluctuations.

Wiggins opined that out of necessity, cold chain infrastructure and product traceability will see strong investment in support of growing biologics drug development and tailored medicines.

"From a retail and e-commerce perspective, big players like Walgreens and Amazon operating in the generics and prescription markets will continue to lead direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels with higher automation initiatives," he commented.

He further posited that as competition increases and operational requirements evolve, end users must focus on internal alignment and incentivise cooperation with close trading partners to support E2E solutions.

"Technology vendors should utilise strategic partnerships and explore as-a-service offerings to offer companies a comprehensive and managed transformation with simplified adoption,” concluded Wiggin.

The post What pharma needs to meet growth targets and regulation appeared first on FutureIoT.

Connected buttons are sometimes described as "smart buttons," but what makes the LTE-M IoT button so effective is its simplicity. A single click or press sends an event over the built-in LTE-M connection to the Soracom or UnaBiz platform endpoints, where the real intelligence resides. From there, the possibilities are nearly limitless.

Users can configure the button to trigger serverless functions on popular cloud services such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. After registering the device, a user can simply select a cloud service, apply a piece of code and associate a button click to trigger any logic deployed in the cloud.

Developers looking to quickly understand and apply Soracom or UnaBiz platform capabilities can use the LTE-M button as a standalone device or with sensors and other devices (like a flood sensor or magnet relay) for more industrial applications.

Based on the code that users choose to deploy to their cloud of choice, the button can be used for any purpose. With the push of a button, users can order products and services (like ride-hailing or meal ordering), start or stop a task (as in a home automation context), generate an alert, provide feedback, and more.

Industries such as eCommerce, call centres, hospitality, maintenance, and transportation can use the IoT button to automate operations, streamline workflows, and improve customer service.

“The magic of the LTE-M Button is that it's a very simple device, but its applications are limited only by the user's imagination. Because it includes both connectivity and cloud integration, users can incorporate it into their own IoT use cases immediately on registration,” said Kenta Yasukawa, CTO and co-founder of Soracom.

He claimed that it's a very effective reference device for getting started in IoT, but it can also serve more sophisticated use cases, like connecting sensors and relays.

"Adding Soracom's platform capabilities lets the LTE-M button serve advanced cloud-based IoT systems using serverless cloud functions, data lakes, machine learning services and more,” he added.

With Soracom, UnaBiz is now pursuing LTE-M devices that allow enterprises and developers to easily integrate with existing business workflows and systems.

“Building on our deep knowledge of Sigfox-based low-power devices design, it was only natural for UnaBiz to partner with Soracom team expertise in LTE-M integrations,” said Alexis Susset, CTO of UnaBiz.

According to Susset, the collaboration has enabled both parties to jointly deliver a simple, evolutive and elegant IoT button which will last years on a single battery charge and benefit from the growing LTE-M networks coverage.

Features of the LTE-M button include Soracom’s eSIM technology, a three-colour LED status indicator, FOTA (or firm over the air) support, replaceable AA batteries, IP54 grade, and a recycled plastic casing. The button is pre-configured to send events to the companies’ cloud endpoints.

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The positioning technology tracks mobile and portable devices connected to the 5G network, accurately determining their positions where no global navigation satellite service coverage is available, for instance in factories, warehouses or underground facilities.

As part of the factory test, an enhanced private 5G network was able to determine the precise position of assets such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs), mobile robots and mobile control panels – tracking their movements throughout the plant in real-time.

5G positioning works by measuring the time it takes for mobile signals to travel from a mobile device to different base stations and anchor nodes in the network. As signals take longer to reach nodes that are further away, the positioning system can triangulate its source.

Nokia and Bosch have built upon that foundation by equipping 5G nodes with multiple receive antennas, which enable the network to detect the incoming angles of signals.

Advanced Nokia Bell Labs algorithms interpret this time delay and angle-of-arrival information to determine the most probable position of the mobile device. Their proof-of-concept achieves a level of accuracy well beyond the current cellular position state-of-the-art, providing a sneak peek at what 5G networks, both public and private, will be capable of in the future.

Precision localisation is important for many applications in industrial environments, such as robot navigation, asset tracking and worker safety. Realising both high-performance connectivity and high-accuracy positioning within a single private network’s infrastructure also has many operational benefits, such as reducing the complexity of IT infrastructure, leading to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and higher returns on investments.

Andreas Mueller, chief expert and responsible for the 6G activities at Bosch, commented that knowing where things are is generally very valuable information in manufacturing.

“While today usually separate systems are used for connecting and locating devices, this may be done via an integrated private 5G solution in the future. The proof-of-concept conducted jointly with Nokia underpins the leading role of Bosch in exploring new opportunities for our customers and developing the Factory of the Future,” he explained.

A long history of collaboration

Nokia and Bosch have a long history of collaboration, announcing their first strategic collaboration in 2017 to develop industrial IoT and sensing solutions. The collaboration effort to build precise positioning technology is a key milestone, but it is only one of the innovations the two companies are pursuing.

Nokia and Bosch have begun conducting joint research in the next generation of networking, investigating how future 6G networks could be used for both communications and sensing when they are commercially available by the end of the decade.

While 5G has the potential to determine the location of devices connected to the network, 6G will have the ability to track the position of any object – whether connected or unconnected. This will allow 6G signals to function similarly to radar, giving users an awareness of their surroundings beyond their traditional senses.

Peter Vetter, president of Bell Labs Core Research at Nokia, said: “Bosch and Nokia Bell Labs foresee a future where networks do far more than communicate. Soon, 5G will track connected devices more precisely than satellites, in places satellites can’t reach. In the next decade, 6G will be capable of sensing all objects in their coverage areas regardless of whether they contain active radios. We are creating networks that will endow humans with a digital 6th sense.”

The post More accurate positioning using 5G appeared first on FutureIoT.

The E7515R expands Keysight’s 5G Network Emulation Solutions portfolio, the industry’s most robust, which is used in mobile device validation across the workflow, from early design to acceptance and deployment.

The 5G RedCap specification introduces support for wireless devices with reduced 5G capabilities. These devices are less complex, and consume less power, allowing them to address new CIoT use cases such as industrial sensors and wearables such as smartwatches.

Like other cellular devices, RedCap devices require time-consuming and expensive certification from accredited labs before they can be released to the market. By performing lab validation ahead of time to identify and correct design issues, device and module manufacturers can shorten the certification process for RedCap and other CIoT devices.

The Keysight E7515R addresses this need as a network emulation test platform designed specifically for 5G RedCap and supporting all CIoT technologies. The solution features streamlined capabilities for RedCap without the additional features needed to test a full-spec 5G device.

Benefits of E7515R solution

• Specifically built for RedCap and CIoT: The E7515R supports 5G Release 17 RedCap along with legacy CIoT technologies, including Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), LTE Category M, and LTE Cat-1bis.
• Integrated Platform: The E7515R is a complete solution offering RF, protocol, functional, and performance testing in a compact footprint.
• Built on Keysight’s Proven Technology: The E7515R is built on the same architecture as the market-leading 5G Network Emulation Solutions platform. The E7515R uses the same proven software solutions employed by the 5G Network Emulation Solutions platform, providing workflow consistency and reduced learning curves.
• End-to-End Solution: The E7515R supports the entire RedCap and CIoT device development workflow, from early design and development through acceptance and certification testing, and deployment.

 The release of the E7515R solution builds on Keysight’s ongoing achievements supporting RedCap device development, including establishing a data call using the 5G RedCap specification. Through this demonstration, Keysight’s 5G Network Emulation Solutions validated RedCap connectivity on a 5G chipset.

Mosaab Abughalib, general manager of Keysight’s wireless device development R&D group, said: “The E7515R solution is optimised for the development of devices that do not require full 5G NR capability, which allows our customers to maximize their return on investment.”

The post New solution facilitates mobile device validation across the workflow appeared first on FutureIoT.

Expanded SD-WAN offering

By building a unique virtual overlay network on top of an underlying transport(s), VMware SD-WAN enhances application reliability by responding to wireless or wired network issues in milliseconds – a requirement for Over The Top (OTT) applications.

VMware SD-WAN and SASE support a wide range of transport services including LTE/3G, satellite transport and wired transport options like MPLS and broadband allowing for greater flexibility in WAN connectivity.

With VMware SD-WAN, customers can use any of these transport services as real-world tests have shown VMware SD-WAN can provide more than 40% improvement in quality of experience (QoE) for voice and video applications when using satellite and cellular, per VMware internal testing.

The platform enables higher network utilisation through adaptive thresholds designed from real-world learnings from more than 100,000 cellular and satellite connections used today by VMware customers.

These enhancements set the direction for management plane APIs and AIOps integration with 5G carrier platforms to support advanced service customizations using network slicing and RIC integration, allowing service providers to better address the WAN demands of enterprises.

The combination of APIs, AIOps, and network slicing will enable enterprises to benefit from better economics, service provisioning, and service management.

VMware SD-WAN and SASE will enhance connectivity, compute, and intelligence in rapidly evolving edge use cases with the help of VMware Private Mobile Network.

The post VMware client extends SD‑WAN to Operational Tech appeared first on FutureIoT.

According to a Bain & Company report on the state of robotics as used in healthcare, 78% of surgeons surveyed expressed interest in surgical robotics, however, only 53% were currently using them. Currently, general surgery is the most advanced surgical robotics technology, however, indicators suggest that orthopaedics and neurosurgery will grow substantially.

Mayuri Shah, a partner at Bain & Company says orthopaedics and neurosurgery benefit from technology and training that are already happening with medical residents.

“With the technology and training accessible for many of these specialities, such as spinal surgeries, usage is bound to accelerate significantly in the near future. In addition to increased training, OEMs can leverage existing surgical robotic platforms where there is familiarity and usage for new surgeries and specialities,” she added.

Technology, innovation and artificial intelligence continue to have a significant influence on surgical robotics. While some specialities have the platforms and the training today, even the areas that look to be slower to adopt have strong opportunities. For example, soft robotics could eventually solve difficult access and navigation issues in endovascular surgery.

Successful med-tech companies and OEMs will take a customer-centric approach to the future of surgical robotics, addressing the current challenges to adoption and nuanced priorities by speciality and healthcare location.

Barriers to adoption

Bain’s survey of surgeons ranked up-front equipment costs as both the most important consideration when making a purchase, as well as the third largest barrier.

“OEMs will want to offer flexible financing options, in consideration of implant, disposables, to meet the preferences of each customer, said Jason Asper, partner at Bain & Company.

“Understanding the customer needs and preference for financing is critical. In addition, future surgical robotic market leaders and entrants should consider lower cost, smaller footprint robotic offerings, and focus on the efficiency to be achieved as new procedures are available, reducing per procedure cost.”

Jason Asper

Recommendations:

Cost and financing of surgical robotics: The Bain survey revealed that surgeons at hospitals and ASCs ranked up-front equipment costs as both the most important consideration when making a purchase and the third largest barrier to adoption. Flexible financing options can help. For instance, according to our survey, hospitals prefer all-cash financing, whereas nearly half of the ASCs want capital leases.

Site of care: The needs of each customer vary. As healthcare continues to move to outpatient customers will have different needs in ASCs vs acute settings. OEMs will want to consider how to best serve the market. For example, ASCs want vendor support for routine maintenance, whereas hospitals are more likely to want to train employees to service robotics.

Decision maker: It will be important to understand the needs of the decision-makers when reviewing the surgical robotics options. Clinical outcomes will be a priority to all stakeholders; however, some teams may prioritise revenue growth and surgeon recruiting and retention.

Speciality: As surgical robotics take off during the next decade, we’ll begin to see more specialised platforms and technologies.

Orthopaedic surgeons are looking for one robot to be able to perform several procedures, while Neurosurgeons see surgical robotics as an opportunity to overcome distance barriers and want robots that can operate remotely over greater distances, providing care from miles away.

Advancements in Technology: OEMs must continue to be out in front of technology or they can be disrupted – artificial intelligence, 5G, virtual/mixed reality and other technological advancements can significantly enhance capabilities of the robotics today.

In addition, OEMs should focus on strong data & analytics to best leverage data capture across the continuum of care to improve outcomes.

The post Barriers to surgical robotics adoption appeared first on FutureIoT.

Perhaps this was the thinking behind computer scientist Kevin Ashton, then working at Procter & Gamble, when he proposed putting radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips on products to track them through a supply chain.

That was 1999. Fast-forward to 2023, IoT devices and sensors are expanding their influence from the production floors of manufacturers to warehouses all the way to retail shelves, and homes. Most remain designed for a specific, single purpose, their value now extends from innocuous public lights to critical systems that power cities.

The recent cyberattacks against public organisations, such as healthcare, and critical infrastructure like power and utilities, reveal the extent to which organisations need to enhance the security of these facilities while at the same time responding to business and consumer demands for faster, better, and more reliable service.

Can you have your cake and eat it too? How do you merge the unwieldy world of IoT with the controlled, predictable environment that IT is built upon? And do so while delivering it securely, faster and cheaper?

The IoT conundrum for the CIO and IT

Dee Dee Pare, senior marketing manager at CradlePoint says “the cloud is the de facto way that everyone delivers applications and stores data.” She points out that applications work as if they are next door. In contrast, IoT is messy, outdoors, usually at a larger scale, is distributed, and is found in environments where things just don’t operate (in a predictable fashion).

“IoT is not necessarily the most clean-cut way of doing things,” she added.

She hints that edge computing may be just the answer for IoT – “by having a lightweight version of your application, you can bring this closer to wherever the IoT device is,” she explained. “That way you minimise latency, also filter out some of the unnecessary traffic that goes back to the cloud (presumably saving bandwidth and data storage).

She called the increasing popularity of using containers, a self-contained application, inside a router.

“What you have is a low-footprint device closer to the IoT Edge. You only have one device to manage, figure out how to power it. Everything happens very quickly within the router, you have the connections back to the cloud,” she elaborated.

The other benefit is business continuity. “If the cloud goes down, the router with the containerised application can continue to work with the IoT devices connected to it. When the network comes back up, the router can send the necessary traffic back to the host,” she added.

Critical components of an edge strategy

What would be the critical components to developing an edge strategy that involves IoT, Pare suggested calling the containerised application running inside a router a “customer edge”. She then goes on to comment there are other edges.

She referred to Amazon Web Services as an example of the Internet edge. These tend to be distributed (in the cloud) and have more processing capability. She cautioned that by its design (in the cloud), the Internet edge will be further away from the devices – hence some latency can be expected.

The other edge is the 5G edge. “You can set up an edge in the cell tower as well – as some carriers are doing. That way you can improve and enhance performance as it goes out for the application and out from the cell tower,” she added.

Conceding that the customer edge provides the ‘most bells and whistles’, she advised anyone developing an edge strategy to keep in mind where the edge is located. “It is about balancing between the placement, the quantity of data processing, the latency from the application to the IoT devices, as well as how much you need to customise,” she elaborated.

Getting IT started with edge technology

Asked how easy it would be for traditional IT teams to build these applications around the edge, Pare noted that the challenge lies in developing lightweight versions of current applications. Pulling examples from within, she noted that among managed service provider partners, developing lightweight applications is their value-add.

She cited a partner in the US that developed an application for car wash operators. Running off a CradlePoint router, the solution ran the point of sales, the surveillance cameras, as well as the automated car wash machinery. An entire running on one router.

Getting IoT/OT to work with IT

Pare says IT needs to collaborate with the operational technology (OT) team. In the converging world of IT and OT, it is not feasible to manage each technology in a vacuum. She acknowledged that IT, throughout most of its history, has worked in predictable environments and therefore may not be ready for what she described as the ‘messy world of OT’.

“OT tends to work with machinery that is not the latest technology. In some cases, these types of machinery cannot be updated. OT needs to educate IT on these projects,” she added.

She conceded that the mixing of IT and OT will blur as the two start working together. But ultimately, she believed IT will own a little bit more of the onus because they have to understand it end-to-end.

“They (IT) must make sure things such as security are in place end-to-end, and they are ultimately responsible for that. There are several scenarios where the end-to-end fits a bit more cleanly in the IT side, but they can't do it without the help of the OT side, because OT knows the reality of what's happening on the ground."

Dee Dee Pare

The post Supercharging IoT with edge computing appeared first on FutureIoT.

Total smart home services revenue for 2022 reached US$32.7 billion, up 2% over 2021, well below the more than 20% growth rate in the penetration of smart home capabilities in homes around the world over the same period.

Smart home services encompass whole home system design, installation, and management down to extended online storage for video from a home camera. It is a market that competes with free offerings delivered and underwritten by some of the largest technology players in the world, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung.

Smart home services opportunities

The service revenue opportunity is limited by free or freemium services typically tied to the price of smart home hardware, rather than a separate services revenue stream. However, there remains strong potential for those smart home providers able to show real value in their subscription services over and above what can be gained in the freemium market.

“Home security is an application that has shown resilience during earlier recessions. Those smart home services players with security integrations table to deliver peace of mind as well as whole home functionality, are well placed to defend and even grow their subscription capabilities – even in a tight consumer spending market,” says Jonathan Collins, smart homes and buildings research director at ABI Research.

Security is not the only opportunity. In a time of rising energy costs and concern especially in Europe, energy management is another area where smart home players can stress the potential to ease consumer utility bills.

“However, players must ensure their systems continue to evolve to deliver the functionality, security, privacy, or integrations with a host of applications that will support subscription spending,” concludes Collins.

The post Opportunities for smart home service revenue appeared first on FutureIoT.

As in-vehicle applications have rapidly advanced, more use cases have emerged, along with diverse deployment requirements. Designed to be mounted on the rooftop of a vehicle or attached to IoT cabinet enclosures, the R2100 integrates the modem, antennas, and router into a single aerodynamic, IP67-rated casing that guards against weather, vibration, and shock. The R2100 is sold with or without Wi-Fi 6 and can be deployed as a self-contained router or to supplement an existing router as a 5G adapter.

Key benefits include:

Simplified router installation: Since antenna cables are no longer needed, many vehicle installations will only require one power cable and a single small hole in the router on the roof. Organisations with large fleets can significantly reduce installation complexity and cost.

Seamless 5G extension: Customers can add 5G to a current installation by deploying the R2100 in Captive Modem mode as an adapter that is controlled by an attached Cradlepoint router. The NetCloud management system treats the R2100 as an internal modem; eliminating the need for a separate license (saving the customer money)

Streamlined Wi-Fi addition: The R2100 Series can serve as an additional Wi-Fi source in captive mode to expand coverage for applications such as video offload, enhanced customer broadband, Computer Aided Dispatch connectivity while in the station, and more. Adding this Wi-Fi capability won’t incur an additional expense as all control and licensing is attributed to the incumbent router.

Straightforward 3rd party 5G add-on: The R2100 can take the form of a 5G adapter that can be added to a third-party in-vehicle router via the WAN port.

Easy edge computing with integrated containers: The R2100 is designed to support local containers for edge computing functionality. NetCloud handles container creation as well as container and workload distribution and connectivity, making deploying edge computing applications a simple and secure process.

“Modern public safety operations leverage data to make operations safer and more effective, and the data demands in and around vehicles continue to grow,” said Ken Rehbehn, a principal analyst at CritComm Insights.

"Simplified integrated antenna form factors that bring high-performance 5G capabilities without running additional antenna cables will translate to reduced installation costs, faster installation, and improved radio performance."

Ken Rehbehn

“Organisations are entering the next phase of their transformations, extending their reach through vehicles that need reliable connectivity to access cloud-based applications,” said Donna Johnson, senior vice president of marketing at Cradlepoint.

“The R2100 Series underscores how Cradlepoint is expanding the capabilities of today’s police, fire, EMS, and transit organisations, helping these agencies and first responders alike take advantage of 5G connectedness in a streamlined, more efficient way.”

Donna Johnson

The R2100 Series 5G Ruggedised Router is powered by Cradlepoint NetCloud, providing an enterprise-class, unified edge security solution for in-vehicle and IoT networks. For example, NetCloud gives vital public service agencies end-to-end encryption, industry-leading threat detection, and defence functionality to enable secure direct cloud and internet access for applications and IoT devices, with or without Wi-Fi.

The R2100 also supports the NetCloud Exchange services which provide Zero Trust Network Access and 5G Optimised SD-WAN.

The post Mobility freedom moves further with “router-on-the-roof” appeared first on FutureIoT.

The firm says COVID-19 has increased the adoption of connected devices across various end-user industries with their ease-of-use feature. Connected devices help in improving customer experience and provide enhanced services. The increased use of IT devices will likely spur demand for IoT device management.

China

GMI noted that in China, smart manufacturing applications will achieve nearly 30% gains leading up to 2028 fuelled by digital transformation efforts across the manufacturing sector. These include the adoption of advanced technologies like augmented reality and remote control among others.

The 2021 Ericsson IndustryLab report forecasts that manufacturing enterprises will become 80% automated in the next 10 years. Among the tools said to see greater use include AI software, video recognition, augmented and virtual reality, co-bots, video recognition, digital twins, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and exoskeletons.

As many as seven-in-10 manufacturing enterprises say that they plan to deploy five or more production tools enabled by advanced wireless networks, such as 5G, within five years.

The Ericsson report pointed out that most manufacturing enterprises have emerged largely unharmed from the worst effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with 69% reporting an unchanged, or even improved, financial performance since lockdowns began.

Device management

GMI says industry participants are forming strategic partnerships to develop advanced and integrated IoT device management platforms. In February 2022, Device Authority and Avnet for end-to-end IoT security management. Avnet has integrated Device Authority’s KeyScaler platform into its cloud computing IoT device management platform to help customers manage their IoT devices.

The post Device management solution flourish pulled by IoT deployment appeared first on FutureIoT.

Iveda’s technology will enable the local government to tap into the existing power to equip cities with Utilus capabilities. With Iveda Pole Gateway and IvedaSPS, the system acts as a microgrid, providing power to mission-critical infrastructure as needed.

Once light poles are equipped with Utilus, they are able to communicate with one another, establishing a network that provides distributed video surveillance with AI video search technology and remote management of local devices such as trackers, water and electrical meters, valves, circuit breakers, and sensors.

The possibilities

Utilus consists of a smart power management and wireless mesh communications network with WiFi, 4G, and 5G small cell capabilities, plus other wireless protocols as required. It also includes an energy storage battery system for continuous operation and backup in the case of multiple power outages.

Utilus’ smart, multi-purpose poles will help Kaohsiung solve a myriad of urban challenges, from improving parking and traffic management and charging electric vehicles to detecting and notifying officials about street flooding, all through real-time data and alerts.

What to expect in 2023

“As we dive into 2023, we’re seeing more municipalities lean into the rapid development of AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and smart city technologies. Automation is the way of the future and Iveda’s Utilus smart poles add to the foundation of physical infrastructure necessary to deploy critical smart city functions,” said David Ly, CEO and founder of Iveda.

“Integrating smart street poles with multiple functional benefits will open doors for safer and sustainable modern development and construction of our cities and communities. As the supplier of Utilus, Iveda is enabling Kaohsiung to be at the forefront of true smart city innovation, they will be a showcase both nationally and globally.”

David Ly

What’s included in the Kaoshiung project

At the bottom: Iveda’s Smart Pole Cabinet which includes power meters from the investor-owned utility (IOU) or current power companies, power distribution panels, fibre distribution box (FDB), small modular reactor (SMR) which will automatically convert AC to DC for sensitive electronics, dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM)/IoT Gateway/PoE Switch support for TSN, Layer 2 and 3 LAN, and backup battery. The bottom of each Utilus pole will provide all-in-one management of power and data.

In the middle: The city will have the ability to scale as required with the flexibility to add AI cameras, environmental sensors, advertising/messaging displays, intelligent/autonomous traffic sensors, etc.

At the top: 5G small cell antennas with IP65 service cabinets.

As cities continue to grapple with the increasing need for cellular network densification in the form of 5G and future 6G small cells, smart poles are an imminent and crucial part of smart city evolution. Utilus use cases span from the reduction of emergency response time and the improvement of city services to air quality monitoring and crime and hazard protection for residents.

Smart Poles will also help cities like Kaohsiung address growing environmental concerns while providing key monetization opportunities for local municipalities.

The post Kaoshiung to deploy smart poles as part of its smart city development appeared first on FutureIoT.

RPM enables care to be moved outside of overstressed healthcare facilities; boosting healthcare providers’ efficiency. These solutions encompass a variety of health monitoring devices which enable continuous communication between patients and healthcare providers, without the need for close contact.

How remote patient monitoring works

Juniper Research defines remote patient monitoring as using technology to gather patient data outside of the traditional healthcare setting, with the aim to move healthcare out of traditional settings into patients’ houses, in order to free up vital hospital space and enable patients to be at ease.’

2023 predictions

The research predicted that by 2027, there will be 90 million cardiac patients using RPM solutions. Given the high global prevalence of cardiac conditions, the report recommended that healthcare providers use RPM solutions to monitor the heart rate and blood pressure of cardiac patients at home to lower the number of patients in the hospital.

RPM solutions will also indirectly decrease disease transmission rates and alleviate pressure on healthcare systems by reducing the demand for hospital beds.

Research author Cara Malone noted that there are a variety of connected devices that can be used for cardiac patient monitoring, for example, blood pressure and heart rate monitors, which can be challenging for less technologically literate patients.

“Vendors must prioritise device simplification through software improvements, whilst also incorporating patient education to improve healthcare outcomes,” she added.

AI analysis key to real-time data monitoring

The report urged healthcare service providers to fully leverage the data generated by the increase in adoption of RPM devices. To maximise the benefits, it recommended that RPM services fully incorporate AI within their solutions to enable healthcare professionals to improve the efficiency of medical triage processes through a predictive proactive healthcare provision model.

The post Juniper Research identifies key drivers of RPM appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research forecasts that the WAN RTA tracking market will reach 117.3 connections by 2027. Evolving device hardware and implementation architectures are influential movers. Still, the most important reasons for growth come from an enhanced understanding of the multiplicity of use-cases subsets of RTA tracking, a diverse ecosystem of solution providers, and the role of software in helping enterprises achieve those outcomes.

“WAN technologies only represent a small proportion of total connections in the RTA market,” says Tancred Taylor, IoT markets industry analyst at ABI Research.

“Increasingly, solution providers have moved away from taking a technology-first approach and are letting hardware and implementation architecture choices be dictated by the desired outcomes.” Tancred Taylor

“This has led to greater flexibility in how RTA solutions are implemented and in how adopters can think of returns on their technology investments based on present-day needs and their longer-term digitization strategy,” said Taylor.

The adoption of RTA tracking solutions using WAN technologies is driven by cellular LPWAN because of the increasing demands of customers to have visibility both in open-loop and closed-loop supply chains. Cellular LPWAN also often enables more diverse implementation architectures, such as by acting as gateways or parent devices to Short-Range Wireless (SRW) devices.

While WAN technologies are a holy grail for asset tracking, they remain a long-term proposition for many types of lower-cost RTAs; using flexible implementation architectures allows enterprises to take a serious look at RTA solutions. This includes leveraging IoT technologies and more passive technologies like RFID and barcodes.

Increasingly, solution providers are looking to aggregate data from numerous edge and enterprise sources to feed an RTA tracking solution. Data aggregation allows solution providers to provide richer insights and solve entirely new pain points within an adopter’s supply chain, such as product traceability or cargo monitoring.

As the number of use cases grows to address varying supply chain needs across different enterprise departments, the value of an RTA tracking solution becomes more clearly defined.

According to Taylor supply chain visibility more broadly has been a key focus of the past three years.

He posited that as enterprises look to improve the performance of their supply chains, they are leveraging a wide range of tools to help them reach these new outcomes.

“IoT RTA tracking tools are crucial not only in helping to optimize RTA pool size and speed but also in upgrading visibility into many more supply chain metrics. As companies expand their understanding of what is possible from tracking RTAs, IoT solutions become more complicated and valuable. This creates great market dynamics in which IoT and software innovators can operate,” concluded Taylor.

The post Drivers of greater adoption across all RTA classes appeared first on FutureIoT.

Advances in modular and customisable robots are expected to result in the growing deployment of robotics in the oil and gas industry.

GlobalData’s thematic report, ‘Robotics in Oil & Gas’, notes that, while robotics has been a part of the oil and gas industry for several decades, growing digitalisation and integration with artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and Internet of Things (IoT), have helped diversify robot use cases within the industry.

“A huge number of robots are now being deployed in oil and gas operations, including terrestrial crawlers, quadrupeds, aerial drones, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs),” said Anson Fernandes, Oil and Gas analyst at GlobalData. Robots have applications across the oil and gas industry in various tasks ranging from surveys, material handling, and construction, to inspection, repair, and maintenance. They can be customised for various tasks to ease the work and improve efficiency.

During the planning phases of an oil and gas project, robots can be deployed to conduct aerial surveys, or they can be employed to conduct seismic surveys during exploration. Aerial or underwater drones can be adopted depending on the project location and work requirements.

Robotics is a fast-growing industry

GlobalData forecasts robotics to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% rising from US$52.9 billion in 2021 to US$568 billion by 2030.

“Robots will be the industry’s growth engine, and the oil and gas sector will greatly benefit from emerging use cases,” said Fernandes.

Data analytics and robotics improve insight obtained from surveys and surveillance exercises. This symbiotic relationship between robotics and wider digitalisation technologies is expected to be further evolved through collaborations between technology providers and oil and gas industry players.

“The volume of robotics use cases in the oil and gas industry is expected to grow rapidly, in tow with digitalisation. Industrial robots with analytical support from digital technologies are expected to become the mainstay across the oil and gas industry, especially in the upstream sector, where personnel safety and operational security concerns are heightened.”

Anson Fernandes

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"In many phase one projects enterprises focused on a single use case and on acquiring the data streams from single sources but as the organisations gain a deeper data-driven understanding of their operations, they can start to use other data sources (such as geolocation, machine maintenance data, weather, transactions activity, vehicular telemetric traffic data, and so on) to improve their analytics and expand beyond the original use case," he continued.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that any device that is connected to the internet is susceptible to some form of cyberattack. The Mirai Botnet and Stuxnet are two infamous attacks against targets that caused massive disruptions.  

Any device that is connected to the internet is susceptible to some form of cyberattack. Apart from the fact that IoT devices inherently have very little built-in security, and that patch management can be difficult because of their physical nature, the interconnectedness of these devices and the subsequent complex environments they are implemented pose grave security threats across entire networks.

Monitoring is a vital part of every security strategy, ensuring that all classic security tools like firewalls, unusual detection systems or privileged access management (PAM)-tools work flawlessly.  

Suitable monitoring solutions can ensure physical security by integrating door-locking systems, security cameras, smoke detectors or temperature sensors into central monitoring. And businesses in APAC should be prioritising this in 2023 to reduce their risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches.

In describing the state of IoT security or lack of it, David Montoya, the global head of IoT at Paessler, noted that it is not just the lack of security features in the IoT devices themselves that is the challenge, but where these devices are located.

“When you think about cybersecurity from the IT perspective, everything is central. You might have the perimeter and then you have all the endpoints in the middle. But here (with IoT) we might be talking about having a device, which is sending out information about the flow of water, or temperature or humidity of the soil, for example, in the farming context,” he explained.

“It is important to look at different security problems or challenges because we are not only talking about the security of the information. We are, in several cases, even talking about the security of the device itself.”

David Montoya

“People are creating vulnerabilities out of IoT, and they are willing to get a device, open it up and figure out how to reverse engineer it.  They will then try to figure out how it works and then install it again with some malware, which can then make the network vulnerable,” he continued.

Why IoT continues to be vulnerable

Montoya comments that despite more regulations and security practice context within the vendors, it is very costly or inconvenient for them to put extra resources, like computing resources into these tiny little IoT devices in use to be able to deal with patches and updates.

“For companies creating IoT devices, there is not a lot of value in needing to put more resources there,” he surmised.

He argued that device manufacturers are incentivised to create small devices that cost as little as possible. The other issue is the variety of devices and vendors. “Even though there are more regulations, there are still no standard practices put in place as to how the information should be stored,” he commented.

Twin standards to consider

Montoya clarifies that there are two standards they consider when it comes to IoT – security and communication. One is related to a standard for protocols and the way those devices connect to different cloud-based systems monitoring systems. These central consoles ensure all the devices are on and reporting data, etc. In such a heterogeneous environment the lack of standards is creating chaos in the IoT world.

“Every vendor with a specific device for a specific reason created specific ways of communication that led to multiple protocols nowadays,” he continued. “When you have different players, each looking at their market niche, what ends up happening is a lack of communication standards and protocols.”

“This (situation) opens the same vulnerabilities that have happened for operational technology (OT) before now happening for IoT as well. Stronger standards are one way things can get better in terms of how to secure all these kinds of devices.”

David Montoya

Monitoring tools can help improve the security of IoT

According to Montoya, monitoring tools help visualise the data, including receiving alerts about the data. And while IoT vendors may provide tools to monitor their solution, the variety of vendors and the specificity of their use cases, suggest that a user may have a collection of monitoring applications that track a specific kind of device.

And because these may not come from the same vendor, it is likely that these do not use the same standard and may not be able to communicate with each other.

In addition, Montoya believes that users will not likely stay with one vendor for the same use case throughout the entire life of the process. “It is very normal that you have a certain IoT device from a certain vendor today and maybe two, or three years later you need to go for another technology and another vendor,” he explained.

The result is complexity on the part of the user trying to make decisions on the entire system or process. “You will have multiple different visualisation tools with different databases where the data is stored. And whenever you are trying to retrieve the data from multiple sources, you will take more time to know what is going on, how to use the data, how to bring the data into a central location, how to use that central location to provide central visualisation,” elaborated Montoya.

Ideally, you will want a central location from which to manage all these different proprietary technologies, standards and protocols, something Montoya says is what Paessler does.

“We keep up with all these new technologies to provide a single pane of glass. So that multiple vendors for IoT devices can share the information with our visualisation tool and monitoring solution. So that the users can see everything in one place and can handle everything from a single location, we provide a central database, and they can also get centralised alerts,” he explained.

Where do we go from here?

IDC market analyst for Asia-Pacific, Sharad Kotagi, says enterprises no longer think IoT value is only limited to achieving operational efficacy and improved productivity.

“They see IoT as an enabler in the evolution of enterprises' requirements and challenges in an ever-changing business environment. Many organisations are willing to invest in digital technologies such as IoT, and AI to fully leverage the new expansive role of data in emerging digital business models.”

Sharad Kotagi

But in the race to Industry 4.0 and the promise of smarter IoT-enabled enterprises, businesses and operations should not forget that behind the facade of benefits such a transformation promises, lies a myriad of security threats and vulnerabilities that must be addressed not for the lifecycle of the IoT but the use cases it is trying to enable.

Click on the PodChat player and hear Montoya talk about the challenges organisations face as they integrate IoT into their operations, and why monitoring may be the best path forward to securing IoT as the converged future of IT, OT and IoT.

1. Paint us a picture of the security landscape where it involves IoT.
2. Technologies like IoT, security practices and regulations have evolved, why do IoT continue to be vulnerable?
3. Is the lack of standards around IoT protocol a problem for securing IoT?
4. Will this wide range of protocols also hinder the effective use of monitoring tools and services?
5. As IoT start to connect – be part of the enterprise, how should the CIO, CISO and the COO or head of operations work together to better secure IoT as these connect to the enterprise?
6. Your thoughts for 2023?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Why monitoring is essential in IoT adoption appeared first on FutureIoT.

With more than 43 billion IoT devices connected in 2023, Futurist Bernard Marr shares his perspective on the above four trends he believes will influence how we use and interact with these devices.

Click on the YouTube player above to watch Marr reveal his top four trends impacting IoT in 2022.

Click here to see his 2022 predictions and compare – what’s different and the same.

The post Top four IoT trends in 2023 appeared first on FutureIoT.

“The ability to defend against threats targeting critical care devices while maintaining operational availability and strengthening the alignment of device governance responsibilities between IT and Biomed engineering teams is quickly becoming a necessity for the protection of patient data and lives.”

Ed Lee

As healthcare providers use digital devices such as diagnostic and monitoring systems, ambulance equipment, and surgical robots to improve patient care, the security of those devices is as important as their primary function.

It is therefore understandable that as technology advances and new innovations become accessible, the healthcare industry becomes a prime target for cybercriminals. Why not? Healthcare practitioners are not necessarily at the cutting edge of cybersecurity practice, and with how busy they are performing their tasks, who can blame them?

“The proliferation of connected medical devices in the healthcare industry brings a wealth of benefits, but these devices are often not well secured. For example, according to Unit 42, an alarming 75% of smart infusion pumps examined on the networks of hospitals and healthcare organizations had known security gaps,” said Anand Oswal, senior vice president of products, and network security at Palo Alto Networks.

“This makes security devices an attractive target for cyber attackers, potentially exposing patient data and ultimately putting patients at risk.”

Anand Oswal

Zero trust in healthcare

Zero Trust is a strategic approach to cybersecurity that secures an organization by eliminating implicit trust by continuously verifying every user and device. While a Zero Trust approach is critical to help protect medical devices against today's cyber threats, it can be hard to implement in practice.

Through automated device discovery, contextual segmentation, least privilege policy recommendations and one-click enforcement of policies, Palo Alto Networks Medical IoT Security delivers a Zero Trust approach in a seamless, simplified manner.

It also provides best-in-class threat protection through seamless integration with Palo Alto Networks cloud-delivered security services, such as Advanced Threat Prevention and Advanced URL Filtering.

Using ML enables healthcare organizations to:

• Create device rules with automated security responses: Easily create rules that monitor devices for behavioural anomalies and automatically trigger appropriate responses. For example, if a medical device that typically only sends small amounts of data unexpectedly begins to use a lot of bandwidth, the device can be cut off from the internet and security teams can be alerted.
• Automate Zero Trust policy recommendations and enforcement: Enforce recommended least-privileged access policies for medical devices with one click using Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls or supported network enforcement technologies. This eliminates error-prone and time-consuming manual policy creation and scales easily across a set of devices with the same profile.
• Understand device vulnerabilities and risk posture: Access each medical device’s Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and map them to Common Vulnerability Exposures (CVEs). This mapping helps identify the software libraries used on medical devices and any associated vulnerabilities. Get immediate insights into the risk posture of each device, including end-of-life status, recall notification, default password alert and unauthorized external website communication.
• Improve compliance: Easily understand medical device vulnerabilities, patch status and security settings, and then get recommendations to bring devices into compliance with rules and guidelines, such as the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and similar laws and regulations.
• Verify network segmentation: Visualize the entire map of connected devices and ensure each device is placed in its designated network segment. Proper network segmentation can ensure a device only communicates with authorized systems.
• Simplify operations: Two distinct dashboards allow IT and biomedical engineering teams to each see the information critical to their roles. Integration with existing healthcare information management systems, like AIMS and Epic Systems, help automate workflows.

"With thousands of devices to manage, healthcare environments are extremely complex and require intelligent security solutions capable of doing more. Adding intelligence will enable providers to improve operational efficiency, which will enhance patient and practitioner experience and alleviate the burden of an ongoing IT skills shortage," said Bob Laliberte, principal analyst, ESG.

The post Palo Alto Networks secures medical devices appeared first on FutureIoT.

Driving spending in the face of a sharper economic reality is a growing expectation among consumers for smart home capabilities.

“The COVID pandemic-induced emphasis on home improvement boosted the Smart Home industry. It then moved into a more mainstream awareness that continues to bolster spending as consumers look to replace or improve devices in and around their homes,” explains Jonathan Collins, smart home and smart buildings research director at ABI Research.

Vendors like Amazon, Apple, Ikea and Somfy are expanding their products to connect to existing smart home systems. Strong support for the Matter 1.0 specification, released in early October, enables cross-vendor device interoperability, maximizes their products' potential to reach consumers, and simplifies consumers’ purchase and installation of new devices.

As consumer demand and expectations for smart home capabilities grow, device purchases are pushing into previously underserved market areas, such as Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs), hospitality, and more.

“That is not to say growth will be even across device categories or vendors. Interoperability, functionality, and application integration will all be key to spending as consumers increasingly transition from single-device purchasing to building out whole-home systems."

Jonathan Collins

The post Rising spend on smart home hardware appeared first on FutureIoT.

“The short-term outlook for semiconductor revenue has worsened,” said Richard Gordon, practice vice president at Gartner. “Rapid deterioration in the global economy and weakening consumer demand will negatively impact the semiconductor market in 2023.”

Global semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $596 billion in 2023, down from the previous forecast of $623 billion (see Table 1).

Table 1. Semiconductor revenue forecast, worldwide, 2021-2023 (Billions of U.S. Dollars)
Source: Gartner (November 2022)

Gartner warns that the semiconductor market is polarised between consumer-driven and enterprise-driven markets.

Weakness in the consumer-driven markets is being driven largely by the decline in disposable income caused by rising inflation and interest rates, but also by the reprioritization of consumer discretionary spending to other areas such as travel, leisure and entertainment, which are having a negative knock-on effect on technology purchases.

But in the enterprise-driven markets, such as enterprise networking, enterprise compute, industrial, medical and commercial transportation, companies have remained relatively resilient despite looming macro-economic slowdown and geopolitical concerns.

“The relative strength in the enterprise-driven markets comes from strategic investments by corporations looking to strengthen their infrastructure to continue supporting their work-from-home workforce, business expansion plans and ongoing digitalization strategies,” said Gordon.

Memory revenue to decline 16% in 2023

For the remainder of 2022, the memory market is witnessing faltering demand, swollen inventories and customers pressing for considerably lower prices. As a result, the memory market will remain flat in 2022 and is forecast to decline by 16.2% in revenue in 2023.

The worsening economic outlook is negatively impacting smartphone, PC and consumer electronics production which is positioning the DRAM market for oversupply for the remainder of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023. Gartner analysts foresee DRAM revenue to decrease 2.6% to reach $90.5 billion in 2022 and will further decline 18% in 2023, to total $74.2 billion.

The NAND fab outage which occurred in the first quarter of 2022 increased prices and masked the rapidly deteriorating demand environment, resulting in excess inventory in the third quarter of 2022 which is expected to carry into the first half of 2023. NAND revenue is projected to increase 4.4% to $68.8 billion in 2022, but it will decline 13.7% in 2023 to $59.4 billion.

“While the deterioration in the macroeconomic environment will weaken consumer demand, we expect relatively better semiconductor consumption from business investments. Consequently, markets such as industrial, telecom infrastructure and data centres will be less impacted by consumer sentiment and spending in the short term,” said Gordon.

The post Semiconductor revenues decline in 2023 may lead to oversupply appeared first on FutureIoT.

This technology will be invaluable to enterprises as they look to deploy private networks. Traditionally, devices moving between a private and public network would have to switch networks manually – often causing performance issues for M2M and IoT applications.

Instead, SIMbae is an applet that sits on top of a SIM or eSIM and expands its capabilities to include things like swapping to stronger connections automatically as well as additional security features such as debugging and encryption.

“This partnership is another exciting development in the enterprise IoT space,” says Divya Ghai Wakankar, VP enterprise market and marketing. “BICS’ IoT solution already makes device activation and connection effortless for its enterprise customers. Now the powerful combination with Able Device’s applet software harmonises seamless mobility of next-generation connected devices.”

Historically, SIMs have had limited value by nature of being passive processors that require external input to trigger a predefined function. SIMbae on the other hand represents a new generation of SIM cards, transforming them into active processors in IoT systems that don’t rely on external input.

For enterprises, this is a unique technology piece that automates the more technical telecommunications aspects of the IoT and private networks – reducing the barriers to implementation.

“We’re very proud to be working with BICS to address the global market for enterprise mobility solutions,” said Roger Dewey, CEO of Able Device. “Our agreement illustrates the benefits and utility of SIMbae across the connected device solution value chain.”

BICS’ all-in-one IoT solution helps businesses reduce complexity when deploying global IoT solutions by managing the connection, control, and optimisation of the SIM ecosystem through its “SIM for Things” platform.

BICS supports IoT connectivity and roaming with its backbone network across over 200 countries, making it easy for businesses to connect IoT devices anywhere in the world.

As the use of connected devices by enterprises grows increasingly global and complex, BICS and Able Device aim to remove complexity for businesses and improve the performance of IoT applications through intelligent applications and an open global ecosystem for SIM and eSIM technology.

The post Partnership to simplify enterprise IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

IoT Analytics forecasts that globally the number of connected IoT devices will grow at 9% annually, reaching 27 billion IoT connections by 2025. Riding on this growth of connected devices is an increased need for security.

ResearchandMarkets forecasts the global IoT security market to grow from US$3.86 billion in 2021 to US$5.09 billion in 2022. The firm attributes this growth due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

While 64% of respondents to the Kaspersky study, Pushing the limits: How to address specific cybersecurity demands and protect IoT, use IoT solutions, as much as 43% do not protect them completely.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) paper, Recommended Criteria for Cybersecurity Labelling for Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) Products, posits that to reduce IoT product vulnerabilities, it is important to understand already exploited vulnerabilities in IoT products and ensure that consumer IoT product labelling programmes consider these incidents in its criteria to help improve the cybersecurity of the IoT ecosystem.

Dr Dorit Dor, chief product officer with Check Point Software Technologies, explains that there are many levels to IoT leaving to misunderstanding and potential risks of exposure to threats from within and outside the organisation.

“Even the lowest cost IoT device could be a starting point for an attack. You have to understand the connectivity of the IoT device to the internal and outside world. The fact that it bridges the two things without having the right IoT controlling them is the biggest evidence of this,” she explained.

“People use IoT to do massive attacks (DDoS massive attacks) by taking over IoTs in many locations and doing denial of service or other destruction for the world. These are less focused attacks and more widespread attacks.”

Dorit Dor

More common than you think

Dr Dor cautions that attacks that stem from unprotected IoT are not always targeted at specific industries. She calls back understanding that cybercriminals are often looking for the least protected targets.

That is not to say that there are attacks that are specifically directed at certain industries or organisations.

“It is less of a sectorial issue. It's more of a general issue of IoT devices being spread around and kind of hindering the security architecture of the organisation. By creating all these hidden links, the IoT itself could be served as a jump point for the intended target,” she cautioned.

Common misconceptions and challenges

Dr Dor noted that one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to IoT security is the perception among enterprises that they do not have any IoT devices in the workplace. And if they did, the other misconception is that these devices are not connected to the internal network (without their knowledge).

Another misconception, she added, is enterprises think they are protected when they are not.

“People don’t always have the right personnel to perform the security sections required,” she posited.

Advanced technologies to the rescue?

Asked whether any advanced technologies help solve some of the challenges she presented, Dr Dor is confident that tools are available to help in the process of understanding the challenges.

She cited the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as helping map the devices that are seen on the network of IoT devices and mapping their behaviour.

“But to do this, you need to have a lot of data on similar IoT devices that exist,” she cautioned.

“So as an organisation, you may not have enough data to secure your IoT devices. However, you probably have enough data on different uses and usages of this IoT device that could help you sanction or create sectioning policies for the IoT device.”

Dorit Dor

Bringing about greater security of IoT devices in the enterprise

Dr Dor suggests reducing the access atmosphere of the IoT device to the least limited or a zoning-based approach. The other step is to understand what the IoT does and see that it behaves like a legitimate IoT device.

She recommended organisations buy IoT devices that have some security and stability built in.

Click on the PodChat player and hear in greater detail Dr Dor’s observations and recommendations for securing IoT for the enterprise.

1. What are the IoT cyber security threats faced by enterprises?
2. How common are these threats?
3. What are common misconceptions and challenges encountered today when enterprises try to secure IoT devices?
4. Can advanced technology such as AI, machine learning and deep learning solve these problems?
5. What are the roles of AI, machine learning and deep learning in IoT security?
6. What are your recommendations to bring about greater security of IT devices in the enterprise?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Understanding the fundamentals of secure IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

Our 2023 predictions for edge computing, IoT, and networking take into account these market forces and highlight their impact on the technology triad, as well as how edge, IoT, and networking can address dynamic market opportunities.

Below is a look at three of the bold calls we’re making for edge, IoT, and networking in 2023:

Big city IoT and infrastructure initiatives to lure back citizens and workers will fall flat. In 2023, government funds, including the $89.9 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the US, will power smart lighting, traffic management, and energy monitoring investments in cities.

5G and Wi-Fi deployments will extend connectivity to visitors, residents, and anywhere workers. However, these investments won’t lure citizens back to big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York in 2023 due to increased crime rates and public safety concerns.

City leaders must focus on improving safety while addressing public disapproval of surveillance and public safety methods.

Smarter farming will take off in response to extreme weather and war. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, China and Russia accounted for over a quarter of global wheat exports. As global tensions rise, and weather events become more extreme, edge- and IoT-enabled food production will finally achieve meaningful scale in 2023.

One vertical farm in Dubai produces over 1 million intensely monitored kilograms of leafy vegetables each year, without pesticides and using up to 95% less water than traditional methods. In the vast mechanized farmlands around the globe, ground, air, and space-borne sensors combine with edge processing and analytics to reduce water consumption and direct environmentally damaging chemicals to specific plants.

Rising business-wide networks, confidential computing, and Zero Trust edge (ZTE) will ignite the edge. To help protect data in IoT scenarios, confidential computing isolates sensitive operations in a trusted execution environment during processing. IoT data remains protected when in use, so it’s easier to meet strict regulations for data privacy and to introduce new use cases.

To support the transfer of data between edge and cloud while appearing seamless to the developer, two networking markets, ZTE and multi-cloud networking, will combine to create a business-wide networking fabric. Multicloud overlay solutions, such as Aviatrix and F5 Volterra, enable a single multi-cloud network platform.

The post Predictions 2023: economic uncertainty and climate shifts will shape edge, IoT, and networking appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research predicts that growth in the IoT MVNO market will see participants’ total revenues exceed US$2.5 billion annually by 2026, representing a five-year CAGR of 18.5% since 2021.

“Connectivity providers, the bedrock of the IoT ecosystem, continue to evolve as more connected things come online, more startups launch, and more companies are acquired,” said Jamie Moss, IoT networks and services research director at ABI Research.

Evolving market opportunities

He posits that trends include the development of cloud-native core networks, Connectivity Management Platforms (CMPs) with remote OTA (Over-The-Air) provisioning ability; and the bridging of the once-siloed management platform market through technological innovation, e.g., IoT SAFE by the GSMA.

“Therein providing a single point of onboarding for device provisioning and the Subscriber Identity Module’s (SIM) provisioning, regardless of SIM form factor,” he added.

MVNOs, long reliant on connectivity and connectivity management for raking in the lion’s share of their revenues, are increasingly diversifying their product portfolios. Both traditional and disruptive IoT MVNOs have adopted this strategy.

Even a conventional IoT MVNO like Kore Wireless is not static. It has evolved and introduced many services, including device management, managed services, and application management toolsets, especially in end markets where it has developed practical vertical expertise.

New entrants are disrupting the IoT MVNO ecosystem by challenging the business strategy of traditional players.

Moss pointed out that traditionally, IoT MVNOs relied upon wholesale licensing agreements with carriers for multi-national connectivity to build their business model. He added that disruptors go one step further, partnering with carriers to sell them a managed service to enable operation beyond the carriers’ home market, transforming those carriers into international IoT service providers.

“There are other disruptive elements too. Some focus on private networks for IoT deployments, while others have dialled in on pricing innovation,” he continued.

The IoT MVNO ecosystem has and will continue to grow strongly and will reach a global total of 220 million connections provisioned worldwide by 2026. Nonetheless, some IoT MVNOs have developed more quickly than others.

Connected use cases

“1nce is a quintessential challenger, a prime example of a disruptive IoT MVNO. 1nce was the first to introduce the IoT flat rate - 500MB for 10 Euros for 10 years - and it is more than just marketing noise. It has produced results for the company, with 1nce having already exceeded 10 million IoT connections since being founded in 2017,” Moss pointed out.

The technology landscape around IoT MVNOs continues to evolve, with the GSMA’s ongoing standardization of eSIM and IoT SAFE prime examples of recent connectivity and connectivity management developments.

Moss cautions that it’s not all plain sailing for eSIM and IoT SAFE, however, as MVNOs continue to highlight the inability to integrate eSIM with NB-IoT, and with IoT SAFE adoption still being nascent.

“These technology headwinds challenge the narrative of IoT MVNOs that deployments are straightforward for their enterprise customers. Simplifying the delivery of global connectivity at a predictable price point remains the primary concern for IoT MVNOs, and continues to be the nexus of all innovation."

Jamie Moss

The post IoT MVNO are evolving business models appeared first on FutureIoT.

The annual report highlights changes in consumers, retail associates (front-line retail staff) and decision-makers among retailers over the 15 years the survey has been conducted.

Gearing toward a mobile-first retail experience

Among surveyed shoppers in Asia-Pacific (APAC), 68% say inflation has caused them to delay purchases (compared to 75% globally). However, they are still returning to stores. However, most shoppers (76% globally, 68% APAC) want to get in and out as quickly as possible. They are also willing to help make that happen with their growing affinity for self-serve technology.

Preference for a traditional check-out register staffed by a store associate has similarly declined (51% in APAC).

This trend for using self-checkouts is now being echoed among retailers in APAC with 79% viewing staffed checkouts as less necessary, while 53% have converted store space to self-serve areas and 52% are offering contactless options.

Device shopping

Overall, shoppers are ready for technological advancements, with about eight-in-10 expect retailers to have the latest technology.

Among shoppers in APAC, 46% of those surveyed opted for cashless payment methods. Half of APAC respondents prefer paying with a mobile device or smartphone.

Consumers also continue to rely on their smartphones during shopping trips; this year’s usage indicates price sensitivity as over half of those surveyed are checking for sales, specials, or coupons (48% in APAC), aligning with a good majority of shoppers (67% in APAC) concerned about having to reduce spending to make ends meet.

Everything experience

Consumers expect a seamless experience when they shop. Seven in 10 prefer shopping both in-store and online as well as favour online retailers that also offer brick-and-mortar locations. Convenience is king for fulfilment: most shoppers (73% in APAC) prefer the option to have items delivered and opt for retailers who offer in-store or curbside pick-up (64% in APAC).

The same is true for reverse logistics: about 77% in APAC prioritise their spending with retailers that offer easy returns. About 49% of surveyed retailers in APAC are converting space in their stores for order pick-up, supporting consumer fulfilment preferences.

Mobile ordering continues to increase, with around eight-in-10 shoppers and nine-in-10 millennials using it, and around seven-in-10 shoppers wanting more retailers to offer such services.

"With the convergence of retail channels today, retailers need to step up to meet renewed shopper expectations and ensure a seamless experience across their offline and online platforms,” said George Pepes, the APAC vertical solutions lead for retail and healthcare at Zebra Technologies.

“Furthermore, as the retail sector heads into the future of fulfilment, it is more important than ever for retailers to empower associates with the right technology to better perform their tasks.”

George Pepes

While 79% of global shoppers (76% in APAC) are concerned about inflationary price increases on everyday essentials, they are not necessarily leaving stores without the items they wanted due to price. Retail associates expressed out-of-stock complaints as their number one frustration (43% globally, 38% in APAC).

In APAC, the share of shoppers that do not complete their intended purchase order is lower overall (64%), with reasons including out-of-stock products (44%) or having found better deals elsewhere (27%).

Retailers are painfully aware of such reasons; 80% acknowledge the maintenance of real-time visibility for out-of-stocks as a significant challenge, needing better inventory management tools for accuracy and availability (84% in APAC).

Leveraging labour

Generally, shoppers, retail associates and retail decision-makers agree shoppers have a better experience when retail associates use the latest technology to assist them.

In the face of labour shortages: 74% of surveyed retail associates in APAC and 82% of retail decision-makers agree that stores leveraging retail technology and mobile devices attract and retain more retail associates as well. 

To further improve the shopping experience, more than eight-in-10 retailers surveyed aim to enable more retail associates or seasonal staff to help customers pick and fulfil online orders for the 2022 holiday season.

This also addresses another challenge cited by 73% of surveyed retailers in APAC: improving online fulfilment efficiency and expense (71%).

“To keep up with the ever-evolving retail landscape, retailers need to embrace intelligent automation and transform the way they integrate technology into their operations. Retailers also need to recognize that associates are a significant touchpoint to achieving long-term customer loyalty,” said Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) sales vice president for Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.

“By equipping retail associates with the right technologies and processes, retailers will be well-prepared to respond to shoppers’ needs and deliver on-demand effectively.”

Christanto Suryadarma

The post APAC retailers moving to self-service egged by consumers appeared first on FutureIoT.

Typical high-power DC test systems are large and occupy valuable lab floor space. These systems are also inefficient, requiring large amounts of energy to run the test system and to keep the lab space cool during high-power tests.

When performing high-power DC fast charging tests, customers need a solution that combines the needed power requirements with communication tests and monitoring that is easy to set up and use.

Keysight’s Scienlab Regenerative DC Emulator enables customers to realistically emulate high-voltage, high-power electric vehicle batteries in charging test applications, such as high-power DC fast charging, when paired with Keysight’s SL1047A Scienlab Charging Discovery System. This solution can emulate EV batteries up to 1500 volts, up to 900 amperes, and can be paralleled to achieve up to megawatts (MW).

Benefits of Keysight’s SL1800A Series

Reduced energy costs to operate the system and cool lab space thanks to the use of state-of-the-art silicon-carbide (SiC) wide-bandgap semiconductors. In addition, only 4% of the system’s power is lost as heat.

Regenerative system that returns power to the grid when acting as an electronic load during EV battery emulation/charging tests.

Space-saving form factor that maximises valuable lab floor space.

"Our next-generation high-power DC emulators, based on silicon-carbide technology, are greater-than 96% efficient and provide more power and higher voltages in less space, when compared to similar systems," said Thomas Goetzl, vice president and general manager for Keysight's Automotive & Energy Solutions business unit.

"When combined with the SL1047A Charging Discovery System, it enables our customers to test all aspects of high-power DC fast charging in their lab."

Thomas Goetzl

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Market research firm Fact.MR forecasts the global heat pump water heater market to reach US$1.6 billion by 2022, up 12.5% from 2021 levels. The firm is forecasting a more modest 5-year CAGR of 6.7% with the market reaching US$3.08 billion by 2032.

Demand for heat pump water heaters has increased, registering a historical CAGR of 2.0% from 2017 to 2021. Strict governmental regulations and policies to curb emissions from HVAC equipment across the residential and commercial sectors will augment product penetration.

Governments across major regions including North America and Asia Pacific are retrofitting heating & cooling equipment across buildings to meet their emission targets, will further boost the technology advancements.

Sustainable technology boosting demand for smart solutions

The rising need for sustainable technologies from the residential sector will bolster the product requirement. Many governments around the globe are implementing various policies and schemes to promote the distribution of clean technologies in the residential and commercial sectors, improving the technology perception.

Additionally, stringent emission norms and regulations will compel constructors to install energy-efficient and renewable technologies will stimulate the heat pump water heater market demand.

 “The integration of heat pump water heater with IoT helps in tracking the abnormalities in heat pump water heaters, subsequently reducing system failure. Thus, the integration is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the growth of the Heat Pump Water Heater market during the forecast period,” noted the analyst.

Competitive landscape

Penetrating new geographies, collaborating with government agencies or service providers and rebranding initiatives comprise some major strategies adopted by prominent Heat Pump Water Heater Service providers. Some prominent market developments are as follows:

In August 2020, Panasonic Corporation partnered with Systemair on technology to launch heating and cooling products for offering its customers with more options related to HVAC products, including heat pumps. Both companies will have separate sales channels and branding for these products.

In August 2020, Bosch Thermotechnology launched the Bosch Tronic 3000, a line of electric instantaneous water heaters that significantly reduce hot water wait times in light commercial applications. The new series, which includes four new types, is the first stage in Bosch’s intended cutting-edge, new dynamic electric instantaneous water heater portfolio.

In July 2020, Daikin launched Daikin SmartSource, a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) for heat pumps that enables efficient and cost-effective cooling and heating in all conditions using 100% fresh outside air. It also taps a water source heat pump's hot gas reheat coil in addition to the unit's primary DX coil; to enhance the efficiency of the heat pump.

The post IoT drives head pump water market appeared first on FutureIoT.

The award recognises companies from all sectors which implemented the most creative and effective solutions using IoT and telematics technologies. This year saw projects from no less than 24 countries compete for the “project of the year” title, with the winners delivering efficiency and cash savings measured in millions of dollars.

The IoT project of the year winners were selected by an international jury of internet of things (IoT) experts, assessing entries in categories ranging from cold chain transportation and long-haul shipping to agriculture and public safety. The IoT project of the year award is software and hardware agnostic, and open to any company.

The winning projects show a wide array of business solutions, from reducing waiting times in cold-chain management in UAE, to tracking the railway construction wagons in Switzerland preventing cargo and vehicle theft in Mexico or Thailand, and reducing fuel consumption by 30%-50% for fleets in Central Asia, South America and Africa, optimising staff transportation and associated costs in Sri Lanka, developing GPS tracking in agriculture in Israel or enabling driver safety monitoring in remote areas with severe weather conditions in the Arctic. 

The IoT project of the year award demonstrates how fast IoT and telematics are developing and shows how innovative applications change not only a specific business, but also our everyday lives. 

Aliaksandr Kuushynau, head of Wialon, Gurtam said,“Telematics today is becoming embedded into an increasing number of industries across the globe. The flexibility of the technology means solutions are limited only by users’ creativity.

“And the IoT project of the year contest highlights the best industry solutions that have been delivered over the past year – inspiring businesses to become more efficient through IoT.”

Aliaksandr Kuushynau

IoT Project of the Year 2022 Winners

Cold chain transportation and Community Choice. MaliaTec (Lebanon) -Learn more.

The solution allowed the carrier to reduce waiting times and increase the number of delivery windows to four per day, significantly higher than industry standard of two.

Ready-mix concrete. Geoservice - Learn more.

The solution significantly improved the level of transparency, control and automation keeping dispatchers and clients updated on 500 orders daily.

Long-haul shipping. Cobertura Total en Telemetría (Mexico) -Learn more.

Accident monitoring system with AI cameras for a transportation company in Mexico can determine responsibilities in accidents and identify poor control and driver management.

Fuel transportation and storage. Geoservice -Learn more.

The fleet management and fuel consumption monitoring solution made 30-50% in fuel savings. 

Construction and demolition. Tracking Africa (South Africa) -Learn more.

The fuel monitoring system saved 4,500 litres a month from theft.

Public transport. KLOUDIP (Sri Lanka) -Learn more.

The IoT technology helps save $12,500 per month by optimising staff transportation and associated costs.

Agriculture.Ananas Global (Israel) -Learn more.

A GPS tracking solution for agriculture management will soon be launched internationally.

Public safety. MONTRANS -Learn more.

A driver safety monitoring system for an Arctic-based transportation company ensuring safe transportation in remote areas with severe weather conditions.

Local deliveries. Ruptela (Lithuania) -Learn more.

The GPS fleet tracking system for the Thailand Post Distribution ensured authorized vehicle use, reduced theft, improved driver behaviour and reduced fuel consumption.

Special recognition. Afritrack (Tanzania) -Learn more.

Adriver risk management system for a cargo management company that led to 90% of the incident alerts being addressed in a timely manner.

Special recognition. Traklink (Jordan) -Learn more.

Adriver behaviour monitoring solution that improved driving behaviour by 85%, decreased speeding by 90% and increased compliance with labour laws by 95%.

Special recognition. Gotthard Handels AG (Switzerland) -Learn more.

A LoRa asset tracking solution that improves railway wagon management and provides better customer service.

Andrei Liatsetski, jury chairman, and head of project implementation, Wialon, said, “Just looking at the logistics sector, this technology solves problems that cannot be addressed any other way. Businesses in this industry are exposed to numerous risks such as theft of vehicles, cargo and fuel and these risks can be monitored and mitigated using telematics and IoT technology.”

“IoT also allows fleet managers to reduce the cost of unplanned maintenance by monitoring all aspects of a vehicle’s performance to ensure remedies are in place before any malfunction occurs.”

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Recognising this trend, the Commission is calling for organisations to take advantage of the decentralisation trends through IoT and edge computing capabilities, and leverage the expertise of its communities in the physical, industrial world and in digital world to bring the best of both worlds towards Europe’s next-generation IoT and edge computing infrastructure.

IDC says the IoT market in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) will continue to grow in 2022 by 9.1%, accelerating from 6.9% in 2021. Headwinds such as semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruption caused by geopolitical tensions have limited the growth in 2022 to single digits, and rising inflation may dampen growth.

However, rising demand for remote operations, better network coverage, and the deployment of commercial 5G and testbeds are driving IoT adoption in the region. IDC expects spending on IoT to reach $436 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 11.8% for the period 2021-2026.

IDC’s research director for Asia-Pacific, Bill Rojas, says the ongoing deployment and expansion of 5G will drive the growth of connectivity use cases that utilize massive narrowband IoT as well as wideband/broadband IoT such as 4K IP cameras.

“Low Earth Satellites including nanosatellites and next-generation Very High Throughput Satellites will enable a wide range of remote connectivity uses cases relating to smart cities, environmental and sustainability monitoring, transportation infrastructure, energy and resources, and utilities.”

Bill Rojas

FutureIoT reached out to Kenny Ng, head of worldwide market development, network business division at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for his take on where IoT is headed in Asia.

Do you think a decoupling of IoT hardware from software would further accelerate the adoption of IoT in the enterprise or is this a case of a solution looking for a problem to solve?

Kenny Ng: IoT adoption requires a holistic approach to meeting business needs in the digital transformation process. It will require a solution-based approach rather than approaching it from the decoupling of hardware and software.

However, there are a few challenges to surmount for enterprises in the IoT sector, including having a short time to market, airtight security, a versatile update mechanism for hardware and software and mastering device management.

Businesses need to evaluate hardware and software IoT choices pragmatically for their needs, but finding a cost-effective product that satisfies all requirements can be difficult.

For IoT-related projects, knowing the specific use case is essential to identifying the most applicable hardware. Careful software selection is also important, centring around ease of integration and maintenance.

What business problems/customer expectations are ideally suited for IoT?

Kenny Ng: IoT serves as a critical foundation and enabler for digital business processes. It also offers enormous value to businesses undergoing digital transformation. The connectivity provides also benefits enterprises that rely on collecting and processing large amounts of real-time data.

In a world where efficiency is key, IoT is best suited to enable enterprises to harness the data available at their fingertips to derive value-driven insights that can optimise workflows for better outcomes and accelerate business transformation.

As the pandemic boosted the digital transformation and sprouted the number of devices connected through IoT everywhere, the public sector saw an opportunity to leverage IoT capabilities to meet customer expectations and enhance processes and efficiency in everyday life.

IoT has the capability to transform the public sector, by significantly reshaping how governments keep track of data and information and harnessing mobility, automation and data analytics.

For you, what would constitute next-generation (next-gen) IoT?

Kenny Ng: Next-generation IoT would need to be holistic and enable organisations to scale up their digitalisation efforts securely with ease to welcome the age of digital networking. According to IoT analytics, there will be 30.9 billion IoT devices by 2030, making 75% of total devices.

With the growth of mobility and IoT, security is skyrocketing to become a top priority as networks become even more exposed to potential bad actors. And, with cyber-attacks increasing in volume and in complexity, unregulated devices can introduce security risks and chew up bandwidth unbeknownst to network operators.

With the sheer number of devices in a connected network, configuring and managing so many individual devices is unrealistic. Approaches like IoT containment must thus become more commonplace, where devices can be efficiently and safely onboarded via automation.

The ability to rapidly identify and classify every object connected to the network and automatically provision a configuration associated with a specific device, alongside virtual segmentation, are also crucial characteristics that must be present in next-gen IoT. Monitoring the objects is vital so that immediate action can be taken if there is unusual activity on the network, thus containing the impact and scale of a potential cyberattack.

Do you think culture and mindset are mature enough to accept these next-gen IoT solutions/technologies to realise real business value today?

Kenny Ng: While next-generation IoT does pose a complex challenge for enterprises, it offers massive versatility in the automation and optimisation of business processes.

Particularly after COVID-19, digitalisation has been at the top of many organisational agendas and has become a widely recognised priority in industries across the board. Though risk-averse enterprises may hesitate to make the leap when it comes to emerging technologies, organisations with a disruptor and agile mindset will be able to effect change and realise these benefits. This change in mindset must start from the top, with business leaders and decision-makers leading by example before it can become a part of their corporate DNA.

Once culture and mindsets have matured, then can concrete actions be taken to enact definite change. To unlock the potential of next-gen IoT, time and resources must be invested into building a skilled IoT workforce, such that the technology can be fully and strategically harnessed to drive core business competencies.

For those who may be limited by budget or resource constraints, an intelligent network fabric tackles this pain point by automating various manual tasks to simplify a network’s design, deployment, and operations. Automation also reduces the risks of vulnerabilities associated with manual errors.

How do you create an environment that will encourage IoT adoption and innovation within an enterprise? Who needs to own it?

Kenny Ng: As mentioned, enterprises will need to have the mindset for accepting change and embracing innovation, and this needs to start with the leaders. They will also need to invest in training a robust IT team to aid the secure operation and maintenance of IoT deployments.

The responsibility will lie with the senior leadership of the enterprises to instigate change from the top-down. IT leaders must transparently communicate both benefits and challenges of IoT adoption and push for ongoing education to overcome employees’ inertia towards change and help them understand the impact and implications of the organisation adopting IoT.

For instance, getting the message across that IoT help automate operations and streamline infrastructure, which in turn, can ease the workloads of employees may help to get their buy-ins.

The key also lies in cultivating an organisational culture and mentality that is comfortable with calculated risks. Every new technological adoption comes with its own sets of associated risks, but organisations that stay ready to mitigate risks will enhance their agility and responsiveness, and in turn their ability to compete.

Being comfortable with risk will also encourage new methods of trying out things, ultimately forming an enterprise environment that drives business innovation and constant evolution.

The post Shaping the digital future with the Next-Gen of IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) network technologies, such as 3GPP standards like LTE-M and NB-IoT, offer long-range communications with broad coverage, the ability to handle a large number of devices and low power consumption to IoT devices to operate for 10 years or more.

Relay allows for battery-operated, easy-to-deploy network coverage extensions at a fraction of the cost of adding additional gateways.

Challenges however remain. Participants in a VDC Research-sponsored study, identified several challenges related to IoT system development using LPWA including 1) minimizing power consumption; 2) securing IoT data; 3) lowering project development time, and 4) reducing the total cost of ownership.

Working on the problem, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the internet of things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), the LoRa Alliance has expanded the LoRaWAN link-layer standard with the addition of a relay specification.

This allows LoRaWAN to achieve excellent coverage in use cases requiring deep indoor or underground coverage, or relay data on satellite-connected LoRaWAN devices within proximity.

“LoRa Alliance members identified that end users in specific markets needed a solution to achieve full network coverage due to environmental challenges surrounding their deployments,” said Donna Moore, CEO and chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance.

“With relay, we’re providing a standardized solution that allows for full end-to-end communications in the extremely challenging underground, metal and concrete environments where sensor signals could use a boost or redirect to reach either the gateway or end-device.”

Donna Moore

She added that the new relay feature is a direct response to market needs and provides an essential building block to enable massive IoT.

Relay use cases

One of the first markets to adopt relay is metering in the utility sector. Utilities represent a massive opportunity for IoT, with VDC Research estimating that worldwide LPWAN communication services revenue will reach $2.47 billion by 2025.

Adding relay to the LoRaWAN standard to achieve coverage for even the most difficult cases (e.g., meters inside metal closets) significantly strengthens LoRaWAN’s market position in metering and utilities, and more broadly across key verticals including smart cities and buildings, and industrial IoT.

Using a relay is ideal for any application monitoring static assets in challenging environments.

LoRaWAN relay feature

The LoRaWAN standard is proven for long-range communications, however, there can be physical limits to where LPWAN communications can reach, such as around turns, underground, where a signal needs to be reflected/relayed into a specific location, etc. LoRaWAN relays allow signals to go where they physically couldn’t go before.

The LoRaWAN TS011-1.0.0 LoRaWAN Relay Specification document describes the relaying mechanism used to transport LoRaWAN frames bi-directionally between an end-device and gateway/network server via a battery-operated node. By enabling relay, the device can transfer LoRaWAN frames between an end device and network when there is insufficient coverage from the gateway.

This specification enables Network coverage extension through the battery-operated relay and maintains compatibility with the LoRaWAN Link-Layer standard in terms of protocol and security. The new relay nodes are battery-powered and can be installed anywhere and do not require electricity or internet connectivity. This makes them a very easy-to-deploy, low cost and low-power way to extend network coverage, without needing to add additional gateways. Relay endpoints allow LoRaWAN to provide coverage of all devices with only a nominal cost of installation.

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HiveMQ has added distributed tracing to help organizations achieve end-to-end observability and make their IoT applications more performant and resilient.

With the Distributed Tracing Extension, HiveMQ adds OpenTelemetry support to provide complete transparency for every publish message that uses the HiveMQ MQTT broker. OpenTelemetry is an open standard for instrumentation that allows for interoperability across all services so organizations can achieve visibility over their entire system.

“We’re the first MQTT broker to enable true IoT observability so customers can trace MQTT data and gather diagnostic information in real-time rather than after the fact,” said Christian Götz, CEO and Co-founder of HiveMQ.

“IoT observability is key as it allows customers to quickly identify latency bottlenecks or reasons for failure in critical transactions and decrease the time spent resolving these issues.”

Christian Götz

Competitive landscape

HiveMQ offers first-class integration into a broad range of Application Performance Monitoring (APM) tools such as Datadog, Dynatrace and Honeycomb, or open-source alternatives like Grafana Tempo.

APM tools are being adopted rapidly but when used alone they typically have a blind spot around the MQTT data which leads to poor observability of applications.

What’s new

With the Distributed Tracing Extension, HiveMQ has solved that problem to unlock more value from expensive APM investments and shorten the time required to discover and resolve issues.

“In a complex architecture, customers often don’t know where to start when they experience a problem,” adds Götz. “Say opening the car door with a mobile application is taking 5 to 10 seconds instead of 1 second. A detailed look at where the message request travelled and how long it took at each step makes it easy to identify the root cause of latency so it can be fixed.”

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Speaking at the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), Dr Zhang Shaoting, vice president and president of smart health business at SenseTime, introduced SenseTime’s comprehensive Smart Hospital Solution by depicting how the future healthcare landscape brings better patient experience, combined with real cases:

“Through conversations with the intelligent chatbot on a mobile phone, the patient was able to receive a recommendation for the most suitable department or doctor, as well as a complete appointment at home; after arriving at the hospital, the patient was able to follow the AR navigation function which indicated the best route and arrived at the destination without any hassles.”

Dr Zhang Shaoting

Based on deep learning algorithms, the AI diagnostic assistance software helps doctors quickly detect lesions, analyse the patient’s conditions, and plan for future treatments. Doctors can also simulate and assess a surgical plan through 3D visualized models, to better communicate with patients and their families.

The regional-level medical collaborative platform connects experts from different cities to discuss the case, analyse surgical difficulties and optimize treatment plans. During the rehabilitation phase, doctors can keep close track of patients’ conditions through intelligent follow-up and management systems.

Putting the smart in healthcare

Smart Hospital Solution has the capability to upgrade a hospital’s facilities with fully digitalised and intelligent processes including contactless temperature sensors and verification devices at entrances, effectively ensuring the safety and order of hospital admission.

The possibilities

Adhering to the “patient-centric, quality first” mission, SenseTime’s Smart Hospital Solution is designed to promote a new mode of healthcare and enhance various healthcare scenarios by providing the following services:

For medical professionals, the SenseCare Smart Health Platform provides high-performance clinical assistance covering multiple medical imaging modalities and body parts.

For patients, the Smart Outpatient Assistant simplifies outpatient procedures and communication processes to reduce waiting time and optimise the patient experience.

For hospital operators, the Smart Hospital Operation and Management service provides comprehensive digital and intelligent solutions for managing patients, hospital staff, space, and facilities.

For researchers, the Intelligent Clinical Research Platform provides a platform to accelerate innovation, elevate research efficiency and facilitate R&D projects across different research institutions.

For regional-level medical alliances, the Smart Medical Cloud Platform enables a more convenient and flexible remote diagnosis and patient referral to optimize the allocation of medical resources in the region. In addition, it also facilitates collaboration between hospitals of an alliance, making high-quality medical resources more accessible in grassroots healthcare institutions.

Actual use cases

Ruijin Hospital (one of China's most prominent hospitals): Its Pathology department has deployed the SenseCare Smart Health Platform to improve the efficiency and accuracy of diagnosis and treatment planning by doctors, and facilitate remote diagnosis across different branches

Qingdao West Coast New Area (China’s State-level new area): Deployed the SenseCare Smart Health Platform and the Smart Medical Cloud Platform to promote AI-enabled processing and interpretation of medical images at the regional level, contributing to the construction of a hierarchical medical treatment system and facilitating the allocation of regional medical resources

Xinhua Hospital (a leading hospital in China): Deployed the Smart Outpatient Assistant to streamline outpatient procedures and optimize patients’ experience

Xiangya Hospital (one of the earliest Western hospitals in China): Deployed the Intelligent Clinical Research Platform to accelerate innovation, elevate research efficiency and facilitate R&D projects, especially for multicenter research

Kiang Wu Hospital in Macau (one of the largest and oldest hospitals in Macau): Deployed the SenseCare Smart Health Platform to elevate clinical efficiency and accuracy for the Radiology department

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The Frost & Sullivan report, Growth Opportunities Driven by New Form Factors, revealed that the adoption of new form factors for devices will surge rapidly with advancements in connectivity technology.

It also noted that the advent of 5G and expanding artificial intelligence (AI) use cases will further inflate the global demand. This will lead to improved innovation across wearables, flexible devices, and implants.

“As the demand for new pliable form factors increases, companies cannot rely on traditionally shaped devices to capture market share,” said Akshay Menon, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

He added that this encourages big electronic companies to work with newer materials to manufacture durable and flexible electronics.

Partner with application companies and social platforms to ensure their offerings are compatible with the device hardware, establishing an immersive customer experience.

Invest in research to develop durable materials, as current stretchable materials are thermoplastic, meaning heat softens them and makes them unable to withstand thermal exposure.

“With consumers’ growing preference for small-sized electronic devices, miniaturization will lead to developmental objectives for manufacturers. Further, new form factor development will lead to increased human-machine interaction, making data security a strategic priority for organisations."

Akshay Menon

Associate with organisations in the technology-enabled space as a new form of technology is dependent on internet connectivity and AI.

The post 5G and AI to boost the demand for new form factors appeared first on FutureIoT.

One of the earliest examples of IoT was in the early 1980s and it involved a Coca-Cola machine that was located at Carnegie Mellon University. Programmers would connect through the Internet to the refrigerated appliance and check to see if there was a cold drink available before making the trip to purchase one.

Most discussions around the IoT will likely revolve around the hardware. This is understandable that most of the enterprise IoT technologies we’ve become familiar with are with simple devices that perform a few tasks. For example, monitor the temperature in a production line.

But as advances in communications converge with business demands for doing things faster, better, more safely and cheaper, even technologies like IoT are evolving to include features that in some cases incorporate intelligence, manageability, and more recently, security.

This growing sophistication in the demand for IoT and expectations of what it can do means that IoT discussion is no longer limited to hardware design but must, by default, include software considerations.

FutureIoT spoke to Joanne Wong, vice president for international markets at LogRhythm, for her take on how IoT software is evolving.

What is IoT software?

Joanne Wong: Anything from lamp posts and running shoes to fish tanks can now be connected to the Internet with the advent of inexpensive computer chips, sensors, and wireless networks, which enables them to collect and share data in real-time autonomously without human interference.

IoT software connects the computer chips, sensors and networks in the broader system together. It plays a crucial role in the data collection and communication process, as well as the management of the IoT application and device itself.

Take smart lamp posts for example. The Singapore government plans to roll out 110,000 lamp posts equipped with a network of wireless sensors and cameras that will help to detect and monitor changes in environmental conditions, and track vehicle speeds – beyond illuminating the streets.

In this case, the IoT software controls the systems such that imagery and traffic data collected from the sensors and cameras are communicated to the central management system in the cloud, which is then turned into actionable insights.

Looking back from pre-pandemic to this period (mid-August 2022), how have things changed when it comes to IoT software?

Joanne Wong: The IoT software market has grown significantly over the past few years, in tandem with the accelerating adoption of IoT solutions and devices. While the sector was briefly affected during the pandemic due to a pause in technology spending for certain sectors, it has since regained much of its initial momentum. IDC predicts IoT spending in Asia Pacific to reach US$437 billion by 2025.

Over the years, IoT solutions have become more powerful and efficient, thanks to advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), edge computing, automation and other emerging technologies. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can add predictive capabilities to IoT solutions.

For example, sensors attached to machines in the manufacturing sector can monitor the performance of the equipment and predict when failures and breakdowns will happen. Having access to such information early on allows for the repair or replacement of faulty parts, to prevent wide-scale operational disruptions.

On the other hand, edge computing technology makes IoT devices with onboard analytics capabilities possible. This brings computing as close as possible to the source of data, reducing network latency and relieving network congestion, thus allowing for quick delivery of insights to the end user. On top of that, as personal data no longer needs to leave the individual domain, a lot of data privacy and security concerns with IoT can now be mitigated.

IoT as a service (IoTaaS) offerings have also emerged as a new way for businesses to access IoT solutions. Vendors such as Microsoft are moving towards offering IoT platform management services, which allows businesses to leverage IoT software and infrastructure without having to invest heavily into building the network architecture hardware, purchasing expensive software, or hiring trained personnel to manage the process.

In the period of accelerating digital transformation, which areas of IoT software have gained importance?

Joanne Wong: IoT security has become crucial for organisations looking to successfully implement IoT solutions.  This is because digital transformation acceleration has led to an influx of devices coming online. With the exponential growth in the number of devices now connected to the internet, the attack surface has also gotten significantly larger.

Opportunistic cybercriminals now have more entry points – from insecure connections, and legacy devices to weak digital links – to take control of these IoT devices to spread malware or gain direct access into the network to obtain critical data.

For IoT devices, the risks are doubly high for two reasons. Firstly, IoT devices typically do not come with in-built security functions, which makes them an easy target for hackers. Secondly, IoT devices, especially those that are small or light, can be easily misplaced or stolen. Unauthorised users who have gained physical possession of the devices can easily access your network.

This is also why cybersecurity is now a huge area of focus for IoT devices and software. On the other hand, failure to secure IoT ecosystems could lead to eroding trust in their potential across the organisation, as well as wasted investment costs. 

More technology providers are now adopting the “security by design” approach to IoT hardware and software development, which looks at building security features right from the initial developmental stage.

Cybersecurity platform vendors too are adding specific security features to IoT data collection and storage functions, to safeguard sensitive data flowing between the IoT device and network from unauthorised access.

Which industry sectors in Asia are leading the charge in terms of IoT software adoption and development?

Joanne Wong: With the worldwide pandemic over the past two years, organisations in healthcare are understandably one of the most active areas of IoT development. According to Data Bridge Market Research, the IoT APAC healthcare market is predicted to grow with a CAGR of 30.55% between 2022 to 2029. This applies broadly to the rise in telemedicine adoption and narrowing down to connected specialised equipment, all while accommodating to recent lifestyle changes.

Medical professionals are now able to collect patient data and understand patient conditions, without the risk of large group interactions. Healthcare IoT equipment inherently addresses the areas of shortage in hospitals, where necessary patient care and attention are provided for those in dire need. Additionally, it accelerates and improves access to healthcare services, especially reaching remote areas, beyond the pandemic.

Supply chain management is another sector thriving from IoT adoption. Frost & Sullivan highlighted that almost 21% of logistics companies in Asia currently leverage IoT for their fleet management solutions and this number is only set to increase in the next few years.

Industrial IoT has been the driver for parallel growth in smart manufacturing which includes factory automation, GPS shipment tracking and machine-to-people communications. The ease of data collection and real-time data encourages calculated risk-taking, allowing organisations to maximise opportunities for growth and revenue — more data, and more cost savings. For instance, better forecasting of demand, ship and fleet tracking and better risk management.

What needs to happen for organisations in Asia for us to see greater integration of IoT software in industrial settings?

Joanne Wong: With new manufacturing and smart city initiatives underway, there are numerous opportunities for greater integration of IoT software and the development of horizontal capabilities across industrial settings. This includes predictive maintenance and connected operational intelligence in manufacturing, as well as security and surveillance for smart cities.

However, closing the gaps in IoT security will be key to maximising the potential of IoT across industries and areas of operation. With more devices now connected to the internet, greater interconnection can pose higher cybersecurity risks for these industries.

It is more important than ever that organisations maintain clear oversight across their entire digital supply chain, including their IoT endpoints, to ensure that there is constant monitoring and surveillance for potential threats.

Companies should seek to redefine security ownership within the organisation to improve the management of IoT devices. Currently, IoT security falls under both the security and operations function - which may lead to confusion on whose responsibility it falls under.

At the same time, companies should also ensure that the adoption of security solutions is also compatible with the business needs — adapting to network changes, and automatically detecting, predicting, and responding to real-time threats.

The post IoT software trends in 2023 appeared first on FutureIoT.

ABI Research forecasts that the IoT gateway market will grow to nearly US$48 billion in annual revenues by 2026.

The gateway opportunities

Gateway shipments continue to evolve through communication technology. Thus, ABI Research’s updated forecasts reflect gateway replacement from network sunsets and growth in 5G gateways.

“By 2023, 3G gateways will become a minimal share of the market with the 3G gateway install base replaced by Cat-1 gateways. 5G gateway shipments will accelerate in 2026,” says Abdullah Haider, IoT network and services analyst at ABI Research. “By 2026, cellular gateway shipments will top 127 million units worldwide, at a CAGR exceeding 23% from 2021 to 2026.”

The WAN competition

However, growth is not unimpeded; WAN-connected endpoint devices are playing a more significant role in IoT solutions, lessening the need for gateways.

“In critical IoT application segments like patient monitoring, more cellular WAN-connected COPD and PERS devices are replacing the gateway connected short-range wireless devices."

Abdullah Haider

"But gateways are still expected to retain their utility, especially in industrial condition-based monitoring application segments. Short-range wireless (SRW) devices are more practical for indoor deployments,” Haider explained.

Finally, the last few years have seen interesting new market developments impacting gateway growth.  In the fleet management and home monitoring segments, COVID has helped solidify the role of gateways.

Gateways supported maintenance monitoring applications in fleet management to extend the lifetime of existing transportation vehicles.  In in-home monitoring applications, cellular gateways provided connectivity for remote care as healthcare workers could not visit as often as needed. 

In contrast, gateway-architected smart home solutions experienced more competition.  Specifically, more voice control front-end devices and smart TVs are including gateway functionality to complement their core services.

The post WAN in the way of gateways to scalable IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

To add to the magnitude of the problem, the Asia Pacific region’s expenditure on IoT is anticipated to grow, reaching US$437 billion by 2025. This signifies that governments and private organisations will continue to leverage IoT technologies at an accelerated pace, as the push for digitisation sustains momentum in the post-pandemic world.

IoT technologies and devices are the backbones of any digital transformation process. They play a key role in driving automation, monitoring, and controlling the technology in smart buildings, ensuring a safe and seamless transition to a digitally enabled future.

However, many smart devices are not designed with security in mind or may have vulnerabilities from the source code used within the manufacturer's supply chain, of which users are unaware.

These security vulnerabilities combined with the rapid proliferation of IoT devices mean there’s an urgent need for organisations to think about the security of the devices on their networks.

As companies further invest in digital transformation, they need to pay an equal amount of attention to the security of the devices and technologies they use in their everyday operations.

So, what are the security concerns surrounding IoT devices, and what can we do about them?

Security limitations in IoT devices

Alarmingly, visibility into threats from IoT devices is often dependent on manually updated databases of known devices.

For instance, certain IoT devices do not have sufficient storage or processing power to support logging or cryptographic abilities that protect sensitive information from being processed, making them vulnerable. As a result, businesses cannot accurately identify and protect against the risk posed by unknown and unmanaged IoT devices.

In fact, such risks have increased with work-from-home arrangements. Our IoT Security Report 2021 found that 81% of respondents in Singapore who have IoT devices connected to their organisation’s network, saw an increase in non-business IoT devices on their corporate networks. Some of these devices include home devices, medical wearables and even game consoles. 

The hardware limitations to security controls in IoT devices, coupled with the rise of remote work, are some of the key factors causing regulators to turn their attention toward securing IoT devices across the region.   

Regulators set the tone

In response to the growth of IoT technologies in the Asia Pacific region, regulators have developed IoT security regulations and standards for organisations and users.

In Singapore, the government has been proactively addressing this need, through initiatives such as the Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme and the National Integrated Centre for Evaluation (NiCE) to protect consumers and businesses from malicious actors and to further research and be educated about IoT cybersecurity.

It has also established standards and published practical guidelines for IoT security (TR 64: 2018: “Guidelines for IoT security for smart nation” and Internet of Things (IoT) Cyber Security Guide). These guidelines are intended to serve as a blueprint for enterprise users and vendors to secure IoT devices.

Some of the key security measures outlined in the IoT Cyber Security guide include:

• Enforcing proper access controls for IoT devices (Section 6.4.1)
• Segmenting IoT and enterprise networks (Section 7.3.1)
• Establishing proper device management (Section 7.4.1)
• Conducting periodic vulnerability assessments on connected devices (Section 7.5.2)

Complying with local market regulations, on the Cloud

Digital transformation is fuelling IoT adoption in the Asia Pacific region and making organisations increasingly reliant on these devices for critical business operations.

At the same time, companies also must manage a growing set of local regulations on the usage and management of IoT devices and data. Government policies may dictate how data can be collected and retained and may even restrict the transfer of data across borders to prevent citizen data from being exploited.

It is common today to see businesses use a multitude of cloud services that host their data in different locations around the world. As such, regional companies that are reliant on cloud services to deliver services and enable remote work will find it challenging to comply with different local regulations.

Instead of using local servers to store data for every market, companies can use a cloud hosting solution in their market of choice to ensure that they can still take advantage of the cloud while staying compliant with local data regulations. Cloud hosting solutions that are built with security and regulatory best practices in mind will also allow businesses to meet both their data residency preferences while protecting their enterprise network. 

Businesses need to be proactive too

Aside from complying with regulatory standards, organisations must take the necessary precaution to proactively secure their networks in this digital economy as well.

A prerequisite to effectively applying these security measures is visibility into and an understanding of the identity and behaviour of all network-connected devices.

A zero-trust approach to network-level IoT security - where enterprises have full visibility of IoT devices, practice continuous device and risk monitoring, and develop security policies with enforcement actions to prevent cyberattacks from happening - is needed to ensure organisations can better eliminate critical security blind spots.

Organisations can also take preventive measures a step further by deploying Machine Learning (ML) technologies to automate device identification, proactively detect malicious deviations, and automatically prevent attacks. As adversaries get more advanced, organisations can leverage ML capabilities to help them always stay vigilant.  

IoT security is everyone’s responsibility

Both governments and businesses play an integral role in maintaining IoT security. The ubiquity of IoT devices will only mean that the applications of such devices will continue to grow across all industries, and it is everyone’s responsibility to protect themselves and the organisation from cyber adversaries:

• Regulators lay the groundwork for cybersecurity regulations and standards that can be applied at scale
• A cloud hosting solution with built-in security controls helps organisations meet data residency preferences while enjoying the benefits of the cloud
• Organisations need to proactively enforce a Zero Trust approach to eliminate IoT device blind spots and deploy ML technologies to automatically prevent attacks

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Lower latency and support for Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) afforded by a 5G network can further enable wireless process automation for robotics use cases and increase bandwidth support for data-heavy applications, such as video analytics.

ABI Research predicts that in 2030, manufacturing and industrial firms globally will have more than 49 million 5G connections inside their facilities. This will generate US$2.4 billion in global connections revenue for suppliers.

Michael Larner, industrial and manufacturing research director at ABI Research, says progressive advancements to network performance (from Wi-Fi to Long Term Evolution (LTE), and from LTE to 5G) can underpin improvements to customers’ operations.

“But to maximise the benefits to their operations, customers will need to invest in ancillary technologies, such as edge networking, data management, and data analytics, to accelerate data collection and create a digital thread,” he added.

Hurdles ahead

However, a lack of 5G industrial devices has stalled manufacturers’ interest in 5G private wireless. In turn, the lack of enthusiasm has discouraged hardware suppliers from creating the necessary devices.

As a result of the state of flux, equipment vendors, such as Nokia, have launched converged devices supporting Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G connectivity.

Suppliers need to showcase the attributes of a 5G network and prove how a 5G network can upgrade operations.

“The lack of 5G devices is a genuine drag on adoption, but suppliers (telcos such as Nokia, Ericsson, NTT), Information Technology (IT) providers (HPE, DXC, Dell Technologies), Operational Technology (OT) specialists (Bosch, Siemens, Honeywell) and System Integrators (SIs) such as Accenture and Deloitte) should be working with prospective customers to educate them today about 5G’s potential,” Larner cautioned.

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Medical analyst at GlobalData, Ashley Clarke says the healthcare, pharma, and medical device sectors are particularly susceptible to cyberattacks.

“Medical history cannot be changed, unlike identification and credit card information, making it invaluable to hackers and resulting in high costs for healthcare data breaches,” he added.

A growing concern

Medical devices have become increasingly connected as remote medicine soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many companies now struggle to accommodate provider, patient, and third-party access to sensitive patient information while ensuring security.

Clarke says hackers can use healthcare information to create fake insurance claims, buy and sell medical equipment, or acquire illegal prescription medications.

“They can also target victims with fraudulent schemes related to their medical history, which are more believable than financial or legal scams due to the intimate nature of health information,” he added.

Lessons from the US

According to reports of breaches affecting 500 individuals or more by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights, over 41 million individuals in the US were affected by healthcare data breaches in 2021.

Cases affecting more than 22.5 million individuals in the US are currently under investigation this year, which is a 4.6% increase compared to the same time last year.

Devices like insulin pumps, heart pacemakers, inhalers, and wearables track patient data in real-time and even transmit to the user’s phone, making the data immediately accessible to both the patient and their doctor.

This increased data access has made the medical device sector more vulnerable.

This change in technology means that medical device companies and their business associates are now responsible for increasingly large amounts of sensitive electronic patient data and have been prey to significant data breaches in recent years,” said Clarke.

Without securing all components of the cybersecurity value chain, medical device companies will remain a primary target for hackers.

Clarke adds: “It’s crucial for companies to invest in a variety of technologies such as chip-based security, network security, and cloud security, at every stage of the product development to ensure patient information is safeguarded. Older legacy devices may be unable to receive security patches, but new devices should have a security update plan in place for their entire device lifecycle.”

Lessons from the UK

In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has been on high alert for cyberattacks following the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack that disrupted 1% of all NHS care over a one-week period.

More recently it was again the victim of another attack albeit indirectly via the software company Advanced. Disrupted were NHS’ emergency services (111). Advanced currently has 36 NHS clients, while its Adastra software works with most NHS 111 services.  

Dean Sabri, principal analyst for health and social care at GlobalData, says investment in security software and infrastructure across UK healthcare organisations increased by 53% in real terms between 2016 and 2021.

“A cyber-attack on a large healthcare software supplier such as Advanced suggests that NHS organizations could be effectively wasting as much as £62 million if they do not require tighter security measures from suppliers in future procurements,” he concluded.

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However, the demand and comfort among consumers for how data is captured in the home will shape which sensing technologies win out.

Market trends

ABI Research forecasts that by 2027, 4.6 billion sensors of various types will ship embedded in smart home devices, robots, and appliances, up from 1.8 billion in 2021.

Some of these sensors are already key to the functionality of devices, while others support additional functionality that will push into more products as manufacturers and service providers look to improve the appeal of their offerings.

Jonathan Collins, smart home research director at ABI Research says alongside longstanding demand for microphones and image sensing, air quality, ambient light, water flow, and moisture sensing will all see significant adoption over the next five years.

While the market for sensors is a broadly horizontal one, smart homes and the wider consumer market will be of growing value to players such as Bosch Sensortec and TDK Invensense. 

Smart home device manufacturers will have to determine which specific technologies will meet their system or system partner's demands for functionality, cost, power demand, and more.

The ABI report examines fifteen types of sensors, from motion and moisture to LiDAR and biometrics, and the technologies leveraged across them to determine which smart home devices and systems are best suited for which sensors.

Connectivity expands in the home

A single sensor for something such as lighting levels or motion could be leveraged across a range of applications to support home environment management from automated lighting and window shading, heating, cooling, and more,” explained Collins.

She added that the upcoming Matter specification for device interoperability will further influence sensing data availability across smart home systems.

“The best-positioned sensor technologies will deliver detailed insights into the home environment without driving concern regarding resident privacy and control. This will hamper image and biometric capture and favour lighter, less intrusive data capture,” concluded Collins.

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The programme aims to help these startups to scale by co-developing solutions with businesses with the NWD group ecosystem in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The next cohort of the GBA Accelerator is now open for application.

The GBA Accelerator identified technology improvement opportunities from NWD's residential, retail and construction business units; from increasing customer engagement within the group's retail properties to automating services in property management.

"Breaking into a market as large as the GBA can be difficult and Eureka Nova has acted as a bridge between these startups and the NWD businesses needed to help them succeed. The startups have also been networking with like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors to develop their go-to-market strategies,” said Paul Sin, director of technology and transformation at NWD.

Besides showcasing their technologies in NWD's properties, Sin added the startups have learned to localise their solutions for an entirely different customer base and what business requirements are necessary to win over large B2B clients.

Eureka Nova launched the inaugural cohort of the GBA Accelerator programme in September 2021, targeted at robotics and AI startups looking to scale their business across the GBA.

The programme attracted applications from around the world to develop solutions that solve real-world business problems for New World China Land, K11 MUSEA, 11 SKIES, Property Management, and Hip Seng.

Nine have been selected for their robotics and AI solutions – four from the Chinese Mainland, four from overseas, and one from Hong Kong. During a five-month incubation period, the nine startups received development support and training by Eureka Nova, while seizing the opportunity to work closely with NWD's business units.

Startups from GBA  Accelerator’s inaugural round to pilot solutions

Three international startups from the first cohort of nine  – Trace from the US, DeepBrain AI from South Korea and R-Storm from Mainland China – will pilot their innovative solutions in NWD's businesses in the coming month for them to test and refine their products and go-to-market strategy in the GBA.

These solutions will eventually have the opportunity to be integrated into New World businesses in Hong Kong and Guangzhou:

• Trace has been developing an Augmented Reality (AR) tour guide technology that can transform any living space, retail store, mall and museum into an interactive brick-and-mortar digital experience for in-person visitors.
• DeepBrain AI develops real-time video synthesis, speech synthesis and Natural Language Processing (NLP) from actor-enabled videos to create interactive AI human avatars with multi-language capability that customers can engage with to address their customer service needs.
• R-Storm specialises in autonomous window cleaning robots that offer a cost-effective and safe alternative for cleaning high-rise buildings. Their window cleaning robot utilises image recognition, pressure sensors and wide-angle cameras to carefully analyse each window to ensure accurate cleaning.

Meanwhile, the six other startups that composed the first batch of the GBA Accelerator program also had the opportunity to land their technology in New World Development's construction and facility management lines of business.

They were able to land four commercial pilots and co-develop two product collaborations with New World Development. These internal business units look forward to continuing such discussions to provide a gateway for these startups in the GBA.

Building cloud-native applications

Microsoft Hong Kong, the technology partner for this accelerator programme, has been supporting the startups to bring their innovations and solutions to life by enabling them to build, run and manage applications on Microsoft Azure.

The startups have deployed  Azure's wide range of products, such as AI, IoT, machine learning and mixed reality to help realise their business propositions and innovative dreams while accelerating the digital transformation of the GBA.

"A robust, trusted, and secure cloud infrastructure is essential for innovative companies in this cloud-first era. As part of our mission to deliver enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure to support the GBA's digital economy, we launched Azure Availability Zone in Hong Kong last year to add additional capabilities and improve resilience for companies in the GBA,” said  Cally Chan, general manager, Microsoft Hong Kong and Macau.

She added: “We support innovative international startups to land their innovations on Azure technology to develop scalable and agile solutions in a secure environment and bring their ambition to life. We wish to continue paving the way for more tech unicorns to enter the GBA."

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FileWave MDM is a multi-platform mobile device management solution that allows IT administrators to manage, monitor, and view all of an organisation’s devices. Currently, FileWave MDM supports a wide range of devices, from iOS and Android smartphones, MacOS and Windows tablets, laptops and workstations, and smart devices such as televisions.

Through FileWave MDM, IT administrators can view and manage device configurations, locations, security settings, and other device data. They may use the MDM platform to push mandatory software and updates to devices, change device settings, lock, and, when necessary, remotely wipe devices. In order to do so, all managed devices report to the main server at set intervals, and in return, the server can issue commands to the device via file packages, software, and more.

FileWave has developed a patch to fix the vulnerabilities in a recent update and has reached out to affected customers.

At risks of remote attacks

The security flaws in FileWave MDM, discovered by Claroty’s research arm Team82, allow full offsite control of the MDM platform and the devices that it manages.

“An attacker who is able to compromise the MDM would be in a powerful position to control all managed devices, allowing the attacker to exfiltrate sensitive data such as a device’s serial number, the user’s email address and full name, address, geo-location coordinates, IP address, device PIN codes, and much more,” said Noam Moshe, vulnerability researcher at Claroty, in a blog posted last Monday.

“Attackers could abuse legitimate MDM capabilities to install malicious packages or executables, and even gain access to the device directly through remote control protocols,” he added.

The first vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-34907 is  an authentication bypass that enables total control of internet-exposed MDM instances before proceeding to compromise other FileWave using devices to facilitate data exfiltration and malware delivery.

“This exploit, if used maliciously, could allow remote attackers to easily attack and infect all internet-accessible instances managed by the FileWave MDM, below, allowing attackers to control all managed devices, gaining access to users’ personal home networks, organisations’ internal networks, and much more,” said Moshe.

The other vulnerability, CVE-2022-34906, exits again within FileWave MDM and was a hard-coded cryptographic key.

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The new joint venture company based in Singapore sees a tremendous opportunity in the region with the increased adoption of virtual healthcare and growing investments in digitalisation by healthcare institutions.

“Owing to the rise of artificial intelligence, IoT, and big data in healthcare, the region’s digital health market, valued at US$40.3 billion in 2021, is expected to expand to US$326.7 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 26.5%. As such, Healthcare Triangle’s entry into the region couldn’t be timelier,” said company chairman and CEO Suresh Venkatachari.

The company’s expansion into the region is expected to bolster the role of Singapore as a medical innovation hub. With their experience working in the developing healthcare technology industry in the US, Healthcare Triangle aims to help healthcare companies scale their digital solutions and innovation in the region.

Fostering partnerships for a resilient healthcare ecosystem

Meanwhile Healthcare Triangle will be  fostering partnerships and collaborations that help create better and more robust digital healthcare solutions in the Asia Pacific.

Specifically, the company plans to tap into Shankar Group, a leading diversified enterprise in FMCG, property development and services presence across the region, including South Asia, the Middle East, Japan, and Australia to expand its services all over the ecosystem.

Partnerships have been crucial  in enabling Healthcare Triangle to create a resilient healthcare system. It is one of the few providers in the region that has such a comprehensive network of partners that allows them to support regional and global healthcare projects.

The company is HITRUST certified and a premier partner of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud (GCP) and Microsoft Azure to provide multi-cloud services to customers. To provide holistic digital health solutions, it collaborates with EPIC and Meditech, leading Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Opportunity abounds across the region

According to McKinsey, digital health in Asia could collectively create up to US$100 billion in value by 2025, up from US$37 billion in 2020.

A large population of the APAC region still lives in remote areas seeking digital healthcare services. Increasing awareness about telehealth services and the growing demand for low-cost remote patient monitoring services are expected to drive the market in the next ten years.

The growing need for clinical information systems and electronic medical records will propel digital healthcare platform adoption.

“We are confident that our platform solutions will elevate healthcare and life sciences businesses with the power to transform and manage their cloud infrastructure across any CSP (Cloud Service Provider) and empower businesses with utmost security and compliance to harness the full potential of their data and thereby speed up their data-driven digital transformation journey,” said Venkatachari.

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"Technologies such as digital twins, smart streetlights, micro-grids, computer vision, smart city management platforms, and micro-mobility are all growing in popularity and can help with decarbonisation," said Dominique Bonte, vice president for verticals and end markets at ABI Research.

The research firm cited a couple of examples where these strategies have a direct impact on energy consumption, and they also encourage citizens to make a better choice to help their city decarbonise.

One is  London’s recent expansion of the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) which uses a variety of technologies such as ANPR (automatic number plate readers), CCTV cameras, and environmental sensors to assess the impact of the new regulations.

Another example is Singapore's innovation district, Tengah, which deploys a variety of technologies to support decarbonisation including a centralised cooling system, smart streetlights, smart waste removal, a mobile app for citizens' smart metres, and mass rapid transport with a car-free city centre.

Bonte noted that the principles behind smart city technologies, such as increasing efficiency, better data management, and better decision making are also essential for decarbonisation and reaching net-zero goals.

He added that technologies can enhance decarbonisation through more efficient energy use, better project planning, predictive maintenance, greener mobility options (such as e-bikes and e-scooters), and greater urban management through better data management.

"Cities have a great opportunity to influence how we reach net-zero goals through their ability to regulate, purchase, and influence their services. By opting for smarter, more resilient solutions they can reach and maintain their decarbonisation goals to increase the health of their citizens and the wider community," Bonte said.

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Based on recent figures from Counterpoint Research, the demand for 5G AIoT solution is expected to skyrocket, with shipments of 5G AIoT modules reaching a CAGR of 84% between 2022 and 2030, as the combination of AI and IoT open new possibilities for industries requiring automated real-time decision-making and data analysis

Fibocom's AI smart module is bound to play a crucial part in the industry, with the potential to empower a massive range of compute-intensive use cases.

Equipped with the Qualcomm QCS8250 IoT solution, Fibocom's new SCA825-W module integrates an octa-core Kryo 585 CPU, Adreno 650 GPU, dedicated NPU 230 (Neural Processing Unit), as well as Hexagon DSP for machine learning.

The module can deliver a computing power of up to 15 TOPS (Tera Operations per Second), enabling complex AI computing performance with exceptional features.

"With AIoT continuously transforming every industry, high-performance AI modules will become an important pillar," said Eden Chen, general manager of MC Product Management Dept., Fibocom. "Our newly-launched AI smart module SCA825-W is an exceptional part of the Fibocom smart module family, which will take a big step forward in the AIoT field with technological advancements."

Featuring a powerful Spectra  480 ISP (image signal processor) Adreno 995 DPU and Adreno 665 VPU, Fibocom SCA825-W supports up to seven concurrent cameras, triple 4K display and video encode at up to 4K resolution at 120 fps, 8K at 30 fps (frames per second), offering superior image capturing, processing and displaying capabilities.

In addition, the module supports 5G, Wi-Fi 6.0, Bluetooth 5.1 as well as 2×2 Wi-Fi MIMO multi-antenna technology, which allows various wireless connectivity options for industrial and commercial use cases. It also supports Android 10 operating system and a wide range of interfaces (MIPI-DSI, I2S, PCIe, UART, USB, I2C, SPI), enabling much flexibility and ease of integration to meet the application demands of the AIoT industry.

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The vehicle was developed by Shenzhen Unity-Drive Innovation Technology (UDI), which is founded by the Intelligent Autonomous Driving Technology Center of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). It is the first unmanned vehicle to obtain a test licence from Hong Kong’s Transport Department.

UDI designs autonomous vehicles for industrial logistics, unmanned distribution, terminal operations and other scenarios.

According to Professor Ming Liu, leading developer at UDI, Hercules is a level four autonomous vehicle (based on a five-level scale ranging from assisted driving to a fully autonomous vehicle).

“The body of the UDI unmanned vehicle is covered with various sensors such as LiDAR, camera and ultrasonic, which let the machine sense the surrounding environment in real time and can also autonomously plan and change the driving path when encountering obstacles,” said Liu, adding that Hercules can carry loads of nearly a tonne – a capacity of 800 kilograms and volume of 2,900 litres.

Moreover, Hercules can plan and adopt its own routes so long as it has a detailed map of the environment.

“Just as people need to know the driving trajectory through a map, the unmanned vehicle has a high-precision map [so it can determine] its own position and destination and plan its path,” Liu added.

The vehicles are mass-produced but can be adapted and configured for many different scenarios

Similar to Hercules, UDI has  tailor-made unmanned vehicles for delivery company SF Express to serve two universities in Shanghai, which made more than 1,000 express deliveries during the Singles Day (11/11) peak period.

SF Express is looking for autonomous “last mile” delivery, which is appropriate for UDI’s low-speed, high-frequency point-to-point delivery model.

Unmanned driving in controlled areas

UDI’s self-driving vehicles can be adapted and configured for many different scenarios, and the company is now developing a new vehicle that can carry up to 3 tonnes for use in locations such as airports and harbours.

“In the past four years, UDI has accumulated benchmark customers in express logistics and industrial logistics, represented by SF Express, Foxconn, etc, and provides transportation-as-a-service (TaaS) solutions,” Liu said.

He added: “Our products include unmanned industrial logistics vehicles, unmanned delivery vehicles, unmanned shuttle vehicles, unmanned sweeping vehicles, unmanned security vehicles, unmanned retail vehicles, and technology for unmanned vehicles for use during epidemics. As policies and regulations improve, UDI will also expand the scope of unmanned vehicle applications to make UDI unmanned vehicles travel throughout cities.”

Since UDI provides TaaS, its vehicles can work in synchronised swarms. Liu said UDI’s technology allowed for navigating through active traffic, though controlled environments remain the company’s core focus currently.

Use case in new retail

Meanwhile, the IoT capabilities of UDI’s unmanned vehicles have been deployed in an unlikely industry – retail.

According to Liu, UDI last year worked with new Chinese tea brand  CoasTea to transform the carriages [of the unmanned vehicle] into retail cabinets for ‘new retailing’ in shopping malls with high customer traffic.

“Customers scanned a QR code to place an order without going to the store. Our unmanned retail vehicle can also capture the pedestrian volume and improve the efficiency of matching people and goods,” Liu said, adding that UDI is looking to expand into other retail functions.

GBA opportunities

UDI, which began at HKUST, is now based in Shenzhen. With its close ties to both cities, the company hopes to further establish close cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

“There are many commercial opportunities and requirements. We have participated in the Greater Bay Area Auto Show for two consecutive years to actively expand the resources of the GBA,” said Liu.

“In terms of market applications, we have put a number of unmanned vehicles on the market in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou etc. At the same time, we provided IGV autonomous driving navigation solutions in Guangzhou Port, and provided unmanned vehicle technology anti-epidemic solutions in Shenzhen and other places,” he added.

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According to The National Environment Agency (NEA), CO2 levels in occupied areas are often used as a proxy for ventilation adequacy. Building managers should aim for CO2 levels below 800 parts per million (ppm) at all times. Measurements that exceed 1100 ppm is indicative of inadequate ventilation or potential overcrowding and should be addressed immediately.

“While the pandemic presented new challenges to our team, it also gave us an opportunity to review our processes and make our homes healthier. CO2 sensors are simple and powerful tools to optimise IAQ quality and build confidence for our residents,” said Agatha Tan, divisional director at the THK Disability Services.

THK Disability Services is one of the social welfare organisations under the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities (THKMC).

Tan added:  “We are pleased with the results of the trial. On top of real-time actions, our operation team can further analyse historical data stored on the cloud via a user-friendly dashboard, so that we can draw correlations between indoor capacity, length of activities and CO2 levels to predict IAQ and ventilate the rooms regularly.”

THK Disability Services, through THKMC, tapped massive IoT provider UnaBiz to supply the IAQ sensors for the three-month pilot.

During the trial, CO2 levels were captured in real-time and remotely throughout the day, in areas with high footfall such as dormitories, offices, activity rooms, and nursing stations.

The ability to monitor CO2 levels allows for the team to take the necessary corrective actions if predefined thresholds are breached. Measures such as increasing natural ventilation and deploying fans were taken to improve air quality, creating a healthier, safer, and more comfortable environment for over 500 staff and beneficiaries under THK Disability Services.

Jonathan Tan, managing director,  UnaBiz Singapore said: “As we transition into the post-pandemic era, vaccines and masks will take a back seat. However, more can be done to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by improving ventilation and monitoring CO2 levels to minimise aerosol transmissions. We are pleased to support THKMC by empowering the operation team with IoT solutions and real-time data to provide peace of mind to the residents and staff.”

With the completion of the trial, THK Disability Services plans to implement the  monitoring sensors in its other facilities  located in Sembawang, Geylang Bahru and Pan-Disability Eunos.

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This is one of the key takeaways from the “Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific” report, which looks into the region’s maturing technology-focused ecosystems that are producing billion-dollar companies at a rapid rate.

"Fast-growing technology start-ups are the new wave of SMEs contributing towards economic growth and more. Looking ahead, the global push towards carbon-neutrality will be a major driver of innovation as traditional sectors go green, and Emerging Giants will likely play a key role in developing the technologies that can reduce carbon emissions and promote more responsible stewardship of the environment. Asia will be a crucial battleground in the fight for a more sustainable future," said Honson To, chairman, KPMG Asia Pacific and KPMG China.

Close to over 6,500 technology startups with a valuation of up to US$500 million were studied across 12 markets, including China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia,  Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the report, the emergence of new sector verticals is attracting record-breaking investments, leading to a proliferation of larger, more valuable startups in the region.

Beyond Fintech and SaaS

Beyond the traditional sectors associated with new economy businesses such as FinTech or software-as-a-service, the report identified around 120 technology-related industry subsectors among these businesses, with blockchain, smart city, and sustainability and ESG verticals being the most prominent.

Sustainability and ESG verticals such as EV charging infrastructure, sustainable packaging and sustainable fashion are among the top 20 subsectors, making sustainability-related products and services a key focus for roughly 15% of the emerging giants identified.

The top 20 list also included four health-associated verticals, including assistive tech, AI-powered drug discovery, neurotechnology and mental health technology.

Meanwhile, the smart city-associated areas, such as IoT security and digital twins were present in the leading 10 subsectors. Virtual collaboration technologies also feature prominently with two categories – virtual events and low-code/no-code – making the top 20 list.

Advanced computing technologies were also well represented, with quantum computing making the top 5 and cognitive computing making the top 20.

"Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific excites us because we see the start-up ecosystem as complimentary to the established end of the financial services industry: they're a source of innovation, and invigorate both local and regional economies with their dynamism," says Surendra Rosha, co-chief executive, HSBC Asia-Pacific.

Other key findings

Daren Yong, head of technology for media and telecommunications, KPMG Asia Pacific, noted that the region’s emerging giants are bold, ambitious and cutting-edge in the new platform and software applications they are offering.

“Most importantly, they are transforming and pioneering the technology landscape over the coming years, in addition to thinking about what is useful to their customers now," said Yong.

Meanwhile, below are other key findings from the report.

• While a repeat of the record-breaking private investment levels in 2021 is unlikely, 1Q 2022 figures suggest that 2022 is on target to exceed both 2020 and 2019 funding levels in the Asia Pacific. Australia, Malaysia and South Korea have already seen deal values pass or nearly pass 2020 totals.
• As the world's biggest fintech adopter, the Asia Pacific region has experienced a boom in financial services transformation within the last two years as fintech applications progress in tandem with user uptake. Considerable interest in cryptocurrencies has also led to a surge in crypto financial services providers and blockchain players.
• Top challenges faced by Emerging Giants include navigating regulatory complexity and securing technology talent. Formulating effective ESG and tax strategies, as well as leveraging government incentives and implementing management processes for distributed workforces, will be cornerstones of future growth.

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This collaboration is the latest in a series of projects that Foresight have secured in China in the last 12 months as the company expands its presence in the country as part of its goal to be a dominant player in the Asia Pacific’s automotive market.

The new system to be developed together with Shandong Research Institute will combine Foresight's stereoscopic technology (using both visible light and thermal cameras), radar, and the laser scanning technology LiDAR, as well as Beidou Tech's vehicle navigation and positioning system.

Beidou Tech is one of the owners of Shandong Research Institute, which is engaged in the research of high-precision seamless positioning, real-time accurate regeneration of scene targets, and control of scene target position.

The new collaboratively produced system is expected to provide vehicle manufacturers with multi-sensor intelligent navigation to deploy in smart transportation, active safety automotive systems, and unmanned driving.

The resulting system is intended for use in autonomous vehicles, trucks, passenger cars, and other vehicles in Shandong Province, China.

With the signing of the MOU to seal the collaboration between Shandong Research Institute and Foresight, the Chinese parties applied for the endorsement and financial support of the province to underwrite the project.

Meanwhile, both Shandong Research Institute and Foresight intend to negotiate a definitive agreement to develop the above-mentioned system and to establish a joint venture in Shandong.

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According to a Digitimes research report, the country’s ICT industry has shifted from focusing on hardware to hardware/software integration models. The industry is combining big data analysis and AI applications in public IoT to facilitate the development of smart city management.

Tools such as IoT, AI, cloud computing, and communications technologies are efficiently integrated with urban infrastructure to produce economic benefits and improve quality of life.

“Taiwan's expertise in semiconductor and hardware is important to smart cities' development as more data is being used to improve AI systems, resulting in rising demand for stronger infrastructure and hardware with next-generation AI semiconductors,” said Dr. Ayesha Khanna, co-founder and CEO of Addo, an AI consulting firm based in California.

Khanna will be one of the speakers at the upcoming smart city webinar in Taipei later this month to be hosted by Digitimes Asia.

Khanna believes that whether it is AI, robots, 3D printing, Internet of things or 5G, smart city's development should not start purely with technologies but the idea of assisting people to solve their problems or become the aspirational goal for citizens.

It is estimated that the business opportunities of smart cities will reach US$2.6 trillion in 2025, mainly in the Asia Pacific region. This includes sectors such as smart poles, building, parking, monitor, government, transportation, fire protection, water conservancy and WITMED.

“When people want to have better energy and waste management in their city, designers can create an AI solution for monitoring energy usage that can turn streetlights on and off with a built-in smart lighting system. They can also build a centralised trash collection mechanism with sensors and have robots powered by AI to collect waste all around the neighbourhoods to reduce traffic and road congestions,” Khanna said.

Collecting and integrating public and private data

Khanna pointed out that it also important to collect and integrate publicly available data and data from the ecosystem's private firms to form a system.

For example, by combining data of taxi companies and traffic light operation, it reduces people's waiting time for taxies, while traffic congestion can also be significantly lowered with the system's assistance in rerouting or changing the traffic lights.

Technologies for smart healthcare

Nowadays, because of the pandemic, the number of hospital visits via online meeting software or telemedicine services increased dramatically as people find it more convenient and efficient.

The technologies used by medical care system are also making improvements with some designers beginning to adopt biometric sensors onto the terminals for the machines to collect more patients' data, giving doctors more information to make intelligent diagnosis, such as handheld ultrasound products that can be connected via smartphones for patients to check on themselves via AI or by medical staff nearby and then send results to their doctors.

“Technologies for remote medical care are a key area that many IT companies have devoted their R&D effort to. Ambulances built with remote medical care system can connect doctors with ambulances care assistants for them to do check-ups while transporting patents to the hospital. The doctors can also make an examination over patients' injuries via a head-mounted display (HMD) to save time,” said Khanna.

Vital role of 5G in smart city

However, Khanna said all these innovations still rely on 5G, which allows devices to communicate with each other with its fast transmission speed, and has brought a revolution to the manufacturing industry and factories.

In Singapore, a lot of investments are being made for deploying 5G infrastructure throughout the city. This is also the case for many countries including the US.

As smart systems are adopting more sensors to enhance their data collection ability, 5G's commercialisation has become the key to unlock the potential of IoT.

With telecom carriers worldwide keenly expanding their 5G infrastructure, Dr. Khanna is optimistic about the birth of more new smart systems and the rapid development of smart cities worldwide.

“The future of smart city will not be operated by one large central AI, but multiple small ones. Issues within smart cities' key sectors such as healthcare, energy and education will continue to be overseen by government departments or public sector companies with them using AIs to optimise and create innovations for their services,” said Khanna.

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Takeaway business for the city’s F&B businesses have skyrocketed in the last three years with social distancing measures encouraging people to stay at home.

The Japanese fast-food chain has tapped Zeek, an on-demand logistics technology platform, to provide is SaaS solution to expedite the creation of Yoshinoya’s online store in the territory.

Established in 2017, Zeek deploys logistics technologies and big data analytics to provide a range of logistics services covering quick commerce freight, takeaway and grocery goods for individual, corporate and e-commerce clients. Its SaaS solutions are tailored to corporates' business needs to empower seamless digital transformation.

ZeekSolutions enables corporate clients, using ZeekStore module, to build their branded Quick Commerce ordering channel, apply geofencing for intelligent store assignment and integrate with POS/CRM/Apps.

Janet Yuen, CEO of Hung's Food Group, said: "Optimising customers' satisfaction in the food ordering process has always been one of the missions of Yoshinoya. With the collaboration with ZeekStore, Yoshinoya customers will enjoy the convenience of food ordering at their workplace or at home.”

He added that Zeek’s territory-wide delivery network enables Yoshinoya to reach customers easily from anywhere and at any time.

“We can also streamline the entire ordering process starting from order placement to final delivery for enhancing the customer-restaurant relationship. I believe that the seamless setup of Yoshinoya's online ordering platform by ZeekStore will offer our customers a beneficial dining experience,” said Yuen.

Yoshinoya has been in the Hong Kong market since 1991 and currently has around 50 stores across the city, serving millions rice bowls every month.

"We are thrilled to partner with Yoshinoya which is a leading multinational brand,” said KK Chiu, CEO of Zeek adding that  besides enhancing diners’ takeaway experience, the fast-food chain can now also leverage their customer data with analytics to curate strategic marketing promotions in a cost effective manner.

To date, ZeekSolutions has already assisted over 50 brands and simplified the connection from restaurants and e-commerce to their customers and was instrumental in assisting these brands to venture their Quick Commerce business in the new normal.

Zeek’s market coverage reaches beyond Hong Kong to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia and the company plans to expand to the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan this year.

It currently operates a delivery team of over 30,000 fleet members as of December 2021.

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The company, primarily known for its security products and applications, deployed an intelligent video system to monitor the animals’ activities and their interaction with humans. The system integrates professional video software with dedicated functions including AI-equipped cameras that can identify this unique animal automatically.

"The protection of pangolins is of great value in protecting the biodiversity in our forests," said Li Chen, director of Xizijiang Ecological Conservation Center, a non-profit organisation for monitoring, studying, and protecting wildlife.

Focus has been placed on surveying and monitoring wild pangolin populations and their habitats. Patrolling forests and mountains has radically diminished poaching efforts while also strengthening on-going research on the artificial breeding measures currently underway.

“The intelligent video system allows for smart, information-based and real-time monitoring of pangolins. It relieves researchers from patrolling pressures and provides precious data for the scientific research of pangolins. We are expecting more technologies to be used in the future of the Wuquinzhang Reserve to protect pangolins, so that more of them can thrive here,” he added.

Before the system was installed, research in the reserve was impeded by the lack of data and video footage on the local ecosystem in general and pangolin activity in particular.

Researchers were forced to travel dozens of kilometres on foot deep into mountainous areas and dense, unfriendly forests only to collect very limited data. After the Hikvision system was put into place, however, workers have been able to access large amounts of video footage, studying and documenting pangolin living habits. These valuable materials currently help reveal and restore populations as they facilitate the work of researchers.

Critically endangered

Known as “guardians of the forest”, pangolins are ancient creatures that appeared in fossil records possibly going as far back as 35-55 million years. Even with the strong shield pangolins wear, their population has declined at an alarming rate – the result of poaching and illegal trade.

What’s more, deforestation and intrusive human activities have disrupted their forest ecosystems extensively, leaving pangolins vulnerable. The destruction of their habitats further exacerbates their plight. Pangolins feed almost exclusively on ants and termites. Such a simple diet makes them particularly poor at adapting to changes in their environment.

In China alone, its population is estimated to have decreased by an exorbitant 90% since the 1960s, prompting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to put the Chinese pangolin on its red list as a critically endangered animal.

Governments and international organisations have intensified their efforts to crack down on poaching and illegal trading of pangolins over the years. Significant resources have been dedicated to the animals' protection and breeding in the field. The United Nations has declared the third Saturday of February as "World Pangolin Day" in order to raise awareness about protecting these creatures across the globe.

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It will also expand its reach across the GCC countries, which comprise of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

Pure Harvest opened up about its market expansion after securing its latest growth funding of US$180.5 million.

“We have demonstrated that we can reliably deploy our high-tech farming solutions across the GCC. Now it is time to enter new markets that share similar challenges to our own – fast-growing populations, seasonal import-dependence, and an awareness of the crippling effects that short-term crises such as COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and climate change – are having on our global food system. The future of farming is here… now, we have the resources to bring our solution to the world,” said Sky Kurtz, co-founder and CEO, Pure Harvest.

The company also will use its new capital to invest in research and development.

The financing was raised by a consortium of key global investors, including Metric Capital Partners, UK, IMM Investment Corp, Korea, and Olayan Group, KSA, joined by several existing investors and management.

It represents the largest-ever convertible financing in the MEASA region. The funding round was vastly oversubscribed, and a few strategic investors are still in discussions for further upsizing, underscoring the strong institutional investor appetite for Pure Harvest.

The growth capital cements Pure Harvest’s role as the MEASA region’s champion within the fast-emerging, global high-tech agriculture ecosystem.

Kurtz said: “We are humbled by this investment from an esteemed group of global investors, backing our mission: to harness the wonders of science, the power of nature, and the passions of people to provide tasty, affordable, sustainably-grown fresh produce anywhere. “

Established in 2016 in Abu Dhabi, Pure Harvest grow crops in smart greenhouses installed with controlled-environment agriculture technologies to deliver fresh produce that is “cleaner-than-organic”. For now, the company only produces tomatoes.

The company deploys technology to circumvent the UAE’s hostile climate and create an environment that can sustain agriculture. Its high-tech greenhouses provide precise climate & environmental controls, enabling increased productivity and reduced waste, including water, energy and  time).

An advanced system analyses data to adjust sunlight, temperature and humidity. Other variables such as levels of carbon dioxide, water and airflow are also measured. There is also an advanced on-site water treatment to ensure food safety.

Pure Harvest packs its own produce: immediately cooling fresh-picked produce to extend shelf life – preserving freshness, firmness and flavour.

Controlled-environment agriculture is the future

Investors in Pure Harvest’s latest funding are confident that controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) plays a vital role in ensuring global food security amid the worsening climate change.

"It's clear that controlled-environment agriculture is becoming increasingly important as a solution to food security issues while also mitigating the environmental impact of food production. We believe Pure Harvest is extremely well positioned to thrive in this growing market driven by its excellent team, innovative approach, and proven track record of building and operating at scale in a region characterised by difficult climatic conditions for agriculture,” said Bjørn Tessiore, partner at Metric Capital Partners.

Hyun-Chan Cho, partner at IMM Investment, said: “Due to our longstanding successful investment in Farm8 (PlanTFarm), we knew the CEA space well. With Pure Harvest, we saw a complementary solution that let us double-down on an investment thesis that we continue to believe in, and that tangibly contributes to global food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability objectives. We are proud to actively support Pure Harvest as it brings its solution to Asian markets.”

The leading alternative investment firm in South Korea, IMM has forked out an initial USD $50 million investment in Pure Harvest in October.

One of the company’s latest investors, the Saudi Arabian-based Olayan Financing Company, said the climate and water challenges that Pure Harvest works to overcome is vital to the global economy.

“Pure Harvest has proven its ability to deliver incredibly high-quality, safe, sustainable products at affordable prices, and they’ve shown an openness to partner with others to achieve their mission. I believe this funding will allow them to unleash significant potential, and to meet growing food demands in many new markets. We are pleased to be joining the company at this critical point in their journey, transitioning from a regional leader to a global one,” a spokesperson from Olayan Financing Company said.

The latest round of fundraising cements Pure Harvest’s leadership position as the pioneer in CEA in harsh climates. This fundraise, together with the sizable research and development incentives secured from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in 2020, will allow Pure Harvest to accelerate its growth plans, deploying growing systems in new markets and increasing research and development investments.

Pure Harvest  is also investigating a number of new growth initiatives, including product extensions and water-efficient CEA solutions for fodder production.

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“Wi-Fi has been a key enabler of the global IIOT market, which is on track to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 23% between 2017 and 2023. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are expanding capabilties by providing the multi-Gb/s data rates, additional spectrum, deterministic performance and other advanced capabilities necessary to support demanding applications such as Industry 4.0,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

Entitled “Wi-Fi 6/6E for Industrial IoT: Enabling Wi-Fi Determinism in an IoT World”, the white paper delves into the efficacy of using the latest Wi-Fi standard for new IIoT applications deployed manufacturing/Industry 4.0 and logistics, involving autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated ground vehicles (AGVs), predictive maintenance and augmented/virtual/mixed reality (AR/VR/MR).

“As more equipment is monitored, wiring becomes prohibitive,” the paper says. “Industry is moving towards the inclusion of wireless technologies to lessen the cost of obtaining more information about their processes. In one recent case in the oil and gas industry, moving to a wireless installation resulted in a 75% cost reduction in installation.”

For example, manufacturers are increasingly using IIoT sensors for vibration, temperature and lubricant viscosity to catch emerging equipment problems before they result in extensive, expensive downtime. Other IIoT sensors provide real-time insights about production output, inventory levels and asset locations. Wireless has become the preferred way to network these sensors because it’s faster and cheaper to deploy than copper or fibre.

Industry-wide initiative towards next-generation Wi-FI

According to Eric McLaughlin, vice president of the Client Computing Group and general manager of the Wireless Solutions Group at Intel Corporation, said that Wi-Fi is an essential ingredient in enabling the major transformation now happening in the industrial IoT market.

“Applications like Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) and Remote Human Management Interface (HMI) industrial devices require the mobility, functional safety, high reliability, low latency, robust security and determinism that Wi-Fi 6/6E can deliver particularly when combined with TSN (time sensitive networking) solutions. We are pleased to be leading this Wi-Fi technology evolution, and applauds the work that the WBA is doing in this space.”

Produced by WBA’s Wi-Fi 6/6E for IIOT work group led by Intel, Cisco and Deutsche Telekom, the report provides an overview of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E capabilities that are ideal for sensors and other IIoT applications, such as:

• Scheduled access (SA) enabled by trigger-based (TB) uplink (UL) orthogonal frequency domain multiple access (OFDMA) in Wi-Fi 6 provides the ability to reduce or eliminate contention and bound latency (e.g. 99 percentile). This leads to increased levels of determinism applicable to all real-time and IIOT applications.
• Wi-Fi 6 provides many deterministic QoS capabilities, such as the traffic prioritization that is a key component of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) for Industry 4.0 applications. Another example is Multi-link operation (MLO), a capability that helps provide high reliability for applications that cannot tolerate any packet loss.
• The Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol specified in IEEE 802.11-2016 enables both time-synchronization but also precise indoor range and position/location determination. This can be used for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) applications such as route planning, exception handling and safety-related aspects including collision avoidance based on proximity. This capability does not require additional Wi-Fi infrastructure, so manufacturers can implement it immediately, for instance as part of their Industry 4.0 migration.
• The target-wake-time (TWT) feature added to Wi-Fi 6 provides more efficient power-save and scheduling enhancement. This capability is a good fit for battery-powered IIoT nodes that need to transmit only infrequently, such as a sensor that uploads data only when a motor’s temperature exceeds a certain threshold.
• Wi-Fi 6E supports up to 1.2 GHz of spectrum, making it ideal for use cases that require both multi-Gb/s throughput and determinism, such as industrial AR/VR/MR and sensor fusion.

The 52-page report also includes RF/network deployment guidelines for factory, warehouse, logistics and other use cases. For example, it provides recommendations for leveraging 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6 scheduling capabilities to optimize traffic patterns and manage critical QoS requirements. Another example is using high-gain directional antennas to increase channel re-use rates and work around metal racks and other signal-attenuating features commonly found in warehouses.

Ongoing projects around next-gen Wi-Fi

The WBA said there are over three dozen vendors, service providers and other organisations participated in developing the white paper.

Some current projects around the new Wi-Fi standards that have been mentioned in the paper include:

• Cisco, Intel and partners are working on use cases involving AMR and AGV, where key requirements include <10-20ms latency, <50km/h speed and .99.9999% reliability.
• Cisco and Mettis Aerospace are working on sensor applications, where requirements include very high reliability, low power consumption and high device density.
• Further work taking place on video-AMR fusion use cases such as collision avoidance, where technical requirements include <20ms latency and <1ms jitter.
• Cisco is working on safety control applications, which require <1-ms latency for applications such as automatically stopping a machine after a sensor detects that the person has left the operating position.
• Cisco, Mettis Aerospace and Intel are working on AR/VR applications with resolutions up to 80K and 90fps, where throughput requirements can be as high as 100 Mb/s.
•  Cisco is working on automotive uses cases such as logistics in high-density storage lots, where <60dBm interference is key for reliable operation.

 Matt MacPherson, CTO, Cisco Wireless, said: “The next industrial evolution will not only depend on the ability to connect more things, but to also add greater reliability, intelligence and security. This can only be done when the world’s leading companies work together with progressive Industry 4.0 customers to explore and implement new, game-changing technologies.”

He added: “We are proud of the work we have done with the WBA to ensure customers understand how, when and where to apply the latest innovations. It is because of advancements in wireless technology that Industrial IoT sits at the centre of the forthcoming industrial revolution."

 Ahmed Hafez, vice president of network convergence at Deutsche Telekom said: “Deutsche Telekom’s industrial partners are demanding ubiquitous high performance wireless connectivity to take their production processes to the next level. Converged Access combining 5G cellular and Wi-Fi6/6E Networks will play a vital role to deliver comprehensively on their application and process demands in the near future”.

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AI Dynamics' entry into the Soracom Partner Space builds on previous collaboration between the two companies in Japan, where AI Dynamics has provided pre-built, fully trained AI/ML algorithm libraries for use with Soracom's reference edge computing camera (“S+ camera basic”).

These libraries let users rapidly apply AI edge capabilities to a wide range of use cases, from inventory management and industrial process optimisation to parking lot capacity tracking, license plate recognition and more.

“Running artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms at the edge is a crucial capability for IoT, but very few customers have the tools today to develop ML systems, train models and deploy, manage, or maintain AI edge devices,” said Kenta Yasukawa, co-founder and CTO at Soracom.

He added: “Combining AI Dynamics’ strong algorithm libraries and ML expertise with Soracom’s connectivity and edge device management platform lets IoT innovators offload undifferentiated heavy lifting and focus on bringing new products and services to market quickly and operating efficiently at scale.”

AI Dynamics’ easy-to-use and highly accurate end-to-end AI platform, called NeoPulse, is simple to implement for every industry, business and device. The company specializes in solving a wide range of business problems using AI, with a focus on healthcare, life sciences and Industry 4.0.

NeoPulse enables engineers to build deep learning models faster than using off-the-shelf libraries while handling dataset management, model tracking, deployment and monitoring automatically. This proven joint solution effectively gives end users a plug-and-play AI edge camera complete with an AI/ML algorithm that suits the target use case from day one with no custom code required.

“Our founding belief remains that everyone should have access to the undisputed power of AI,” said Rajeev Dutt, founder and CEO of AI Dynamics. “We are extremely pleased with the ongoing partnered work happening in Japan, and we’re looking forward to offering the fruits of that labour to all S0racom customers and Partner Space members.”

In May this year, Soracom announced the global expansion of its Soracom Partner Space program, which now reaches more than 800 best-in-class members throughout the world, including more than 100 certified partners representing hardware, software, solutions and integration services.

Soracom Partner Space members help IoT innovators accelerate time to market with as-needed access to complementary, best-in-class solutions and services that are ready to integrate at every level of the IoT stack.

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Satellite networks have global broadband coverage allowing for IoT to be provided in remote locations terrestrial cannot reasonably access either because of cost or terrain, including at sea, in the air, or other unconnected locations.

Intelsat operates one of the most trusted satellite telecom network, touting what it claims as the world’s first hybrid, multi-orbit, software-defined 5G network designed for simple, seamless, and secure coverage when and where enterprise customers most need it.

“We work in building infrastructure, but doesn't get the recognition because we simply wholesale to people who provide consumer services. With a constellation of 52 geostationary satellites, we cover 99% of the world's population – 13  of those satellites cover Asia. In aviation, IntelSat  connects with our backlog of aircraft, linking 3,000 commercial aircrafts worldwide - that's Live TV and broadband connectivity,” said Terry Bleakley, regional vice president - Asia,  IntelSat.

He added: “We also connect with the biggest supplier of capacity to military bases. A big portion of our work is connecting ISPs, mobile telephone companies, telcos and data centres. For land mobility, we connect vehicles on the move, buses and trains. For the maritime industry, we largely focus on ships. 98% of all cruise ships use intersecting capacity, with our own network. The Flitz maritime network connects 9,000 merchant ships of all types. We connect two billion people, so they can watch channels that we distribute globally. In Asia Pacific, we reach about 240 million through distributing television content.”

At the recently-concluded Asia Tech X Singapore, FutureIoT sat down with Bleakley to discuss the complementary role of satellites with terrestrial providers in the hyperconnected world.

How do you see IntelSat taking the role in hastening connectivity that will enable smart cities? How do you work with governments and partners to develop this hyper connectivity around the world?

Terry Bleakley, IntelSat: You can connect using 5G technology, or 4G, or you can ’fibre’ a city. Our expertise lies with ISPs and telcos, and connecting areas where it's difficult to link terrestrial infrastructure. That's the edge of the network, outside cities but deep in rural areas. Eight of the world’s largest mobile network operators use IntelSat to provide cellular backhaul. It connects mobile base stations in areas where they can't reach with fibre. Two of Japan's largest telco networks rely on IntelSat.

Government initiatives help to reduce the digital divide. But as cities get connected, there's a gap in education, access to information in the cities or in rural communities. The problem for the rural communities is with the low spending power and the ability to use technology. It's expensive to get to those rural areas, so government subsidies matter.

Can you share a specific community that has benefited from building this capacity development?

Terry Bleakley: Indonesia comes under the Bakti project, and we work with a local partner, Lintasarta in Indonesia who is a division of telecom service. With our capacity, we connect them to the networks in local schools, hospitals and government departments throughout Indonesia.

The other project is a government funded project with the Department of Information, Communications and Technology (DICT) in the Philippines. We do the same thing by bringing connectivity to schools, hospitals and communities in remote areas. The topographies of these countries are alike, and both have large populations that are spread out across many islands within the archipelago.

We have worked with the telecommunications authority of the Marshall Islands which is also an archipelago. Some distant islands have no mobile phone connectivity, then we upgraded their existing 2G network to 4G - that’s a big jump. For the first time, they have ‘voice,’ and now it's upgraded to 4G. So, it's not just building a mobile infrastructure but using half the capacity to connect to schools, hospitals - people and places that matter.

What are the current challenges now in satellite deployment today? What are the kinds of challenges that IntelSat is facing right now, as a business?

Terry Bleakley: People say that satellites are going through a revolution. There's a lot of interest because there's new constellations coming up. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are getting into the space race with rockets - and rockets need satellites. This helps propagate other verticals of their business by getting involved in building their own constellations. They see just like Greg Wyler, the founder of O3b, who says that more than 2.8 billion people in the world are still unconnected. They see an opportunity for using a constellation to reach the unconnected. The biggest problem though, is that in remote countries, they only earn US$2/ week, but spend US$2 a month on mobile phones. It's a challenging financial model when you don't have the same spending power as developed cities. This puts a lot of interest into the business, and has brought a lot of private equity into the industry. It calls for more innovation, and if you look at telecommunications and Pay TV spending annually, it's between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion.

It’s a startling figure but how do you qualify these numbers? What is the business potential and impact on the telecommunications market?

Terry Bleakley: According to the Northern Sky Research report, the satellite has about US$13 to US$14 billion of that pie so 1% of it in telecommunications. This explains why it sits outside of the core standards of the terrestrial network. It works in a proprietary fashion where satellite manufacturers only talk to the same satellite manufacturers and integrate it into the main telco infrastructure. Intelsat has been a proponent of open standards and we sit on the 3GPP group. This group consists of seven international organisations who develop the standards for mobile networks for 3G, 4G and 5G.

On data centres -  IP goes over the ethernet, now this becomes the default standard for everyone. We were the first satellite company to become MAF 3.0 - attributed. It allows them to connect all the way across and then the other part of it is virtualizing the network.

So, what is being done to move to the next level of development? What would you see the shape of things to come in the next five or 10 years? What is going to be next for Intelsat?

Terry Bleakley: We were very much hardware oriented before and now we're moving to a virtualized orchestrated network. Working with Kratos in network virtualisation with a standard they call open space. Within that, we're also building software defined satellites. Now we can move power and follow aircraft as it is travelling. It creates incredible flexibility. So, combining a software defined satellite, keeping with open standards, having virtualisation of the network, means that we can cross platforms for the first time, integrating all that into a total network. It's a massive change. We will move from 1% to 2% of that pie and our wholesale addressable market goes from 14 billion to 28 billion. It will be a big step towards that journey.

So where is IntelSat in that journey?

Terry Bleakley:  We have been instrumental in making sure the satellite was part of that 5G standard. With Cloud Connect, we connect with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. We're working with the SD WAN product, which is the first stage of virtualization and content aggregation. Our core expertise is in geostationary satellites and have filings for MEO constellations. The whole idea is to look after the space component by interfacing with LEO, MEO and Geostationary satellites. So, the quality of service will have priorities based on the most resilient, least cost effective, the fastest, that can create the best capacity and deliver a solution.

So, what is in it for the carriers you work with - how would they benefit with the new direction?

Terry Bleakley:  Well, the direction is set for the software defined satellites. This virtualised network won't be here till 2025. We will become the 5G network for telcos for areas where they're not strong. Not all telco networks are the same. Some are not strong on aircraft or on boats. Some are not strong in rural areas. So, we become the roaming network for the hard to get places. For example, when a Singtel or Starhub customer gets on a plane, they stay on the network. It may look like they’re on the same network, but they are just effectively roaming on the aircraft. The passenger does not pay anything except for roaming charges on that aircraft without effectively logging on or off. He/ she is not really paying for it in the bill because the cost is hidden. It will be the carrier's part to ask a high-end passenger, who is on a 20 gigabit /month plan if it could offer the customer one gigabit free on a plane. So that's really up to the carrier to decide how to charge their customers. So, with a 5G core, we connect them on a plane and make that experience seamless. That is how IntelSat uses its  unparalleled expertise and global scale to connect people, businesses, and communities, no matter how difficult the challenge.

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According to Mark Verbloot, senior director of  product, solutions and systems engineering for Asia Pacific Region at Aruba Networks, the turbulence in manufacturing and the supply chain seen in the last two years have underscored the need for manufacturers to accelerate their transition from “mass production and economies of scale to prioritizing market and customer responsiveness".

"In response to the issues they face, high-tech manufacturers are increasingly aligning their technology investments to secure and optimise operations while addressing data privacy and security concerns even as they build greater resilience in the long-term,” said Verbloot.

The study, entitled “High-Tech Manufacturing Begins with High-Performance Networking and Security Solution”, was conducting by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Aruba – a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, surveying more than 270 business and IT decision-makers from high-tech manufacturers in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand in the first quarter of 2022.

The study found three in four manufacturers in the region are prioritising innovation and automation for greater operational efficiency and resilience over the past 12 months.

It also found that edge solutions, IoT applications, and networks were essential to driving innovation for 63% of respondents, with 61% indicating they had optimised manufacturing processes with automation and robots. Meanwhile, 69% of respondents said they were either piloting or already using cloud-managed networking and security solutions to benefit from improved flexibility, scalability, and defense capabilities.

Furthermore, 64% of respondents who indicated their intention to build on previous investments in AI-powered software to optimise operations, implement predictive capabilities, and optimise productivity.

Data privacy and security concerns

With the increased connectivity and digitalisation of processes and operations, the study states that the collection, transmission, and utilisation of the breadth of data is becoming critical to the sectors' ability to scale operations and address the challenges posed by privacy and security concerns.

Indeed, more than half (52%) of APAC decision-makers ranked data privacy and security concerns within their top five challenges when implementing networking solutions, while 48% said the lack of cybersecurity features in legacy IoT devices is one of their top five challenges. About 18% ranked information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) divide as one of their top two networking challenges.

In response to data privacy and security concerns, manufacturers have plans to leverage emerging technologies and automation to secure their operations in the next 24 months.

These solutions include cloud-managed networking (38%) and SD-WAN (37%). More than 50% of manufacturers are also expanding, upgrading, or planning to invest in Zero Trust Edge solutions in the same timeframe, while 57% said identity-based traffic segmentation helps them to achieve their business goals.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, there is a need for the manufacturing industry to develop greater agility and flexibility in their operations. Innovation is at the heart of decision-makers’ priorities but manufacturing leaders need to act now by leveraging high-performance network and security solutions to help the smart manufacturing industry scale effectively,” said Verbloot.

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The VoltNet service is being launched by eMobility platform provider Voltality, a company owned by Singapore startup Beep which builds universal automation platforms for the Internet of Things (IoT).

VoltNet will digitally connect Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and eMobility Service Providers (eMSPs) on a single network, providing EV drivers in the Lion City with the convenience of using any EV charger across city state with a single interface.

The pilot programme will onboard 25 private hire drivers from ride-hailing company Gojek Singapore who will be issued with a VoltNow Card, and will be progressively expanded to all Gojek drivers renting EVs from its GoFleet partner, Singapore Electric Vehicles Pte Ltd. This pilot programme counts Charge+, ComfortDelGro ENGIE, Shell Recharge, Keppel Volt and QuickCharge.SG as CPOs.

Lien Choong Luen, general manager at Gojek Singapore, said the VoltNet service arrives at a crucial time when the automotive and transport services industries are locking step with the government’s comprehensive roadmap to drive EV adoption among local residents as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

“We hear first-hand the concerns of our driver-partners when considering switching to an electric vehicle. Creating a simplified charging experience and payment process is a significant step towards helping to remove barriers and encourage EV adoption among drivers. We look forward to our driver-partners experiencing the benefits of VoltNet through this pilot, ultimately helping improve EV infrastructure in Singapore, contributing to Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, and our own ambitious target to transition the entire Gojek fleet to EVs by 2030,” Lien said.

Gojek’s participation in the VoltNet pilot comes on the heels of the company’s recently announced partnership with CRX CarbonBank, which will enable its EV driver-partners to benefit from monetised carbon credits through the Electric Vehicle Accelerator (EVA) programme.

Seamless and interoperable eMobility payment

With VoltNow Card in hand, EV drivers can simply tap and go at participating charging points to seamlessly pay  for their charge session. An e-receipt will be sent to drivers via SMS to upon the completion of a successful charge session.

“I am pleased to finally see a solution that will help to make EV charging easier and payments seamless,” said Brian Heng, Gojek driver-partner. “We all know EVs are better for the environment, but many drivers, like me, still find the systems challenging, particularly when it comes to paying to charge our vehicles. Charging points vary hugely, often requiring different payment methods or different apps to operate.”

Freddie Chew, general manager of ComfortDelGro ENGIE, echoed that the new service alleviates the anxieties of EV drivers and encourages EV adoption across various stakeholders in Singapore.

“With the rapid growth of the EV population, we recognise the need for increased interoperability in the eMobility ecosystem. It is therefore timely that ComfortDelGro ENGIE is now on VoltNet as it will provide EV drivers greater accessibility to more EV charging services, including ours, under a single charging network,” said Chew.

Kumail Rashid, general manager, Greenlots (Shell Recharge Solutions), APAC, pointed out:  “A seamless driver experience is pivotal for EV uptake, not only in Singapore but for the region as well.  The Shell Recharge network already spans across borders, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and it is our aim to continue to provide the freedom of travel.  We look forward to working closely with Beep and Voltality on this pilot to provide added convenience to EV drivers.”

Meanwhile, Voltality hopes to expand VoltNet’s seamless and interoperable eMobility payment experience to the EV industry across Southeast Asia.

Kristoffer Jacek Soh, co-founder and CEO of Beep, said: “We are heartened by the support of the various CPOs in our eRoaming initiative, VoltNet, which is a first in Southeast Asia. With Voltality & VoltNet, we look forward to providing a seamless and interoperable charging solution for EV Drivers, eMSPs and CPOs in the region.”

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Collectively called “OT:ICEFALL”, all 56 vulnerabilities are divided into four main categories: insecure engineering protocols, weak cryptography or broken authentication schemes, insecure firmware updates and remote code execution via native functionality.

The 36-page report from Vedere Labs underscored the impact of “insecure by design” legacy of OT devices which leave them exposed to real-world OT malware such as  Industroyer, TRITON, Industroyer2 and INCONTROLLER.

“The rapid expansion of the threat landscape is well documented at this stage. By connecting OT to IoT and IT devices, vulnerabilities that once were seen as insignificant due to their lack of connectivity are now high targets for bad actors.” said Daniel dos Santos, head of security research, Forescout Vedere Labs. 

He added: “We a very long way to go to reach the summit of these OT design practices. These types of vulnerabilities, and the proven desire for attackers to exploit them, demonstrate the need for robust, OT-aware network monitoring and deep-packet-inspection (DPI) capabilities.”

The products affected by OT:ICEFALL are known to be prevalent in industries that are the backbone of critical infrastructure such as oil and gas, chemical, nuclear, power generation and distribution, manufacturing, water treatment and distribution, mining and building automation. Many of these products are sold as ‘secure by design’ or have been certified with OT security standards

Shifting threat landscape

The report by Vedere Labs has identified a shift in the community toward recognising “insecure by design” vulnerabilities.

“Only a few years back, well-known vulnerabilities like some that can be found in OT:ICEFALL would not get assigned a CVE ID because there was the assumption that everyone knew OT protocols were insecure. On the contrary, we believe a CVE is a community recognised marker that aids in vulnerability visibility and actionability by helping push vendors to fix issues and asset owners to assess risks and apply patches,” the report said.

The vulnerabilities and associated issues disclosed in this report range from persistent insecure-by-design practices in security-certified products to inadequate attempts to fix them.

It is crucial for asset owners to understand how the opaque and proprietary nature of these systems, the suboptimal vulnerability management surrounding them, and the often-false sense of security offered by certifications complicate OT risk management efforts.

Although the impact of each vulnerability is highly dependent on the functionality each device offers, they fall under the following categories:

• Remote code execution (RCE): Allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the impacted device, but the code may be executed in different specialised processors and different contexts within a processor, so an RCE does not always mean full control of a device. This is usually achieved via insecure firmware/logic update functions that allow the attacker to supply arbitrary code.
• Denial of service (DoS): Allows an attacker to either take a device completely offline or to prevent access to some function.
• File/firmware/configuration manipulation: Allows an attacker to change important aspects of a device such as files stored within it, the firmware running on it or its specific configurations. This is usually achieved via critical functions lacking the proper authentication/authorization or integrity checking that would prevent attackers from tampering with the device.
• Compromise of credentials: Allows an attacker to obtain credentials to device functions, usually either because they are stored or transmitted insecurely.
• Authentication bypass: Allows an attacker to bypass existing authentication functions and invoke desired functionality on the target device.

A full list of devices affected by OT: ICEFALL is available here, while details of each vulnerability are discussed in Forescout’s technical report.

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UAP builds net-zero ground infrastructure for eVTOL passenger air taxis and autonomous delivery drones.

Critical to this digital infrastructure will be BI’s Vertiport Information Management System (VIMS), powered by its proprietary device integration platform capable of remote beyond visible line of sight (BVLOS) autonomous control and operation of drones to autonomously perform tasks that would normally require human input.

“The development of the new vertiports will see the perfect marriage of ground and air architecture driven by an autonomous digital platform at the core,” the companies said in a press statement.

In addition, BI and UAP  will work together on several proofs-of-concept (POCs) for practical applications of autonomous drone operations such as transportation of medical supplies, industrial maintenance/inspection work and logistics solutions, paving the way for remote pilot passenger operations and ultimately autonomous passenger air travel.

Since 2016, BI has been conducting extensive research and development into a vertiport system, the “BEP Port”, in collaboration with the Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and the University of Tokyo, which combines their VIMS digital platform with infrastructure design – the expertise UAP will bring to the table. This groundwork has already seen BI conducting multiple POCs throughout Japan.

The agreement between UAP and BI will enable further POCs to be developed in an effort to create social implementation of AAM not just in Japan, but on a global scale.

“Japan is a key market for Urban-Air Port. Collaborating with Blue Innovation establishes us in Japan, providing best-in-class technology as well as a platform for further development and co-operation,” said Adrian Zanelli, chief financial officer, Urban-Air Port.

He added: “Similarly, this agreement gives Blue Innovation a far broader reach in terms of geography and customers. We’re excited to make this announcement today and look forward to making the strongest AAM ecosystem in Japan and across the world.”

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“With the electric double-deck bus and later the first hydrogen fuel cell double-deck bus, we can run these new energy buses in parallel to gather valuable operational data that can assist the government in the formulation of a comprehensive zero-emission transformation plan,” said Roger Ma, general manager for operation, Citybus and New Word First Bus.

The city’s first electric double-decker bus will later be deployed in Kowloon to operate Citybus Route 20, 20A and 22M that run from Kai Tak to Tai Kok Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui and Tok Kwa Wan, subject to approval of the Transport Department.

The construction of the bus is a joint project between Bravo Transport Services  – the parent company of Citybus and New World First Bus – and Wisdom (Fuijian) Motor Company. They worked closely from the concept, to design, to production, with a focus on enabling the bus to handle the city's topography and operating environment.

The bus will undergo a series of rigorous internal tests before completing the Transport Department's official vehicle inspection. The actual service operations will be announced in due course.

Bravo is committed to operate a full-fledge of zero-emission buses across its operations by 2045, five years head of the Hong Kong government carbon neutrality target. Currently, the company operates over 1,700 buses across Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories and carries over one million passengers daily.

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This was one of the key takeaways from a newly released global study entitled “The Race to Decarbonization”, which evaluate progress companies have made in pursuing  their sustainability goals.  Forrester Consulting in collaboration with Johnson Controls conducted an online survey in September 2021, polling over 2,348 sustainability strategy leaders in 25 countries  and across 19 industries.

“The survey clearly shows that business leaders in Southeast Asia see sustainability as the number one business priority now. And among the different key sustainability initiatives, energy efficient buildings and workspaces is high on the agenda, with 91% deeming this an investment priority within three years," said Charles Lim, leader, Southeast Asia, Johnson Controls. “More than three quarters of respondents have goals to reduce carbon emissions across their portfolio of buildings by 26% or more; and 11% are gunning for net zero or carbon negative.”

The global survey found that North America is the most aggressive with their carbon reduction goals. While the urgency among the private sector is picking up in Southeast Asia, more is needed. The ASEAN State of Climate Change Report noted that “there are still large gaps in implementation and ambition” based on emission reduction targets in 2030 and emission trends up to now.

Where to start a challenge

Although organisations recognise the benefits of implementing sustainability practices, many companies do not know where to start in preparing for critical business transformations. Top five hurdles today relate to managing multiple parties involved, lacking strategic plan, lacking external partners, understanding of changing policy requirements, and struggling to scale up.

The survey further found that only 18% of respondents in Southeast Asia have ESG reporting software to help measure their progress while 41% of respondents believe their organizations have a shortage of internal expertise, preventing them from tracking their carbon emissions effectively.

"In the race to decarbonisation, companies must align priorities to the demands of many stakeholders, work with partners to develop transparent sustainability roadmaps, and identify  metrics and adopt tools to track progress," said Mei Peng Hor, business development director, sustainable infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Johnson Controls.

She added: "More customers are looking for ways to make this process easier, and are transferring their sustainability commitments and the risk to reach these targets to an external partner that has the capability, scale and ecosystem. Our OpenBlue Net Zero Buildings as a Service, for example, has helped the University of Hawaii reduce energy use by 80% across four campuses, saving US$80 million, through energy retrofit and renewable energy solutions."

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Regardless of these challenges that limited the growth of IoT spending, IDC said the rising demand for remote operations, better network coverage, and the deployment of commercial 5G and testbeds are driving IoT adoption in the region.

In fact, based on its latest Worldwide Semi-annual Internet of Things Spending Guide,  IDC expects Asia/Pacific spending on IoT to reach US$436 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 11.8% percent for the period 2021-2026.

"The ongoing deployment and expansion of 5G will drive the growth of connectivity use cases that utilize massive narrowband IoT as well as wideband/broadband IoT such as 4K IP cameras. Low Earth Satellites including nanosatellites and next-generation Very High Throughput Satellites will enable a wide range of remote connectivity uses cases relating to Smart Cities, environmental and sustainability monitoring, transportation infrastructure, energy and resources, and utilities," said Bill Rojas, research director for IDC Asia/Pacific.

From a pure spending perspective, in 2022, the largest portion of spending is expected to remain in the services category, representing roughly 40% of the overall IoT spending in the region.

Furthermore, organisations are increasingly establishing cross-functional IoT centers of excellence, emphasizing IT/OT convergence, which increases their reliance on system integrators and other outsourcing partners.

The hardware market for IoT will be the second-largest technology group in 2022, primarily driven by purchases of modules and sensors. Software will be the fastest growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 13.3% with a focus on application and analytics software purchases. Connectivity spending will grow at 7.2% CAGR during the forecast period and will account for 7.6% of the total spend in 2026.

Manufacturing sector leads IoT adoption

According to the IDC study, discrete and process manufacturing will continue to be the top industries investing in IoT solutions in 2022 and in forecasted years, followed by state/local government and professional services. The ability to improve the product and service quality, efficiency, and customer experience are the primary motivations for these businesses to invest in IoT.

Industries that will experience the fastest growth in 2022 are retail and healthcare, with a growth of 11.8 % and 11%, respectively. Changes caused by the pandemic increased digitisation in retail processes, and continued the momentum of remote or contactless engagement are driving this growth.

IoT use cases that see the highest spending in 2022 are manufacturing operations, production asset management, omni-channel operations, public safety and emergency response and smart grids which follows similar growth patterns as the host industries. Together these use-cases will make more than one-third of the overall IoT spending in the region.

Use-case related to healthcare - bedside telemetry will continue to be one of the fastest-growing use-cases in 2022, along with Maintenance & Field Service and Airport Facility Automation.

“Enterprises in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan are actively pursuing digital transformation of business processes to understand better current difficulties and productivity gaps across the value chain. The use of IoT will facilitate better collaboration within the organization and the ecosystem” said Sharad Kotagi, market analyst at IDC IT Spending Guides, Customer Insights & Analysis.

IDC said government-led IoT initiatives and policies, and the emergence of Smart factories and Industry 4.0 have accelerated the IoT adoption across Asia Pacific countries.

Based on its latest study, China (PRC) continues to hold the lion's share, with more than 60% in 2022, followed by South Korea and India. Countries with the fastest IoT spending in 2022 are Singapore and Hong Kong.

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The solution will identify all facility-wide assets, deliver risk and vulnerability management capabilities, and provide continuous threat monitoring to protect enterprise investments.

“The integration of IoT in buildings is sparking an exciting shift across the sector, but like with any innovation, it also presents new risks,” said Annick Villeneuve, vice president for digital Enterprise Solutions, Schneider Electric.

Smart buildings face heightened exposure to risks

Indeed, Schneider Electric cited that IoT technology for buildings is expected to grow from an existing 1.7 billion connected devices at the end of 2020 to over 3 billion by 2025.

As these commercial buildings evolve into smart buildings of the future, they share at least one common trait: heightened exposure to risks. This is driving commercial buildings to digitize their assets, including modernising their building management system.

The sector must address the security challenges presented by smart buildings. Studies have shown that 57% of IoT devices are vulnerable to medium or high-severity attacks. Cyberattacks have already harmed several businesses, including critical infrastructure such as hospitals, data centers, and hotels. The commercial building sector must find ways to safeguard both its access to the company’s IT systems as well as its mission-critical infrastructure.

Villeneuve said: “For threat actors looking to disrupt operations, benefit financially and/or achieve other objectives, and in so doing to put individuals at risk, buildings can appear to be the perfect target. It is with this in mind that we are partnering with Claroty to bring our customers a comprehensive, industry-leading solution that meets the unique security and operational risks facing buildings of today and of the future.”

Protecting cyberphysical assets

As more IoT devices are deployed within the buildings space and increased connectivity between previously isolated operational technology, building management systems (BMS), and their IT counterparts, have made them attractive targets and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Additionally, facility managers oversee hundreds of vendors, service contractors, and technicians in a fragmented manner, increasing complexity and risk.

“When it comes to securing cyber-physical systems, including BMS, the number one priority is to keep physical processes operational and safe,” said Keith Carter, vice president of worldwide channels and Alliances, Claroty. “By fusing Claroty’s deep domain expertise and purpose-built technology with Schneider Electric’s renowned services and commitment to driving digital transformation globally, we are empowering our customers to reap the benefits of smart building technologies without increasing their exposure to cyber risk, thereby taking a profound step toward creating a more efficient, sustainable future for the world.”

The Cybersecurity Solutions for Buildings is designed to give building owners, facility operators and security teams a simple solution without adding further workload. It identifies baseline risks, continually reduces both cyber and asset risks, and identifies and remediates threats in their environment before services are interrupted. Some of its key features include:

• a simple, vendor agnostic solution with which they can easily fulfil secure remote access, asset inventory, efficiency, and other related requirements from building owners and asset managers.
• automated asset discovery and network mapping solution that identifies and catalogues all system assets (BMS, IoT, UPS, Power Systems, etc.).
• continuous threat detection solution that constantly monitors buildings networks to identify, assess, and alert at the earliest indicators of network and asset level anomalies.
• external, secure tunnels to connect to and maintain specific resources and assets in the building network easily and without introducing additional risk.
• dashboards and reporting capabilities to enable management and security teams to understand current situations, receive tailored recommendations, and drive the proper actions to reduce a building’s exposure to safety, operational, financial, and reputational risks.
• secure remote access (SRA) solution that is purpose-built for buildings and OT environments to increase building security when vendors, contractors, and technicians are performing remote maintenance activities.

Furthermore, the visibility and intelligence gained on the building OT and Asset Environment through the deployment of Schneider Electric’s Cybersecurity for Buildings solutions can also bring additional benefits to the building owners and operators to enhance their building operational efficiency and productivity with actionable insights.

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The partnership will help WeRide in accelerating its on-board application of automotive-grade smart solid-state LiDAR. It will also speed up the large-scale series production and commercial application of autonomous driving technologies.

RoboSense is a provider of smart LiDAR sensor systems while WeRide is a provider of L4 autonomous driving technologies.

“We support WeRide in achieving production and application of autonomous vehicles faster, more efficiently and on a larger scale with our large-scale production and delivery capacity of the leading smart solid-state LiDAR products, and to further deepen the auto industry reform by making pragmatic, bold and innovative efforts as a technology enterprise,” said  Chunchao Qiu, co-founder and executive president, RoboSense.

RoboSense has been exploring the autonomous driving industry for years and is anticipating an exponential growth in the large-scale commercial application of autonomous driving technologies amid the positive macro environment.

Constant technological innovation, aim at commercial application, and focus on large-scale production are the basis of the partnership between the two companies.

Currently, RoboSense has connected with a number of upstream and downstream partners in the industry to integrate advantageous resources and establish a complete supply chain. Deployment of a number of smart production lines of RoboSense in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities are basically completed, with an expected annual production capacity of one million units, which guarantees a continuous and stable supply of advanced and reliable products for WeRide and other partners.

“With the strong support from RoboSense, WeRide gained rich experience in the application of solid-state LiDAR to autonomous vehicles and formed ideal solutions,” said Tony Han, founder and CEO, WeRide.

He added: “The sensor kit has been further optimised in terms of size and power consumption, while maintaining consistent accuracy, stability and safety in handling increasingly complex urban traffic conditions in China. This gives our next-generation SAE L2-L4 autonomous driving solution a strong competitive edge."

With their strategic cooperation, both companies will deepen industrial integration through technological innovation to provide a safer and convenient autonomous driving experience.

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Cassava is the second largest crop grown in the country after rice and it contributes 4% to the GDP growth.

The production, processing and export of cassava has been the key driver of Cambodia's agricultural economy. According to the "National Cassava Policy 2020-2025" issued by Royal Government of Cambodia, the country is positioned to be a home of cassava production and processing industries and becomes a reliable supplier of cassava products for regional and global market

The crop is planted over 600 thousand hectares of farmland, involving intensive labour and time-consuming process. Cassava farming provides employment to thousands of rural workers across  Cambodia. Besides food, the crop is turned into flour, paper and alcohol.

Taking a big leap forward

Last month, cassava farmer Chhay Thi became an early adopter of drone technology when he engaged the services of Red Sparrow Cambodia to demonstrate autonomous weeding using an XAG agricultural drone on his 10-hectare cassava field.

Red Sparrow is the local partner of Chinese drone provider XAG.

The drone flew over ridges of cassava plants, sprayed precisely along the pre-set route, and finished eight hectares of herbicide spraying via unmanned control. In the past, the same amount of work usually takes farm workers more than a week to complete manually, but now, it can be done within one hour by only one agricultural drone.

Besides the increased efficiency, drones are helping farmers like Chhay Thi to reduce overall planting costs.

"If I have an XAG drone in busy seasons to help me with crop protection, I can save $8-10 per hectare that is formerly spent on manual spraying. Drone operation also reduces the use of chemical by 10-30%, so the resources and money saved can be reallocated to the other crop cultivation," said Thi, who owns 20 hectares of land in Varin District of the Cambodian province of Siem Reap.

Indeed, while Cambodia’s agriculture sector has  an adequate workforce, farm owners are faced with a rising cost up to $18-25 per hectare when they hire workers for pesticide spraying. A group of farm workers can only spray one hectare per day, which would struggle to catch up with the busy season of cassava growth.

Unlike the large agricultural machinery, drones can be transported conveniently and deployed to the field much easier. After the liquid tank was filled with herbicide, the XAG agricultural drone automatically took off as the drone operator played simple clicks on mobile app.

Other benefits of drone technology

In addition to closing the yield gap and reducing costs, using drones protect farmers from chemical exposure.

Cassava crop can grow higher than one meter and sometimes even over the height of human. Traditional spraying requires farmers to either carry backpack sprayers or drive tractors to enter the field. Instead of putting farmers into ground operation, drones can eliminate the health risks of inhaling chemicals and getting poisoned.

The way drone sprays top down from the air successfully prevents direct contact of large ground machinery on cassava crops, ensuring that pesticides or fertilisers can penetrate the plants with precision and avoid crop damage.

Meanwhile, Thi express optimism about drone technology.

"I believe the high efficiency and affordable price will accelerate the scale up of drone operation among more farmers. XAG's agricultural drone can not only help me reap more harvest, but also serve other farmers with the same demand for cassava boom," he said.

Drone technology has showed its various advantages on farm management, from improving crop yield, using less pesticides to safeguarding the well-being of rural workers. As Cambodia is the world's tenth largest producer of cassava with plans for steps forward, XAG anticipates having more cassava farmers to adopt agricultural drone and get better profit in a sustainable way.

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"Many manufacturers are considering introducing smart factory technologies that incorporate information technology into their manufacturing processes to flexibly respond to changing markets and strengthen competitiveness through continuous innovation," said Yong-ha Lee, regional director, Rockwell Automation Korea.

"The CEC provides a one-stop location where customers can physically and virtually interact with our cutting-edge solutions and understand the value of the connected enterprise. I hope the centre will be a place where customers can experience how digitalisation can address real business problems and immediately begin developing tailored strategies together with us," added Lee.

The centre consists of five zones where customers can experience Rockwell Automation's latest smart factory technologies first-hand, including the motor control centre, Independent Cart Technology, Internet of Things (IoT) control systems and cybersecurity systems, distributed control systems, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications.

Hands-on demonstrations will be administered by Rockwell subject matter experts and visitors can download an AR-enabled app to experience the solutions for themselves. In addition, all solutions are operated based on real-time data, so visitors can behold the actual operation status of facilities.

With over 120 years of experience, Rockwell Automation provides cutting-edge smart factory solutions to companies in more than 100 countries.

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"Sharks and rays play an important role in maintaining marine ecosystems by keeping other fish populations in check. If stripped from our oceans, there would be dire consequences for ocean health, which would affect us, and our food security,” said Dhanushri Munasinghe, project coordinator at the Conservation International Singapore.

He added: “As one of the world's most significant transhipment hubs, Singapore is well positioned to combat illegal wildlife trade. Conservation International, supported by Microsoft and other partners, is excited to support Singapore and the Singapore National Parks Board's leadership in conservation through the creation of Fin Finder".

The mobile app was created by a Singapore-led team from Conservation International in consultation with NParks with support from the Microsoft AI for Earth program. It will be used by officers from the Singapore National Parks Board to combat illegal wildlife trade.

Fin Finder, a complex AI and cloud based mobile application that runs on Microsoft Azure, was created in just nine months to address a pressing need. The project was supported by a highly collaborative consortium of global experts in conservation and technology, with resources, data, and volunteer contributions from Microsoft, Conservation International, the NParks, Sineurope, Rumah Foundation, Coastal Natives and Wild Me.

Stopping illegal trade of sharks and rays

There are approximately 1,000 species of sharks and rays in the world, of which over 30 species are listed under the appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for regulated trade.

Between 2012 and 2020, more than 160,000 kilograms of fins from CITES-listed sharks and rays have entered the Singapore waters. The current process requires officers to collect the fins from each shipment for DNA testing to determine its species. This takes an average of up to one week.

Ivonne Higuero, secretary general of CITES, said: "The first step in ensuring international trade complies with CITES regulations comes with the, sometimes difficult, process of identifying the species being traded. Fin Finder is a welcome and innovative addition in the identification of fins and will complement other tools such as iSharkFin. It will give customs and enforcement officers an easy-to-use tool that will contribute to an international trade in CITES-listed species that remains legal, traceable, and sustainable."

Fin Finder optimises the identification process by allowing officers to take photos of fins that will be matched against a database of over 15,000 shark and ray fin images via an AI-driven algorithm in the app. In a matter of seconds, the AI-powered app which runs on Microsoft Azure will quickly and accurately provide a visual identification of shark and ray species onsite and empower officers to quickly flag suspicious fin shipments for further DNA testing to stop the illegal trade of shark and ray fins.

When wildlife species are traded illegally, the consequences are far-reaching to many ecosystems, economies and communities around the world, according to Dr Adrian Loo, group director of wildlife management, NParks.

“By using advanced technology in the creation of Fin Finder, we can strengthen the enforcement against the illegal trade of sharks and ray species following CITES regulation, and boost Singapore's capabilities in conserving precious biodiversity,” Loo said.

Fin Finder as a single-platform directory

Beyond identification of illegally traded shark and ray fins, officers from the NParks will also use Fin Finder as a single-platform directory of relevant shark and ray species. The app also offers onsite access to reference materials that can be used for validation of CITES-approved permits or shipping documents. This feature is expected to reduce the time and effort spent to on shipment validation, enabling officers to help put a stop to illegal wildlife trade more quickly.

Richard Koh, chief technology officer, Microsoft Singapore,  said: "AI has the potential to solve critical environmental challenges. By taking AI tools out of the lab and putting it into the hands of experts in the field, we can accelerate new solutions for a better world. That's why we are proud to support Fin Finder as it protects global shark and ray populations and preserves our ocean life. By conserving wildlife with help from technology, future generations can enjoy our natural world, as we empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."

Fin Finder is a project in Microsoft AI for Earth, a global program that supports organisations applying responsible AI and cloud computing to address critical environmental issues. The program is part of Microsoft's AI for Good initiative, which aims to solve the world's most challenging problems, from climate change to agriculture, biodiversity and water. To date, AI for Earth has awarded 138 grants to people and businesses in more than 45 countries globally.

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The companies will also collaborate around creating and deploying smart factory IoT solutions for VinES batteries manufacturing and VinFast electric vehicles manufacturing.

“Vingroup has always been a pioneer in bringing consumers smart products and services integrated with world-class technologies, advanced features and outstanding experiences to improve their lives. We work towards realising this vision through partnerships like this, to create a smarter and more sustainable future for everyone,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of Vingroup.

The collaboration is part of a continued effort from Vingroup to work with top tier global suppliers who can aid with manufacturing development, smart services and electric vehicle initiatives.

Vingroup recently adjusted its orientation and redefined three key groups of activities, namely technology and industry, trade and services, and social enterprise.

To develop the technology and industry group, Vingroup focuses on two main strategies: building Vingoup's technology ecosystem and connecting global intelligence – cooperating with the world's leading technology partners to accelerate the application of the most advanced and new technologies to Vingroup's products and services.

Advancing automotive technology

Under their new MOU, Vingroup and Intel will also  collectively define and build both an optimised and scalable computing architecture for AI training and inference for Vingroup's in-vehicle and cloud applications.

The applications will enable a specific in-vehicle experience for consumers and an optimised multi-cloud strategy to potentially migrate and deploy open-source in-vehicle and in-building applications. They can include high-performance data management systems for ADAS and Infotainment, manufacturing and supply chain management along with enterprise solutions for Vingroup facilities.

Both companies will also work together to define a shared vision of future in-vehicle computing platforms and build scalable in-vehicle computing platforms for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) based on Mobileye technology and infotainment systems that deliver a unique in-vehicle experience for Vingroup and VinFast customers and create a suite of services that will differentiate them from competitors.

"The digitisation of everything is contributing to the insatiable need for semiconductors, especially in the automotive sector. Intel has the depth and breadth of software, silicon and platforms, and process with at-scale manufacturing our partners need for their next-generation innovations. This collaboration with Vingroup can help deliver needed technology innovations for safer roads, more sustainable manufacturing and smarter cities," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.

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Indeed, more than nine in 10 operators in all regions - including Asia Pacific- indicate they will increase the use of wearables, mobile printers and rugged tablets over the next few years, along with mobile dimensioning software that automates parcel and carton measurements.

In addition, 27% of warehouse operators globally and in APAC have already deployed some form of autonomous mobile robots (AMR) today. Within five years, that number is expected to grow to 92% in APAC and 90% worldwide.

These are some of the key highlights of a new Warehousing Vision Study conducted by Zebra Technologies between January and February 2022.  The survey polled more than 1,500 warehouse decision-makers and associates around the world, including Australia, China, India, Japan and Singapore.

“Labour shortages resulting from the recent global events are straining the regional and global supply chains, presenting a fulfilment gap across many sectors,” said Aik Jin Tan, APAC Vertical Solutions Lead for Manufacturing, Machine Vision/Fixed Industrial Scanning, Zebra Technologies. “This highlights the importance of a resilient and flexible supply chain. Hence it is encouraging to see warehouse operators increasingly adopt modern technologies to augment their workforce and mitigate these labour challenges.

Warehouse associates are also becoming more comfortable with their employers’ use of advanced technologies. Less than half (45%) globally said their employers have increased wages or offered bonuses amid labour constraints, yet most (82%) feel positively impacted by the situation. This trend continues in APAC, where nine in 10 warehouse associates report a positive outlook despite only 34% reporting that employers increased renumeration.

Employers are improving work conditions in other ways, such as giving them more technology to use on the job and leveraging technology to create more flexible work shifts. In fact, more than nine in 10 warehouse associates around the world agree on some level that technology advancements will make the warehouse environment more attractive to workers, even in times like these when supply chains are strained, demand is surging, and there’s increasing pressure to meet tighter deadlines.

Warehouse challenges a catalyst for change

The survey results showed warehouse operators are having a harder time getting customer orders out the door on time than they did three years ago, and they’re struggling to maintain inventory accuracy and visibility.

They also admit they’re expected to deliver orders faster than ever to keep up with the on-demand economy, with rising transportation costs taking their toll on over 40% of warehouse operators spanning manufacturing, transportation, wholesale distribution, logistics and retail. This may not be surprising considering that respondents indicate their shipping volumes have increased more than 20% on average over the past two years.

However, warehouse operators are viewing these challenges as catalysts for change and growth. Between now and 2025, over eight-in-10 expect to increase the number of stock-keeping units (SKU) they carry and the volume of shipped items. They also plan to expand returns management operations, offer more value-added services, and increase their physical footprints, with both the number and size of warehouses increasing.

While 61% of warehouse operators globally also want to increase headcount within the next year to right-size their workforces, they admit finding (55%) and training (54%) workers in a timely manner remain big challenges. This is especially true in APAC where 53% report difficulty finding workers and 59% indicate training is challenging. As a result, over eight in 10 decision-makers around the world agree they will have to rely more on automation in the future.

Augmenting the Workforce with Automation

While most warehouse operators worldwide will deploy AMRs for person-to-goods (P2G) picking, material movements and other automated inventory moves, more will invest in software that helps automate analytics and decision-making. In APAC, 95% of decision-makers indicated this willingness to invest in such software in a bid to raise worker effectiveness and efficiency and reduce labour costs, outpacing the global average by just a bit (94%).

“Automation is allowing businesses to create different types of work environments and allowing people to take on roles that are more interesting, fulfilling and career elevating,” said Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) Sales Vice President, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific. “As a result, 56% of APAC decision-makers believe that the most important labour initiative is to reduce unnecessary tasks so associates can focus on more customer-centric work and utilize their workforce more efficiently. By investing in RFID technologies that improve situational awareness, automate workforce and task management like RFD90 and FX9600, decision-makers can effectively scale warehouse operations and keep up with the on-demand economy.”

Automation increases job satisfaction and worker retention rate

 Contrary to popular opinion, the study respondents believe automation may help keep more people in their jobs and fill empty ones. Nearly eight in 10 warehouse associates in APAC (79%) and globally (78%) say walking fewer miles per day would make their jobs more enjoyable, even if they had to pick or handle more items, and many strongly believe AMRs could make warehouse jobs less stressful.

Decision-makers should take note; only 36% of those surveyed in APAC and 41% worldwide completely agree implementing warehouse technologies such as robotics and devices can help attract and retain workers even though most associates:

• who work alongside AMRs today confirm they have helped increase productivity and reduce walking/travel time (83%), reduce errors (73%), and enable advancement to new roles or opportunities (65%);
• claim they are more likely to work for an employer that gives them modern devices to use for tasks versus an employer that provides older or no devices (83%).

“Though automation has been a priority for companies for years, it has increasingly become an urgent investment area due to unexpected disruptions and seasonal peaks which requires the workforce to scale quickly,” added Tan. “Interestingly, associates feel more strongly about this than warehouse operators right now, which further adds to the business imperative of an augmented workforce in the warehouse environment.”

Five-year technology outlook

Globally, 85% of decision-makers say they have implemented mobility so front-line workers can capture each inventory move they make, and most feel they are optimising the use of their devices to fit the task, safety, and ergonomics.

However, warehouse associates (84%) and decision-makers (79%) are concerned they will not meet their business objectives unless more technology investments are made to improve operations, with associates in the transportation (92%) and logistics (88%) sectors feeling most strongly about this need.

As a result, more than six in 10 decision-makers said they will invest in technologies that increase inventory and asset visibility within their warehouses and overall visibility throughout supply chains over the next five years.

Nine in 10 expect their use of sensor-based technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), computer vision, fixed industrial scanning, and machine vision systems to become more prevalent over the next five years.

As businesses invest in advanced technologies that enable more visibility, real-time guidance and data-driven performance, they’re focusing on increasing team productivity and better utilisation of assets, equipment and people, which equates to improved worker well-being and overall market competitiveness. However, it will become critical for warehouse operators to become more thoughtful about how they implement and integrate technologies as they increasingly digitalise workflows and scale systems.

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These bioinspired sensors could usher in the next generation of artificial-vision systems used in autonomous vehicles and manufacturing, as well as finding exciting new applications in edge computing and the Internet of Things.

"They will greatly improve machine vision systems used for visual analysis and identification tasks," said Dr. Chai Yang, associate professor at the Department of Applied Physics, and Assistant Dean (Research), Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, PolyU, who led the research.

Improving machine vision

Machine vision systems are cameras and computers that capture and process images for tasks such as facial recognition. They need to be able to "see" objects in a wide range of lighting conditions, which demands intricate circuitry and complex algorithms. Such systems are rarely efficient enough to process a large volume of visual information in real time—unlike the human brain.

The new bio-inspired sensors may offer a solution through directly adapting different light intensities by the sensors, instead of relying on backend computation. The human eye adapts to different levels of illumination, from very dark to very bright and vice versa, which allows us to identify objects accurately under a range of lighting conditions. The new sensors aim to mimic this adaptability.

"The human pupil may help adjust the amount of light entering the eye," said Dr. Chai, "but the main adaptation to brightness is performed by retina cells."

Natural light intensity spans 280 dB. The new sensors developed by Dr Chai's team have an effective range of up to 199 dB, compared with only 70 dB for conventional silicon-based sensors. The human retina can adapt to environments under sunlight to starlight, with a range of about 160 dB.

Light detectors developed

To achieve this, the research team developed light detectors, called phototransistors, using a dual layer of atomic-level ultrathin molybdenum disulphide, a semiconductor with unique electrical and optical properties. The researchers then introduced "charge trap states"—impurities or imperfections in a solid's crystalline structure that restrict the movement of charge—to the dual layer.

"These trap states enable the storage of light information," the researchers reported, "and dynamically modulate the optoelectronic properties of the device at the pixel level." By controlling the movement of electrons, the trap states enabled the researchers to precisely adjust the amount of electricity conducted by the phototransistors. This in turn allowed them to control the device's photosensitivity, or its ability to detect light.

Each of the new vision sensors is made up of arrays of such phototransistors. They mimic the rod and cone cells of the human eye, which are respectively responsible for detecting dim and bright light. As a result, the sensors can detect objects in differently lit environments as well as switch between, and adapt to, varying levels of brightness—with an even greater range than the human eye.

"The sensors reduce hardware complexity and greatly increase the image contrast under different lighting conditions," said Dr Chai, "thus delivering high image recognition efficiency."

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To help prevent unauthorised access of medical devices, Asimily and Extreme Networks team up to help healthcare institutions prevent unauthorised access of IoT-based medical devices.

Asimily is a provider of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) risk management platforms, while Extreme Networks is a provider of cloud-based networking solutions.

With this partnership,  Asimily Insights will be integrated into the  ExtremeCloud IQ Controller, a cloud-based wired and wireless network management solution from Extreme Networks.

“Asimily’s intuitive platform helps us identify and respond to the most critical risks to our organisation, and the integration with Extreme’s solutions enables us to enforce policies on devices as needed and address any concerns that can impact the confidentiality, integrity or availability of IoT and medical devices and their data,” said Ali Youssef, director, Medical Device and IoT Security at Henry Ford Health.

“Together, these solutions allow us to fill the gaps we previously had in our ability to manage device security and ensure we can continue to deliver patient services, which is always our top concern,” he added.

Asimily Insights integration with ExtremeCloud IQ Controller provides a seamless solution to detect exploitable vulnerabilities and enforce policies to help identify and prevent cyberattacks.

“ExtremeCloud IQ Controller provides unified services and features in a simplified management console for on and off-premise deployments. On-Premise deployment is critical for many Healthcare Delivery Organizations (HDOs),” said Dinesh Katiyar, Head of Business Development, Asimily. “This integrated solution provides HDOs a best vulnerability management platform with the flexibility to deploy on-premise.”

Asimily Insights uses AI-based analysis to prioritise exploitable vulnerabilities and prescribe clinically viable remediations outside of segmentation and blocking that are easy to implement. These remediations are transmitted to ExtremeCloud IQ Controller to centrally enforce network access policies to secure the device.

In addition, for devices where segmentation is the only option, Asimily Insights generates policies which are transmitted to ExtremeCloud IQ Controller to configure, isolate, segment and micro-segment the devices on the network.

“Extreme’s solutions are trusted by hospital systems and healthcare providers around the world. Our integration with Asimily creates a solution that is specifically designed for healthcare IT teams and enables them to find and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited, as well as ensure that security measures necessary for safe clinical operations are in place,” said Bob Zemke, Director, Business Development at Extreme Networks.

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The testbeds are guided by Singapore’s Technical Reference (TR) 93, the new national guidelines that seek to harmonise data exchanges between autonomous robots and building infrastructure for effective deployment through horizontal and vertical spaces.

“As a smart and Caring General Hospital, we innovate and collaborate widely within and beyond healthcare to create new value, benefit our communities, and contribute to the nation's efforts in Research, Innovation and Enterprise,” said Professor Ng Wai Hoe, chief executive officer, CGH.

He added: “The invaluable partnerships with CLI, KONE, Enterprise Singapore and other industry players enable us to leapfrog healthcare solutions to new ground and open up endless possibilities. We are excited that RoMi-H, which first started as a solution for healthcare, can now be integrated with smart infrastructure, potentially accelerating the scaling up of automation and robotics technologies in Singapore and the world."

Touted as the world’s first, the standardised RoMi-H, short for Robotics Middleware for Healthcare, has paved the way for multiple robots with different proprietary systems from different technology providers to communicate and sync together through common data exchanges.

RoMi-H  is developed by CGH's Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technologies (CHART) and other partners.

Now, by enabling integration with the building infrastructure through efficient communications with lifts and doorways, these various robots can travel autonomously and safely through indoor and outdoor spaces and gain access to various storeys in a multi-storey building.

These crucial developments led by cross-industry efforts are a boost to Singapore's robotics ecosystem in line with the national Research, Innovation, and Enterprise 2025 plans, as they help to reduce the time and costs needed to integrate robots with buildings, enhance efficiencies, support the safe deployment of robots within dynamic environments, as well as create new opportunities and jobs.

First-of-its-kind testbeds

Leveraging CGH's technology expertise and CLI's global network of partners through its Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab, the first-of-its-kind testbeds are designed to enable industry players to interface RoMi-H with KONE's next-generation lifts, which comes with cloud connectivity capabilities and open application programming interface (API) that is aligned with TR 93.

Heartbeat @ Bedok is one of the testbed sites, where CGH and KONE have successfully integrated robots with a next-generation lift.

The other testbed site at The Galen at Singapore Science Park 2, provides a realistic, accessible and secure operating environment for companies to "plug and play" their own technologies and test the integration with lifts. This will allow building owners in any sector to interweave functions of diverse robots into complex operational workflows.

Over 25 local and international industry players have shown interest to be part of the testbed, and more technology players, start-ups, SMEs, as well as adopters including facility management companies, are expected to join and benefit from this initiative in the near future.

“Our collaboration with CGH and KONE allows us to further advance innovation by bringing partners from our global network to testbed cutting-edge robotics solutions for the built environment industry,” said Aylwin Tan, chief customer solutions officer, CLI, and director of Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab.

He added that CLI has been at the forefront of innovation in support of the Singapore's efforts to build a smart and sustainable city.

“As Southeast Asia's first industry-led lab for smart cities solutions development, our Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab has engaged with over 700 companies across a wide range of industries to identify opportunities and co-create solutions for smart sustainable cities,” said Tan.

New standard in syncing robots with building infrastructure

RoMi-H has been successfully test bedded for deployment at public sector hospitals and at COVID-19 Treatment Facilities to augment operations and care. Its innovative interface enables robots to navigate autonomously in human-rich environments, proactively and independently de-conflict their navigation routes with robots of different makes across narrow common pathways, and execute their individual tasks in a co-ordinated manner. This also allows for a universal charging system and fleet management to be developed so that the different robots can be more efficiently managed.

Furthermore, the development of the TR93 standards provide guidance to robot manufacturers and building owners in deploying multiple robots in smart buildings and accelerate the take-up of robotics technologies in multi-storey buildings.

TR93  was driven by CGH's CHART and local engineering firm HOPE Technik, and supported by the National Robotics Programme and Enterprise Singapore.

With the ability to integrate autonomous robots with next-generation lifts and automated doorways, technology providers, system integrators and building owners can explore and easily adopt the innovative use of robotics technologies in buildings.

Choy Sauw Kook, director-general (Quality & Excellence), Enterprise Singapore, said: "The Singapore Standards Council, overseen by Enterprise Singapore, is proud to have worked with CHART and various stakeholders to enhance the integration and adoption of safe and effective robotics solutions through the development of TR 93. We envision that this new standard will help spur more deployment of robots in the built environment as it provides a common data interchange platform for various system and equipment providers to work together."

KONE, on the other hand, is proud to be a key contributor to the development of TR 93.

“New technologies, such as in the area of robotics, are rapidly changing the way our customers construct and operate buildings. We have increased investments in advanced technologies and broadened our digital capabilities to collaborate and co-innovate with different stakeholders in the built environment sector. We see great opportunities to progress our efforts in Singapore, with its strong focus to be a smart and sustainable nation,” said Samer Halabi, executive vice president, KONE Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa.

Forging vibrant partnerships in East Coast

Meanwhile,  CGH and CLI – the two of the founding partners of Vibrant @ East Coast – joined forces with KONE, to co-create innovative solutions to benefit communities and industries under the East Coast Vibrant Community Footprints

The official launch of the partnership was witnessed by Guest-of-Honour, Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, Chairman of the National Research Foundation and Adviser to East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) at Heartbeat @ Bedok.

CGH and CLI also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create co-innovation and deployment opportunities to drive discovery, adaptation and adoption of smart cities solutions, and develop initiatives to excite, educate and engage the community in health and wellness. Innovations arising from the partnership are expected to overcome common challenges, increase productivity and help the industry, including small-and medium-sized enterprises (SME), to grow.

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Seaports globally have increased their automation initiatives to mitigate port congestion. Equipment like gantries, automated port gates, stacking cranes, and horizontal transport solutions, such as AGVs that are transport containers and loads to and from ships, have been the most productivity-enhancing solutions in seaports.

"Automation enhances the reliability, consistency, predictability (via data analytics), and security of port operations. From an environmental perspective, automation can lead to lower energy consumption, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint. Automated ports are also far safer than conventional ports. The number of human-related disruptions falls as performance becomes more predictable with automation and data capture solutions," said Adhish Luitel, senior analyst, supply chain management and logistics at ABI Research.

Ports future-proofing infrastructure

To complement the deployment of automated equipment, port authorities have also been investing in future-proofing infrastructure and introducing 5G/LTE private networks covering entire port premises.

Recently, seaports have become a primary focus for the telco sector as cellular private networks are imperative for streamlined operations of automated solutions, data capture via Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and communications between devices or personnel.

Telco providers like Vodafone and Huawei have been partnering with authorities to deploy private networks in various seaports worldwide. Similarly, vendors like AEye, VDL Automated Vehicles, and Konecranes have been deploying solutions, such as AGVs, automated cranes, and sensors, to integrate with the private network infrastructure.

"Streamlined automation in ports also highlights the need for huge volumes of timely data that is required to control and monitor all the moving assets. To enable automated solutions to function to their fullest and work with each other, ports need to provide a level of data reliability in a cost-effective manner. For this, wireless connectivity is the best option," said Luitel.

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"A lot of thought went into the design of the new warehouse. It is a best-in-class facility that will serve our customers more efficiently. It is also a green building with sustainable practices to reduce carbon emissions and help our customers achieve a greener supply chain," said George Lawson, managing director, DHL Global Forwarding Australia.

The company broke ground today of the site where the 4,880-sqm facility will rise to meet Brisbane’s growing demand  for international cold chain services. The facility will also support the growth of general cargo in Queensland.

Lawson said: “The expansion of our facilities at Brisbane airport reflects the tremendous growth in perishables export and a growing south east Queensland population that is expected to rise by 31 per cent over the next 20 years. Brisbane's economy is predicted to surge by 2031 and with the new facility, we are ready to support our customers for future growth."

Set to be ready by early 2023,  DHL Global Forwarding is investing AU$17 million over ten years for  the new facility.

Strategically located at Brisbane airport, the facility offers air side access, the first and only freight forwarder to have such exclusive access, and is close to the Port of Brisbane within 20 km or 18 minutes’ drive.

The new facility is a five green star rating according to the Green Building Council of Australia, featuring solar panels, reusable batteries to power most of the warehouse operations, rainwater harvesting and EV charging stations. Plans are also in the works to introduce carbon offsetting and insetting for a carbon neutral supply chain for customers.

The facility is also designed to be a great working space to support a mobile and hybrid workforce and to enhance safety. "We want this new facility to also be a great space for our employees. Interactive screens are in place to facilitate virtual and physical collaboration, while new technologies will be implemented to enhance safety," Lawson said.

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Launched in May 2020, OpenRoaming is a multi-vendor initiative to provide a better bridge between mobile and Wi-Fi networks It is a roaming federation service enabling an automatic and secure Wi-Fi experience globally.

With OpenRoaming, telecommunications service providers will be able to ensure their users get onto Wi-Fi seamlessly and securely the second they walk into a participating location. Users will be able to employ their mobile carrier identity for authentication, granting them seamless access to participating wireless networks around the world to ensure they are always connected.

The OpenRoaming standard frees users from the need to constantly re-register or re-enter log-in credentials and provides performance guarantees and quality of experience (QoE) capabilities as users roam between different public/private Wi-Fi realms. Most importantly, it removes hurdles to get users onboarded and increases opportunities for engagement

“In just 18 months, WBA OpenRoaming has already surpassed 1 million hotspots worldwide. That’s a major milestone — one that highlights how quickly the marketplace has recognised the benefits for network operators, infrastructure vendors, device OEMs and end users. It also reflects demand driven by the emergence of private 5G networks requiring simple roaming between cellular and Wi-Fi,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of WBA.

OpenRoaming transforms the Wi-Fi experience for consumers and businesses and opens up opportunities for broadband and the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity across business verticals, including retail, hospitality, education, smart cities, automotive and aviation, among many others.

Rodrigues added: “But this milestone is just the beginning. We expect to see even more types of locations adopt WBA OpenRoaming, including hotels, cafés, trains, planes and connected cars. In fact, in our most recent cross-industry survey, 40% of businesses said they have implemented Passpoint/OpenRoaming or plan to do so before the end of this year. Wherever you work, live and play, OpenRoaming will be there.”

To date, WBA revealed that OpenRoaming  hotspots have been deployed in wide variety of venues, including airports, universities, stadiums/arenas, office buildings and municipalities. Examples include San Jose State University, Fira Barcelona Gran Via, Canary Wharf, London Stadium, Live Nation BottleRock Festival,  Brazil’s São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport and various European municipalities and tourist destinations enabled by Boingo, Cisco, CommScope, Extreme Networks  and other members of the federation.

A recent proof of concept deployment by WBA member, Airties, to automatically onboard Wi-Fi client devices to a residential Wi-Fi 6 network also paves the way for the rollout of OpenRoaming across in-home Wi-Fi networks.

Wi-Fi makes cellular better

According to WBA,  OpenRoaming is creating an open connectivity framework for all organizations in the wireless ecosystem to power new opportunities in the 5G era.

Many industry insiders have said that 5G will make Wi-Fi  redundant. In truth, however, both cellular (licensed spectrum) and Wi-Fi networks complement each other, as Wi-Fi can pick up some of the load from cellular networks. The challenge is to simplify the user experience by managing the hand-off between them in a way that works seamlessly for consumers while still benefiting the carriers.

The new local wireless standard, Wi-Fi 6, is an ideal counterpart to the emerging 5G network. Wi-Fi 6 brings higher data rates, lower latency, increased capacity, and even better battery life to mobile devices.

The combination of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G will unlock potential in the network for exciting new services and products: virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, 4K video, and even more sophisticated IoT devices. Ensuring a seamless experience across 5G and Wi-Fi, indoors and outdoors, will be more important than ever.

OpenRoaming has been adopted by most major Wi-Fi equipment vendors and device OEMs. Federation members include Adentro, Airties, Boingo, Broadcom, Cisco, Cityroam, Cloud4WI, Commscope, eduroam, Enea, Extreme Networks, GlobalReach, Intel, Kyrio Samsung, Single Digits, and many others among the growing ecosystem.

Meanwhile, WBA also launched yesterday Release 3 of OpenRoaming, which will cut back on hundreds of hours of legal and administrative time when establishing roaming settlement agreements. This will make the business and commercial aspects of roaming easier than ever before.

Release 3 includes a significant improvement on the legal and commercial framework providing the ability to implement a new templated approach, making commercial arrangements between federation members simpler and easy to scale. Dynamic settlement capabilities make it possible for rate variations to be varied at peak times.

“By introducing Release 3 to remove barriers to adoption, OpenRoaming is cementing its place as a foundational piece of wireless technology,” said Matt MacPherson, Wireless CTO, Cisco.

In addition, Release 3 has been enhanced to include automated tools, reporting and API’s to significantly reduce the overhead for management and administration of an OpenRoaming network, while providing an online portal for federation members to self-serve. Enhanced Identity Proofing has also been enabled so that identity providers are able to meet regulatory and legislative requirements as well as corporate and business needs.

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The company announced its plans in the heels of securing a US$15-million Series B funding led by Meituan, China's leading tech and online retail company, and Fosun, a global innovation-driven consumer group.

"While we've previously focused on the Chinese market, 2021 has brought us more success outside China. We're looking forward to making our solutions available to a broader audience and cementing our position as a key player globally," stated Andy Lu, partner & SVP of RobotPlusPlus.

To support its global expansion, the company is set to open an office in Singapore to serve the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

RobotPlusPlus has a portfolio of robotic solutions for crucial industries such as maritime, ship repair, petrochemicals, and power generation, with hundreds of magnetic crawler robots deployed globally. The company focuses providing aerial work safety for operators while improving the efficiency of Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair (IMR) solutions and lowering operating costs for asset owners.

With its large team of skilled engineers and operators in place, RobotPlusPlus also provides Robot as a Service(RaaS) services to clients, enabling them not only to offer timely and cost-effective services but also to gain insights into industrial application scenarios.

"An aging workforce, rising labour costs, frequent aerial work-related accidents, and the COVID-19 pandemic have had an accelerative effect on the aerial work robotics sector," said Pu Xiao, investment manager at Fosun. "RobotPlusPlus empowers people with robots while helping increase operational safety and productivity. We're excited to support the company in leveraging AI and RaaS to optimise aerial work environments and enable robotic applications."

Hua-yang Xu, founder and CEO of RobotPlusPlus reiterated the company’s commitment to delivering “more transformational results” to its customers

The company plans to use its fresh funding to upgrade current products by integrating more autonomous technologies

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To cater to the demand for reliable inspection tools, Flyability has unveiled what it claims to be  the world's first collision-tolerant drone equipped with a LiDAR sensor for indoor mapping. Powered by new SLAM engine, the new drone also creates 3D models of points of interest (POIs) as it flies.

With its new Elios 3 drone, Flyability continues its pledge to create cutting-edge technology designed to keep humans out of dangerous places to perform the most demanding inspection tasks.

"The Elios 3 has some of the very best stabilisation in the world, a modular payload, the ability to create 3D models in real time while in flight, and it paves the way towards an increasingly autonomous future," said Patrick Thévoz, co-founder and CEO of Flyability.

Flyability specialises pioneered confined space inspection drones that help companies improve safety, reduce downtimes, and cut costs for their internal inspections. Its drones are used in diverse industries from power generation, oil & gas, mining, chemical, maritime to infrastructure and utilities. It has  almost one thousand clients in over 60 countries, with offices located in Switzerland, China, Singapore, and the US.

The company has been working on the Elios 3 for four years. In that time, its engineers have spent thousands of hours on research and development and performed over 200 missions in the field to collect feedback, learn what clients want, and refine the technology in order to make the most reliable indoor drone on the market.

"For industrial inspections, the Elios 3 is a key enabler of Industry 4.0, presenting an inspection solution that can make inspections safer, more efficient, and less expensive than ever before,” said Thévoz.

Mapping areas that are out of reach or too dangerous for humans is very difficult, yet critical to support operational decisions in many industries.

The Elios 3 comes with an Ouster OS0-32 LiDAR sensor, allowing inspectors to collect data for the creation of survey-grade 3D models using software from Flyability's new partner, GeoSLAM.

By combining the best of confined space drone data capture and 3D geospatial software technology, Flyability's partnership with GeoSLAM enables professionals to produce survey-grade point clouds of the most inaccessible places in their workplace, completely removing the strain of approximations and guesswork from their operations.

In addition to carrying a LiDAR sensor, the Elios 3 can accommodate a second payload that allows it to be customised for each individual user's needs.

Creating 3D models in real time

The Elios 3 is powered by a new proprietary SLAM engine called FlyAware, which allows LiDAR Data to be turned into 3D models in real time, while the drone is in flight.

The new SLAM engine on Elios 3 delivers ground-breaking stability. Combining data from the drone's three optical cameras and its LiDAR sensor to catch the tiniest unpredictable movement and instruct the flight controller to compensate for it. This stability and other ease-of-use features make the Elios 3 easy to operate, so that new pilots can be trained and perform their first inspection in the same day.

Using Flyability's new Inspector 4.0 software made for reporting with the Elios 3, inspectors can now visualise POIs found during an inspection in a high-resolution 3D map using Inspector 4.0's 3D Map Viewer. This feature lets stakeholders navigate from POI to POI in a digital representation of their assets, providing a clear visualisation of the defects found within them to support planning, monitoring, and maintenance efforts.

"The Elios 3 is the single biggest project that Flyability has ever undertaken," said Adrien Briod, CTO of Flyability. "If you think of the Elios 2 as your classic flip phone, only designed to make phone calls, the Elios 3 is the smartphone. It's made to be customized for the specific demands of each user, letting you attach the payload you need so you can use the tool as you like, and allowing it to grow and improve over time with new payloads or software solutions."

As part of the effort to make the Elios 3, Flyability collaborated with top universities around the world by joining Team Cerberus, which competed in—and won—DARPA's multi-year Sub-T challenge for autonomous robotics in underground environments.

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The project called “Own My Voice” seeks to provide a “spontaneous-style” text-to-speech technology, which essentially makes the synthesised voice sounds like a real person in its intonation, pause speed and other features. It hopes to replace the monotonous electronic voice with a more natural one.

Currently, this technology applies to many smart devices equipped with Xiaomi, the AI voice assistant of Xiaomi. The "Own My Voice" project shows spontaneous style text-to-speech technology can also be widely adopted in accessibility areas and improve user experience.

“We are excited to explore multiple values that technology innovation brings to us, such as responding to users' demands for the self-identity and the construction of identity,” said Zhu Xi, technology committee topic convener on Tech for Good initiative at  Xiaomi Corporation.

The backbone of the project is a group of speech technology experts from Xiaomi AI Lab, who have published 37 papers on speech at top international conferences, such as the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP).

Deploying voiceprint matching algorithm

To generate the most suitable and personalised voice for intended users, Xiaomi AI Lab gathered voices of 200 volunteers from within the company.

The project team then deploy voiceprint matching algorithm to match the features of donated voices with those of the recipient’s voice. Through this approach, they find the most suitable voice as the basic sound of voice reference for the recipient.

In consideration of personalisation and privacy protection, the chosen real voice is manipulated with complex acoustic modification to form a new and original sound of voice. After this, the Xiaomi project team use spontaneous style text-to-speech technology to train AI model to gradually gain a natural voice rhythm and intonation that can express the emotion and the tone of a human.

"If we notice and address the needs of minority groups at an early stage, the process of technology diffusion could be greatly shortened. This allows the benefits of new technologies to become accessible to users with special needs without delay,” said Zhu Xi.

The "Own My Voice" project combines a variety of advanced algorithms with Xiaomi's self-developed speech technology to ensure the specificity, safety, and high-level of authenticity of the synthesised voice.

Moving forward, Xiaomi will continue receiving feedback from the voice recipient, and further study the feasibility of  this project for a wider range of applications.

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The companies have established their first EV station in Fanling.

The newest Shell Recharge station, located in China Hong Kong City (CHKC) on Tsim Sha Tsui, is touted to be the fastest EV charging station in the city. It provides four rapid direct current (DC) chargers for all EV brands in Hong Kong.

Complementing Halo’s patent distribution system, one of the chargers operates at a speed of 300kW that allows an EV to be fully charged within 15 minutes. Together with Halo’s 40 semi-quick charging stations, CHKC now holds the most EV charging stations within Tsim Sha Tsui, enabling convenience for EV drivers and enhancing charging experience.

As EVs become ubiquitous, expansion and upgrading of charging facilities is essential in fostering the long-term development of existing residential and commercial properties.

Martin Tsang, CEO and founder of Halo Energy, said the company has always been proactive in enhancing charging services through the integration of local science research and global charging technologies.

“We are proud to establish the fastest charging station in Hong Kong in the city’s core business area – China Hong Kong City. With as fast as 15 minutes to provide 200km mileage for latest model EVs, an equivalent of 3 back-and-forth journeys from CHKC and the Airport,” said Tsang.

He added: “ The station will address every resident’s concern about using an EV and they will now experience the convenience of fast-charging that is as convenient as filling up a gas tank. Furthermore, through Halo’s patent Load Management electric distribution system, EVs will be parked in a similar manner as at CHKC in order to achieve a large or even full EV charging coverage with a big saving on the power load for the charging station thereby building a real showcase of EV Ready building.”

Installing EV stations in existing properties

In marking this latest EV project at CHKC, Sino Group reiterated its commitment to collaborating with partners to achieve sustainability goals through the use of innovation and technology.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Shell and  startup company Halo on this project to work around challenges faced in the installation of additional charging facilities in existing buildings, through the adoption of the refined electric vehicle charging and management system,” said Bella Chhoa, director of asset management at Sino Group.

She added that a comprehensive network of charging stations is crucial to promoting the wide adoption of electric vehicles.

“To this end, increasing electric vehicle charging stations will be a key focus of Sino Property Services in promoting sustainability in property management. In the future, we will further expand the coverage of electric vehicle charging stations at our properties. It is estimated that the number of chargers will see a substantial increase of 67% to over 1,400 in 2022, in an effort to encourage the use of green transportation in the wider community,” said Chhao.

A journey towards net-zero emissions

Meanwhile, Shell is staying true to its mission actualising sustainability initiatives to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

“We will spare no effort to help the city achieve its aim of reducing carbon emissions to actualise low-carbon transport. We are privileged to work with Sino and Halo to establish the fastest EV charging station in the territory by consolidating every party’s asset thereby leading the industry towards supporting the HKSAR government’s plans for enhanced EV adoption,” said Anne Yu, managing director of Shell Hong Kong.

In the near term, Yu said the company will collaborate with more car factories and stakeholders to provide more than 300 Shell Recharge charging points across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.

“More Shell Recharge Stations will be set up in Sino’s properties as well with an end-year target, providing EV drivers with different speeds of charging stations to speed up the transition towards net zero emissions in Hong Kong,” Yu said.

Shell is set to become the first gasoline company in Hong Kong to offer a comprehensive EV charging network. The company’s brand-new facility at its Airport (Cargo Terminal) Station, schedule to start operations in Q2 2022, will be the first service station with both EV charging and conventional fuel facilities.

The post Shell, Sino Group and Halo Energy set up 2nd EV station in HK appeared first on FutureIoT.

With the opening of flights into Hong Kong, returning residents and visitors still  have to undergo a week-long hotel quarantine to ensure the downward trend of infections in the city.

At quarantine hotels Oasis Avenue – A GDH Hotel and Metropark Hotel Kowloon, robots have been deployed for two purposes: food delivery and disinfection.

“Technology can be used effectively to curb the coronavirus,” said Zhang Tao, founder and CEO of Pudu Robotics. “When it is needed, we have the obligation, the ability, and the willingness to stand with the frontline workers and combat the pandemic. Turning the power of science and technology into an actual pandemic prevention force, we are ready to support and give back to global society with our products powered by advanced technologies."

The Shenzhen-based company donated several of its commercial service robots to the two Hong Kong hotels at the height of the Omicron outbreak.

Its BellaBot food delivery robot is equipped with an automotive-grade independent linkage suspension system, an  intelligent infrared induction tray, and 3D obstacle avoidance as well as the dual Laser SLAM and Visual SLAM positioning and navigation system. The robot’s robust four-layer tray allows the delivery of more than one item at a time.

On the other hand, the company’s Puductor 2 is UV cleaning robot is equipped with dual disinfection modes: ultrasonic dry mist disinfection where the disinfectant is atomised into 10µm dry particles that ensure complete sterilisation by remaining suspended in the air in a random motion, and UV-C Disinfection where a UV lamp is equipped, delivering disinfection with an ultraviolet illumination of 188μW/cm² at 1 meter.

By delivering daily necessities to the quarantine hotels’ guests in a contactless manner, BellaBot minimises the risk of cross infection by avoiding direct contact between staff and guests in addition to helping save on anti-pandemic supplies, while Puductor 2 guarantees safe and healthy indoor environments within the hotels by enabling its 24/7 automatic disinfection. The two robots work in tandem to maximise their effectiveness as a pandemic preventive solution.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, Pudu Robotics has donated several hundred robots to hospitals, isolation wards, quarantine facilities, and several public transit hubs across China to support combating the pandemic. In addition, its service robots have contributed to solving the problems of labour shortage as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.

Further inroads into the retail sector

Meanwhile, Pudu Robotics through its Jordanian partner Quill has been recently tapped to deploy BellaBot robots to promote and distribute Coca-Cola products at supermarkets throughout the Middle Eastern country.

"Unlike traditional retail services, having intelligent robots serve our customers will go a long way in meeting the expectations of various brands when it comes to more personalised and functional service robots, thereby significantly improving the in-store experience for shoppers,” said Zhang. “In addition, the high-tech robot itself will undoubtedly gain popularity among young audiences who love Coca-Cola beverages.”

BellaBot, with its attractive cat-like look and great human-computer interaction, is expected to attract the attention of consumers, particularly youngsters, while circulating around the aisles of retail businesses across Jordan.

“With the global pandemic prevention and control measures becoming normalised and integrated into the day-to-day landscape worldwide, it has become necessary for retailers to adopt a new, no-contact approach with shoppers as the sector shifts to intelligent operations that combines digital mindsets with innovation in merchandising,” added Felix. "The partnership with Coca-Cola Jordan marks the further implementation of Pudu Robotics' strategy to empower innovation across the retail sector by virtue of multiple cutting-edge technologies, including big data and AI."

Pudu Robotics has shipped over 600 units of its delivery and reception robot KettyBot to Chinese dairy giant Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) according to an agreement previously signed between both companies. The robot is being used by Mengniu to promote and hand out its products in supermarkets throughout China, facilitating the firm’s shift to a new intelligent retail model where products are transported and stocked by robots from the traditional one where these same actions are handled by humans.

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The centre will  enable communications service providers (CSPs), enterprises and infrastructure companies to gain in-depth knowledge about the real-life workings of local 5G – to jointly develop solutions, demonstrate use cases, and conduct research innovation to test various applications using actual equipment and simulate the real usage environment to help them discover how the technology will perform in a real-world scenario.

Nokia has acquired a local 5G radio license from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which allows it to demonstrate Local 5G in the Tokyo, Roppongi office. The ATC will help Nokia provide technical training for faster customer deployment.

"We look forward to showcasing our latest 5G innovations and how they open new opportunities for our customers. Nokia’s Lab-as-a-Service will allow communications service providers to quickly launch innovative services and products by being able to validate them for real-world reliability and performance,” said John Lancaster-Lennox, representative corporate officer, President at Nokia Japan.

He added: “It enables us to train our professionals in a simulated real-world environment and to quickly resolve any deployment issue.”

Established in 2017, the ATC has helped CSPs test and conduct 5G demonstrations. The upgraded centre will now leverage Nokia’s end-to-end 5G products to enable Local 5G demonstrations, integration testing and interconnection testing with third-party application partners in the vertical segment.

Nokia’s industrial-grade private wireless solutions have been helping companies in their industry 4.0 transformation. Its AirScale Radio and private wireless solutions including Nokia Digital Automation Cloud and industrial-grade private wireless core Compact Mobility Unit are used to enable local 5G coverage around the ATC.

Furthermore, its Fastmile 5G Gateway Japanese model will provide 5G Wi-Fi coverage for the Wi-Fi devices and Nokia's IP networks will also be used to provide high-speed connections between the Radio, Core and Edge nodes within the ATC.

Nokia plans to further expand the local 5G network to the workplace floor of the Roppongi office and create an environment where all employees can use the local 5G network at the office.

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"This is a great opportunity for us to showcase our solutions, from devices to software and services, all tightly integrated and presented in a narrative that highlights the impact that we are making to organisations and industries in Singapore," said Nigel Lee, general manager - intelligent devices group at Lenovo Singapore.

"We are putting a spotlight on our efforts as a service-led company in how we are bringing all these incredible technologies – artificial intelligence, augmented reality/virtual reality–into the world, and transforming experiences in the workplace and the classrooms of the future. And we are very proud that we are achieving this in a way that's sustainable,” Lee added.

The event provided a peek into the smart workplace of the future to demonstrate how CIOs can re-examine their IT infrastructure, while keeping in mind aspects such as employee experience and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

Lenovo showed  its extensive suite of devices, services and solutions through six immersive experience zones.

New suite of building and workplace solutions

The Lenovo's Workplace Solutions zone showed how solutions like simplified workspace booking, utilization analytics, and smart facilities management coupled with professional services can help businesses provide employees with enhanced flexible working options, offering the benefits of both in-office interactions and remote work.

The Lenovo Workplace Solutions portfolio helps businesses and CIOs adapt to the hybrid work era with several smart workspace solutions, including:

• Workspace Booking: Scheduling software offering real-time visibility on workspace occupancy enabling employers to manage capacity better, helps employees book facilities quickly to save time, and improves contact tracing with automated post-event reporting.
• Workplace Analytics: Delivered via a dashboard providing real-time insights on space usage, based on non-invasive data from heat and motion sensors.
• Digital Signage: Content management system that turns traditionally static displays and signages at high-traffic locales and touchpoints into visually-rich multimedia screens that is dynamically updated to convey important updates in a timely manner.
• Smart Locker: Flexible self-service storage service enabling employees to store, pick up and drop off assets securely 24x7 with minimal fuss and reduced waiting time.
• Smart Collaboration: All-in-one meeting room solution with video conferencing software and integrated devices that are easy to use and scale according to meeting sizes, protected by ThinkShield, a suite of security solutions to safeguard users' privacy and data.

A glimpse of extended reality technologies

In 2020, COVID-19 became a catalyst for extended reality (XR) technologies (both AR and VR) to help enterprises maintain business continuity and enable people to collaborate and work remotely more efficiently.

Lenovo showcased its ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses, which is being targeted for various industries such as manufacturing. For one, Lenovo ThinkReality powered by holo|one software is giving Micron's engineers the ability to keep production facilities running while helping the company meet growing demand for its products.

Meanwhile, Lenovo also demonstrated how Lenovo Asset Recovery Services (ARS) and CO2 Offset Services mitigate security and environmental risks associated with new device procurement and end-of-life asset disposal. These services ensure organizations are procuring, managing, and disposing their technology hardware in a responsible and sustainable manner, while making sure that the entire process is legally compliant, secure, and consistently applied globally.

"In many ways, Lenovo Experiential Day 2022 highlights that Lenovo is no longer just a device-centric company," said Lee, "but an end-to-end solutions provider that is helping customers embark on their journey to digital transformation 2.0 in an era filled with increasing challenges but also tremendous opportunities."

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“It’s important we design in a way that is built for the real world — and doesn’t take you away from it. And AR gives us new ways to accomplish this,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet, during his keynote speech at the conference.

“Let’s take language as an example. Language is just so fundamental to connecting with one another. And yet, understanding someone who speaks a different language, or trying to follow a conversation if you are deaf or hard of hearing can be a real challenge. Let's see what happens when we take our advancements in translation and transcription and deliver them in your line of sight in one of the early prototypes we’ve been testing,” he added.

This is Google’s second attempt at developing smart glasses. It comes 10 years after the debut of Google Glass, a pair of avantgarde spectacles fitted with built-in camera, which raises privacy concerns.

On the other hand, the latest prototype looks like an ordinary pair of glasses. In a video shown at the conference, the new AR glasses are shown displaying  conversations involving English, Mandarin, Spanish and American Sign Language.

“What we're working on is technology that enables us to break down language barriers. Taking years of research and Google Translate and bringing that to glasses,” said Eddie Chung,  “I’m actually looking straight into your eyes, and it seems like you're looking right at me. Making access to information just instant and intuitive. By doing that, technology fades into the background, and we're more connected with the people and the things around us.”

Google has been building augmented reality into many of its products from Google Lens, multisearch, scene exploration, and Live and immersive views in Maps.

“These AR capabilities are already useful on phones and the magic will really come alive when you can use them in the real world without the technology getting in the way,” said Pichai.

At the conference Google also gave a glimpse of its product roadmap: a tablet to be launched in 2023 and a smartwatch that will go on sale late this year.

Google has been trying to come out  with wearables and devices that can stand up to Apple, but its hardware business remains small. According to IT research firm IDC, its global market share in smartphones is under 1%,

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