“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.

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Korean Air is partnering with Accelya to integrate the vendor’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) and FLX-Merchandizing module, both running on Accelya and Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies, to deliver personalization and the most relevant offers to customers.

Accelya's NDC offering, a core enabler of airline-retail agency connectivity, links airlines with over 50,000 travel agents including the world’s largest online travel agents (OTA's) and travel management companies (TMC's).

Accelya’s advanced NDC capabilities, leveraging the latest 21.3 standard, deliver on average over 30% NDC adoption for partner airlines, bringing improved customer servicing, more ancillary sales and the ability for customers and airlines to benefit from much richer offers.

The FLX-Merchandizing module fine-tunes customer offerings and experiences. Leveraging the latest technologies, it will enable Korean Air to create, personalize and adjust its offers to better serve travellers across both direct and indirect channels.

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“Supply chain organisations may have been expected to take a step back in pursuing DEI objectives in light of increased scrutiny and economic pressures,” said Dana Stiffler, distinguished VP analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice.

“Our data instead showed strong gains, with a steep increase in representation of underrepresented races and ethnicities at every level of the supply chain. The key driver of these gains is an increase in accountability via formalised management goals.” Dana Stiffler

Figure 1: Growth in general and formal accountability for DEI, 2021-2023

The survey data revealed major DEI gains, including that the percentage of full-time employees of underrepresented race/ethnicity in the supply chain organisations evaluated increased from 32% to 48%. Compared to 2022’s survey sample, the average representation of talent of underrepresented races and ethnicities is 1.5 times what it was in the 2022 sample.

The data showed a strong alignment between DEI and broader business objectives. Among those who have either formal or general DEI objectives, respondents provided the following reasons for having such goals:

• Attract new talent (68%)
• Engage and retain new employees (64%)
• Improve business performance (58%)
• Attract customers (48%)
• Reflect and support local communities (44%)
• Attract investors (40%)

Stiffler noted that the recruitment focus of DEI initiatives is crucial, with a higher percentage of supply chain employees actively seeking a new job at the highest rate since 2021. “The focus on engagement and retention is also well-placed with supply chain employees less likely than other professions to be highly engaged or have a high intent to stay. Their discretionary effort in mid-2023 was at its lowest point in the past two years,” she added.

“Say-Do Gap” closing; attrition remains high

Beyond formal objectives, a second reason pushing representation higher in 2023 was a greater emphasis on actual DEI initiatives within supply chain organisations. In 2022, while 75% of supply chain organisations reported that they focused on some dimension of diversity, only 40% reported working on specific DEI projects or initiatives. Gartner refers to this gap between intention and tangible action as the “say-do gap.”

“While nearly the same proportion of organisations focused on one or more aspects of DEI in 2023, we saw a much higher percentage of supply chain respondents working on specific DEI projects and initiatives with measurable outcomes, jumping from 40% to 73%,” said Stiffler. “In 2023, the ‘say-do gap’ was reduced to nearly half of what it was in 2021; the connection between tangible action and improved DEI outcomes seems increasingly clear.”

The top four DEI initiatives invested in were learning and development (L&D), benefits, employee engagement and recruitment. In terms of effectiveness, employee engagement and L&D led the list, which is a departure from previous surveys, where inclusive leadership and recruitment were most effective.

While top-line findings in the survey showed progress on diversity efforts, 43% of respondents reported that the attrition rates of underrepresented talent were somewhat or significantly higher compared to their majority workforce. The data suggests talent pipelines need to be assessed and strengthened further to maintain recent gains.

Chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) seeking to reduce attrition must evaluate several potential root causes, including the desire among these employees to seek career changes, the most highly cited reason underrepresented talent left their roles in 2023.

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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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Syed Najam us Saqib, a senior technical team lead – IoT Operations at Vision Valley in Dubai, believes that Yes, the Internet of Things (IoT) can play a significant role in addressing climate change challenges by providing data-driven insights, improving resource efficiency, and enabling smarter decision-making in various sectors. In his LinkedIn posts, he lists 13 use cases – an interesting read IMHO.

IoT driving green

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the operations of buildings account for 30% of global final energy consumption and 26% of global energy-related emissions1 (8% being direct emissions in buildings and 18% indirect emissions from the production of electricity and heat used in buildings).

When incorporated into building automation systems (BAMs), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are helping to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance building operations.

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst for applied intelligence at Omdia says the primary role of IoT technology in building and infrastructure energy consumption and monitoring is data collection. More and more enterprises are deploying an intelligent energy management system that can control energy consumption depending on ambient conditions and automatically report defects or malfunctions.

He adds that data from various IoT sensors are consolidated to provide a better picture of overall usage. He noted that the number of sensors being deployed is directly proportional to the granularity and comprehensiveness of energy utilization patterns.

“In some cases, drones and automated aircraft with infrared sensors have been deployed in industrial and commercial buildings to detect potential leakage and wastage,” he added.

Tsubasa Bolt, a senior ESD consultant for Surbana Jurong, explained that IoT devices are being used to monitor systems at a more granular level compared to traditional building management systems (BMS).

“One such example would be smart branch circuit monitoring systems or smart sockets. This allows for the monitoring of receptacle loads at higher resolution which can then be fed back to users to modify their behaviour to eliminate standby power.

“Smart lighting systems also have more granular sensor coverage which reduces the size of lighting zones (sensors are per fixture). This means that the sensors are monitoring and responding to much more localised occupancy and daylight which reduces overall lighting consumption,” he continued.

IoT in waste management and recycling

Asked in what ways is IoT contributing to the optimisation of waste management and recycling processes, Bolt pointed to IoT devices being used at weighing stations to monitor waste production at facilities where devices are fitting onto bins or at collection points where bags may be weighed.

He added that digital tracking and associated data provide critical insight into:

• The proportions of the different waste streams.
• Frequency of recycling bins contamination with non-recyclable waste.
• Opportunities for cost optimisation.

“With this data, interventions could be made upstream at the source of the waste with the aim of overall reduction. Contaminated recycling bins are also a major issue and data can be used to provide user feedback to educate and initiate behavioural change,” he elaborated.

IoT in air and quality monitoring

“Like IoT in energy consumption monitoring, air and water quality in urban environments are tracked through different sensors, such as humidity, chemicals, and light, to detect pollutants, turbidity, and hazardous content,” said Su.

Surbana Jurong’s Bolt confirms adding that these provide user feedback on various indoor air quality (IAQ) metrics (CO2, VOCs, PM2.5, PM1, Radon, etc.) to raise awareness on the importance of IAQ concerning human health in office spaces.

The WELL Certification standard, which allows organisations to demonstrate their commitment to the health and wellbeing of occupants, includes IAQ monitoring as achievable credits. IAQ metrics must be kept within specific thresholds which incentivise building operators to regularly maintain air handling unit filtration systems.

Another exciting application of IAQ sensor data is CO2 data as a data domain for airside system AI optimisers. Bolt explains that CO2 is a better measure of occupancy than traditional occupancy sensors since CO2 is correlated to the number of occupants.

“Aside from demand-controlled ventilation, this has the potential to ensure enclosed office or meeting room ACMV systems only operate when CO2 levels are rising instead of the triggering of motion detectors,” he continued.

When it comes to water quality, IoT devices could be deployed to obtain more granular datasets that can provide insight into the maintenance health of a distribution network. Bolt noted, however, that water quality generally has to be tested in a certified lab for verification.

IoT in supply chain

The supply chain is arguably one of the earliest use cases for IoT in the form of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Indeed, nearly everyone in the supply chain ecosystem depends on RFID tags to track product and equipment movement.

Chan Hsien Hung, vice president of Integrated Enterprise Services & Sustainability at AETOS, says transportation is recognized as a critical factor in Scope 1 carbon emissions within the supply chain.

“Without IoT integration, the management and measurement of carbon emissions would heavily rely on manual processes, introducing inaccuracies and inefficiencies,” he added. “Traditional methods like manual log books and even GPS tracking, while capturing digital data, often fell short by omitting crucial information such as fuel consumption, influenced by variables like vehicle efficiency, fuel type, and driver behaviour.”

He cites the integration of IoT sensors within AETOS fleet of 200 operational vehicles. “This IoT-driven approach enables real-time tracking through a cloud-based platform, offering a comprehensive and accurate overview of our environmental impact in supply chain operations.

“This not only enhances efficiency but also empowers us to make informed decisions aimed at reducing carbon emissions and advancing sustainable practices,” he continued.

IoT in transportation

The US government, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, defines sustainable transportation as low- and zero-emission, energy-efficient, and affordable modes of transport, including electric and alternative-fuel vehicles, as well as domestic fuels.

“IoT platforms help to track fuel usage better,” reveals Su. “They can identify driver behaviour, such as heavy acceleration or vehicle idling, increasing fuel costs, and contributing to emissions. Fleet platooning is also an area of autonomous trucking that many believe will reduce emissions by programming the vehicles to maximize fuel efficiency.”

AETOS’ Chan says in promoting sustainable transportation, IoT applications monitor driver behaviour in real time. “IoT sensors in our vehicles track events like harsh braking, fast acceleration, speeding, and idling,” he revealed.

“This information is crucial in influencing driving habits to improve fuel efficiency and subsequently reduce carbon emissions. Through the utilization of data from our advanced smart telematics system and increased data transparency, we observed a 20% decrease in negative driver behaviour and a notable reduction in carbon emissions.

“Any reduction in carbon emissions contributes to achieving carbon emission reduction certifications, which can be utilized for green financing,” he concluded.

The post Supporting green projects with 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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That’s a big number!

It’s especially large when you consider that most organizations are trying to stabilize, pilot or get approval to change their planning tools.

Proportion of Supply Chain Transformation Benefits Achieved

When trying to think about what is missing, or why so many are failing to adopt new technology, the main theme that comes up is that most organizations are trying to implement a solution based on current processes and ways of working. Technology enables a transformation of your operating model that includes processes and organization. But shouldn’t your mindset evolve as well?

When I started working in planning, the first thing I learned was that if our company’s plans were precise everything would work out. I just needed the magic number that would make everything flow.

If only life would be so easy.

The reality is that even when you set a magic number, plans always deviate. Things are dynamic. You most likely don`t have exact plans in other areas of life. Then why do you keep focusing on a single number that will make — or, more likely, break — your supply chain plans?

As companies invest in technology, they should invest in changing the mindsets within their organizations from the obsession with a single forecast to using a range of possibilities.

Range of Possibilities

Assuming that all you need is a single plan that will make everything work is like assuming that the exact optimal circumstances will always occur. But that’s not true. The exact internal and external dynamics will rarely come together in the exact right way. By assuming all you need is a single plan, a single number, organizations make their supply chains fragile. Anything that goes above or below that number will register as a surprise.

And from that point, you know the story. … You rush in with emergency teams, firefighting these new situations as they impact your business results. Let’s face it, anytime you expedite deliveries or steer inventory due to the plan going awry it will impact your cost to serve. In fact, organizations report that they suffer a 4% increase in the cost to serve for every disruption. And they have at least five disruptions per year. So, at minimum, you’re talking about a 20% hit to the P&L.

By changing your mindset to plan for a range of possibilities and probabilities you’ll be better prepared for what will most likely occur. You can’t rely on being precise. There is a range of options from variability of lead time to variability of product mix to variability in order placement. In fact, by abandoning the idea that you must be precise, you can plan for most of the possible options you might face. 

Even if you do plan for a range of possibilities, will all of them be right? Of course not. Only one option will be correct. The rest of them will be wrong. Embrace the idea that you will be wrong most of the time. Think of it this way: you have to be wrong to be right.

Now, I know that nobody likes being wrong. Because everybody wants to avoid errors, they avoid taking risks. But if you avoid risk, then how are you going to win? From Gartner’s most recent survey of supply chain technology user wants and needs, we found that 38% of those surveyed are not encouraged to take risks. Within that group, 12% are actively discouraged from taking risks.

As supply chain planning leaders, you must actively work with your teams to change this point of view.

Just like you’re investing in processes and technology, you need to make an investment in change management — you must embrace a new mindset. You can’t adopt a different operating model and new tools but continue to be stuck in your old way of thinking. If you are planning to transform your supply chain — or even if you’re in the middle of such a transformation — change your planning approach and you will be more than halfway there.

First published on Gartner Supply Chain Insights

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The Gartner CEO Survey shows that business growth remains the CEO's highest priority. Simon Bailey, VP analyst at Gartner reveals the first trend as showing leading chief supply chain officers playing their part by identifying where the supply chain can seize opportunities to support growth while mastering the risk that could undermine business performance.

Click on the video to watch Bailey elaborates on three points:

1. Identify and seize new opportunities for growth while mitigating risks

2. Transform how organisations work by reshaping skills, roles and relationships

3. Drive collective progress, leaving a lasting impact on industries and societies through ecosystem partnerships

“Leading supply chains drive customer retention through increased customer satisfaction and reduced customer effort,” said Bailey. “Those with a deep understanding of their customer needs also unlock new opportunities through customer enablement.”

By mastering risks through supply chain agility and resilience during times of disruption, they (supply chain) are also able to exploit emerging opportunities quicker than their competitors.”

The second trend sees leading supply chains transform how their organisations work by redefining the skills roles, relationships, and structures within them.

Bailey noted that to accelerate cultural transformation and enable innovation, the leaders are focusing on creating a new intersection between people and technology. “They enable employee autonomy and flexibility with enhanced employee value propositions and use digital tools to reduce fatigue whilst increasing productivity,” he added.

Gatner’s third trend is about driving collective progress. The analyst says leading chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are delivering valued business outcomes like innovation, sustainability, and resilience through the power of ecosystem partnerships.

“By leading their supply chains to shift from independent networks to interconnected ecosystem, they're delivering in ways that no one company could do on its own,” said Bailey. “Take the learnings from our top 25 and master supply chains and use them as a resource to show you the way to solve problems and unlock opportunities in today's disrupted environment.”

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A Gartner survey of 164 supply chain professionals in June 2023 revealed that 28% of supply chains expected no gain or loss in revenue, while 63% of respondents expected a loss of revenue due to exposure to uncertainty (see Figure 1).

“An antifragile supply chain starts with the Chief Supply Chain Officer’s mindset,” said Tim Payne, vice president analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice.

“Rather than trying to keep uncertainty out of the supply chain, antifragile supply chains embrace uncertainty with the objective of learning, evolving and adapting their capabilities based on their improved knowledge of it.”

Tim Payne

Gartner’s analysis identified a select group of antifragile capabilities for Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) to deploy that are 2.1 to 4.9 times more likely to gain revenue for their organisations when confronted with uncertainty.

Figure 1: Supply chain professionals’ estimated impact of uncertainty exposure on revenue

Payne opines that the inability to cope with uncertainty is driven by a misallocation of initiatives to the wrong strategy. He noted that in the survey nearly half of respondents said that more than 50% of their supply chains’ key capabilities are set up to attempt to keep uncertainty outside the supply chain. “This overinvestment in a barrier to keep uncertainty out stifles the ability to learn from it, keeping most supply chains today in a fragile state,” he added.

Antifragile capabilities to cope with uncertainty 

CSCOs must assess their current ability to cope with uncertainty so that appropriate strategies can be applied to evolve towards the antifragile supply chain state. Gartner’s research shows that supply chains can be in either a fragile, resilient or antifragile state. While resilient supply chains may not lose during periods of uncertainty, the focus remains on keeping most uncertainty out, reducing the ability of organisations to learn from it often leading to “resiliency fatigue.”

“An antifragile mindset changes how CSCOs approach and shape their capabilities, including in areas such as integrated planning, ROI calculations, supply chain redundancy and assessing uncertainty,” said Payne. “Our research shows that a select group of antifragile capabilities are especially effective in moving a supply chain into the antifragile state.” 

Gartner’s analysis of the survey data revealed the top six antifragile capabilities that are highly significant in driving a supply chain towards gains during uncertainty. These antifragile capabilities lead to a significantly greater likelihood of positive revenue gains when exposed to uncertainty, compared with the fragile or resilient versions of these capabilities.

Most impactful antifragile supply chain capabilities

Decision processes and collaboration: Enabling dynamic decision processes during uncertainty (4.9x more likely to have a positive revenue impact).

Calculating ROI for supply chain investments: Assessing the value of investing at different times due to uncertainty (4.5x).

Managing the assessment of uncertainty: Performing a high degree of experimentation on the supply chain to stress test it (3.7x).

Supply chain redundancy: Viewing redundancy (e.g., inventory, capacity, multiple suppliers) as an investment opportunity (3.6x).

Supply chain planning: A focus on end-to-end (E2E) planning policies (probabilities, options, thresholds) in the midterm and accurate functional short-term planning (2.5x).

Monitoring, adjustments and responsiveness: Monitoring at “arm’s length” to intervene only if policies are breached and empower local stakeholders to adjust within policies (2.1x).

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Zebra Technologies’ 16th Annual Global Shopper Study confirmed that retailers are feeling the omnichannel squeeze, particularly with managing online returns and reducing shrink caused by theft, fraud and other contributing factors.

Notable observations

Globally, eight in 10 retailers agree minimizing fraud/shrink is a significant challenge (82%), and the ability to forecast demand is important to their organization (86%). In APAC, retailers’ responses stand at 74% and 89% respectively.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), retailers lost US$112 billion due to shrink in 2022, up from nearly US$94 billion in 2021.

The Zebra study indicates that 36% of global retailers (40% in APAC) believe better analytics on shrink could help drive profitability. Many retailers expect to deploy loss prevention analytics (49% globally, 55% in APAC) and demand planning and forecasting (54% globally, 61% in APAC) by 2026.

While omnichannel shopping causes challenges for retailers, most shoppers prefer options. Nearly eight in 10 global and APAC shoppers favour a blend of online and in-store shopping, while 75% global and 72% of APAC shoppers choose to shop with online retailers that have a brick-and-mortar location.

As omnichannel shopping continues to grow, the volume of returns increases along with it. Around seven in 10 of global and APAC retailers say the pressure is mounting to improve the efficiency and expense of managing online orders, returns, and the fulfilment process.

Six in 10 retailers say they are upgrading their returns management technology by 2026. In APAC, more retailers are in the process of upgrading at 74%, 12% higher than global retailers surveyed.

Store associates will be pleased with this technology investment. Among associates managing returns from online orders, 74% globally and in APAC, cite frequent returners as their top challenge. This year, the ease of making returns has moved ahead as a leading reason shoppers choose to shop in stores, outpacing comparison shopping.

Where easy returns for global shoppers have increased slightly (32% in 2022 to 33% in 2023), APAC shoppers reported the greatest increase of 7%, from 32% in 2022 to 39% in 2023. The increase in returns has impacted retailers globally, growing to US$1.8T according to the IHL Group.

 “We are seeing a significant uptick in both sales and returns as e-commerce continues to grow,” said Christanto Suryadarma, sales vice president for Southeast Asia (SEA) and South Korea, Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.

“What's becoming increasingly apparent is the pivotal role of technology in navigating this competitive landscape. Retailers are realizing the importance of employing technology to smartly manage the surge in demand and ensure a seamless and efficient handling of orders and processes.” Christanto Suryadarma

The returns conundrum also impacts related industries, particularly warehousing. Retailers are tapping into the power of technology to help manage returns with 62% globally (68% in APAC) saying they plan to deploy reverse logistics technology by 2026 to better manage fulfilment pressures. Nearly three in 10 (31% globally, 32% in APAC) of retailers think charging a fee for online orders from frequent returners could potentially improve the overall profitability of online orders.

Consumers dialling into digital checkouts

Since 2020, the number of shoppers who favour digital payment applications has increased substantially; solutions like ZebraPay align with this trend. Those preferring pay/checkout anywhere in-store almost doubled from 15% to 26%, mobile payments jumped from 33% to 50% and “just walk out” to avoid a long checkout line doubled from 14% to 30%.

In APAC, shoppers who preferred pay/checkout anywhere jumped from 16% to 28%, opted for mobile payments went from 46% to 58% and walked out due to long queues soared from 17% to 33%. Meanwhile, more than 4-in-10 (48% globally) of consumers opt for self-checkouts, with three-quarters (75% globally) saying it helps improve their experience. This is also true for 45% and 74% of APAC shoppers respectively.

Hence, there is a clear signal that consumers want to settle their shopping experience quickly and will adopt any means to get to the end of the line. Unsurprisingly, most retailers agree that self-checkouts deliver value.

Eight in 10 of them agree the investment in self-checkouts is paying off (87% globally, 88% in APAC), as this technology allows associates to work on higher-value tasks and improves the customer experience.

However, around eight-in-10 retail decision-makers and associates agree store shrinkage and theft a major issue with self-checkouts. These sentiments are similarly echoed in APAC by 85% of decision-makers and 79% of associates.

Moving modern retail forward

In anticipation of the advancement of retail offerings, consumers understandably have high expectations for technology. In fact, eight in 10 of surveyed consumers (80% globally, 81% in APAC) expect retailers to use the latest technology, and seven in 10 (74% globally, 77% in APAC) say it improves their shopping experience. In alignment with this trend, over half of retailers plan to deploy handheld mobile computers (56% globally, 64% in APAC), scanners (54% globally, 61% in APAC), RFID (61% globally, 69% in APAC) as well as task (54% globally, 62% in APAC) and workforce (56% globally, 62% in APAC) management software by 2026.

Store associates will favour this outcome as the study shows 84% of both global and APAC associates feel more valued–and view their employer more positively (81% globally, 79% in APAC)–when they have the technology to help them do their work.

Today, 77% of associates–up from 67% in 2022–feel shoppers are better connected to information than they are. There is a similar increase for APAC associates, from 64% in 2022 to 73% in 2023.

“In view of ever-evolving consumer expectations, providing a seamless experience is no longer a luxury but a necessity - whether it is browsing, acquiring, consuming, or returning merchandise,” said George Pepes, APAC Vertical Solutions Lead, Healthcare and Retail, Zebra Technologies. “The successful operation of a modern store needs to elevate the customer experience, foster stronger engagement among retail associates, optimize inventory management to build brand preference, and increase profitability in today’s dynamic environment.”

The post The changing face of retailing appeared first on FutureIoT.

Market potential remains strong as the user penetration in the meal delivery market will only reach 16.7% in 2023. In 2021, foodpanda led the online meal delivery market in the Philippines with a market share by revenue of 58%.

Since 2007, foodpanda has partnered with PLDT Enterprise to enable its business. More recently foodpanda upped its technology investment with the adoption of IoT solutions from PLDT.

The IoT SIMs provide devices with reliable connectivity. These allow businesses to transmit data and communicate with other devices, making them an essential component in building and deploying IoT applications and solutions.

IoT SIMs are also more secure and flexible, making them a perfect digital tool for today’s evolution in delivery and logistics businesses.

Significance of IoT SIMs

IoT SIMs enable foodpanda to optimise operations and access real-time data gathering.

This level of data localisation and connectivity enhances the food delivery company services in ways that result in improved efficiencies and a better overall experience for both merchants and customers.

According to Robert Jay Sumulong, Smart IoT category head at PLDT Enterprise, IoT enables businesses to manage multiple devices seamlessly in an integrated platform. “With full control over connectivity, companies can drive operational efficiency and unlock their true potential,” opined Sumulong.

Partnership to power innovation

According to Luis Antonio Yanga, commercial director at foodpanda Philippines, the company’s partnership with PLDT Enterprise reflects the organisation’s commitment to delivering top-notch services and tailored solutions for our partner vendors.

“With IoT solutions, we are at the forefront of innovation, enabling our restaurant and merchant partners to optimise their business operations while providing a seamless experience for our customers,” he continued.

PLDT global president and CEO and PLDT enterprise revenue group head, Albert Villa-Real, emphasised the strategic role of IoT in driving business transformation and improving customer operations, saying, “PLDT Enterprise understands how innovation is essential for success in today's dynamic market. Our collaboration with foodpanda showcases the power of technology to reshape industries, and IoT is a key enabler of this transformation,” he elaborated.

More sustainable food delivery industry

Reflecting on its partnership with PLDT Enterprise, Leopoldo De Castro Jr, foodpanda Philippines' Finance Director, says: “Our partnership with PLDT Enterprise and the adoption of cutting-edge solutions like IoT position us at the forefront of digital transformation. Together, we are poised to revolutionise the delivery business sector and create a sustainable future for our customers and stakeholders.”

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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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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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When pit against the numbers from 2019, the grocery delivery market has expanded significantly and is now more than three times its previous size in the Asia-Pacific region. It is projected that this segment will achieve a value of US$325 billion within 2023.

This surge in demand has posed logistical challenges for retailers throughout the supply chain. Consequently, grocery warehouses are struggling to cope with the escalating volume of orders, resulting in delays and dissatisfied customers. Businesses must explore methods to optimise their grocery warehouses and cater to these newfound demands effectively.

Traditional Grocery Warehousing

To tackle the challenges posed by modern demands, it is important to understand the operations of traditional grocery warehouses. These warehouses are operated primarily through manual labour, heavily relying on human workers for tasks such as order picking, packing, and shipping. While this system has been effective for many years, it falls short when it comes to meeting the scale and speed expected in today's online grocery shopping landscape.

One huge issue is the significant amount of time spent by workers navigating through aisles in search of products and manually fulfilling orders—time that could be better to used fulfil more orders. Although this simple process can be easily implemented, its reliance on manual labour also makes it susceptible to errors that result in further delays and ultimately lead to customer dissatisfaction.

Due to the physical nature of this method involving human contractors within a limited space, there are limitations on how many orders can be fulfilled simultaneously. Online customers will then experience longer waiting times which often prompts them to turn towards competitors for their needs.

In addition, the conventional method of warehousing presents challenges in terms of inventory visibility. Maintaining accurate stock levels becomes difficult for retail stores, resulting in an increase in Out-of-Stocks.

The surge in online orders further exacerbates this issue, as warehouse employees struggle to keep up with stock checks and replenishment. Again, Out-of-Stocks have a detrimental impact on customer loyalty and provide a surefire way to drive consumers towards competitors.

As a result, adopting a wait-and-see approach is no longer viable in today's rapidly evolving digital economy. Consumers now expect nothing less than efficient, dependable, and high-quality service delivery. Retailers understand that to remain relevant and retain their competitive advantage, they must make investments in automation technology.

Automated aid in grocery logistics

An Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) refers to a mechanised system that stores and retrieves inventory or products. These systems have been developed as an alternative to traditional shelving and manual warehousing methods in grocery warehouses. This innovative solution employs robots to directly transport goods to workers, eliminating the need for manual labour.

According to Zebra Technologies, 27% of decision-makers currently employ goods-to-person solutions, with an estimated 90% planning on implementing them by 2027. The top three priorities for these decision-makers include reducing unnecessary tasks so that workers can focus more on customer-centric work, optimising the utilisation of seasonal labour, and addressing worker comfort.

The automated nature of ASRS liberates workers from less impactful aspects of warehousing such as physically traversing the warehouse during picking operations. Instead, it allows them to concentrate on tasks that require human intervention. Consequently, this not only benefits businesses but also enhances the quality of life for workers involved in these activities.

The ASRS offers immense flexibility, allowing for customisation to suit the specific needs of each customer. This is achieved through the incorporation of various components such as cube storage, robotics, carousels, and shuttles. To effectively manage all these elements and ensure seamless operation, a Warehouse Management System (WMS) is utilised.

When implementing an ASRS, several factors come into play. The size and weight of the products stored in the warehouse are crucial considerations. In the case of grocery warehousing, it is relatively straightforward to accommodate common household items and foodstuffs within the system. Additionally, aspects like storage structure design, physical automation capabilities, conveyance interface setup and control software integration are carefully evaluated.

By conducting a thorough analysis on these factors mentioned above specially tailored solutions can be developed to optimise efficiency in grocery warehousing operations. Based on this comprehensive understanding, the ASRS solution can be precisely customised according to unique requirements resulting in enhanced productivity, increased efficiency, and ultimately driving better outcomes for businesses operating in the grocery industry.

Combining Cube Storage with ASRS

Cube storage in warehousing generally comprises a grid structure that functions as the foundation of the automated systems in place. This grid holds storage bins and robots, which are responsible for navigating and transporting said bins that contain various products or stock items.

Storage efficiency-wise, cube storage outperforms other ASRS by effectively utilising available space. Unlike traditional shelving methods that result in empty spaces between items, cube storage eliminates this wastage by organising products based on their popularity. This means that the most sought-after items are strategically positioned at the top of the grid to ensure quicker retrieval times.

Cube storage offers a significant benefit in its modular structure, enabling effortless installation and expandability. Warehouses can enhance their storage capacity by up to fourfold within the same area through cube storage, surpassing traditional storage methods. This enhancement creates substantial value for grocery warehouses that embrace this design.

When comparing cube storage to conventional warehousing, it grants businesses up to four times more space for storing goods and services without increasing the footprint. Moreover, with technological advancements, ASRS empowers nearly all grocery warehouses to achieve automation.

ASRS and grocery warehousing

Implementing an ASRS in a grocery warehouse leads to significant advantages in meeting consumer needs. The modernised automated warehouse not only saves on labour, energy, and space but also greatly improves accuracy, productivity, and efficiency.

In the local context, NTUC FairPrice, Singapore's largest supermarket chain, recognised the importance of catering to fast online service demands. To achieve this goal, their subsidiary, Grocery Logistics of Singapore (GLS) decided to revamp their e-commerce platform and embrace a new approach to grocery warehousing by implementing an AutoStore ASRS.

The system, consisting of over 55 robots and 20,000 storage bins, has significantly enhanced GLS's operational capabilities where they can efficiently handle up to 3,000 daily orders. Compared to the previous form of traditional warehousing, order fulfilment at GLS has quadrupled.

Another notable benefit has been the reduction in physical strain for employees since they no longer need to cover long distances for tasks such as picking items or printing labels.

In a similar vein, industry leader Amazon is also exploring the potential of ASRS technology. They are currently conducting tests at their upcoming fully automated grocery warehouse located in the New York area. By leveraging automation, these e-commerce giants aim to streamline their operations and achieve higher levels of efficiency and productivity.

Not Just for the Future

An ASRS provides an exceptional solution for grocery warehousing by optimising space usage, improving accuracy, and boosting productivity. These automated systems have transformed traditional warehousing practices, ensuring efficient operations and timely order fulfilment in the age of e-grocery shopping.

The combination of ASRS and cube storage is revolutionising grocery warehousing, allowing businesses to effectively tackle new challenges while enhancing space utilisation, order fulfilment, and employee well-being.

As the trend of online grocery shopping continues to grow each year, automation is no longer just a future solution but a necessity for adapting to the present demands.

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Globally, automation will account for 25% of capital spending, and companies expect to reap rewards in terms of output quality, efficiency, and uptime. In Asia alone, the warehouse automation market is estimated to be worth US$10.76 billion and will reach US$23.89 billion by 2028. However, there are questions that need to be addressed when it comes to adoption, especially in terms of costs and level of understanding.

The survey highlighted another key challenge - the implementation of new technologies in setups consisting of legacy technologies and different interfaces. 42% of surveyed noted that they face challenges in (i) getting access to end-to-end solution providers capable of customising solutions to their needs.

There are concerns regarding the (ii) seamless integration of robotics into existing spaces and manned operations, and (iii) compatibility between machines and products. These concerns are compounded by (iv) the expected return on investments and (vi) the lack of implementation experience.

Overcoming barriers to automation adoption

This article details the potential solutions to enable companies in reaping the rewards of automated solutions.

In response to the lack of access to customisable solutions that support traditional warehouses, more global OEMs are establishing partnerships with robotics startups to offer innovative solutions. Their goal is to offer hardware and software solutions while providing a seamless operational experience and faster deployment in the warehouse.

To address the challenge of integrating robotics and automation into existing spaces and manned operations, companies could explore brownfield-friendly solutions that require minimal reconfiguration.

Essential features like real-time obstacle avoidance should be included in the chosen autonomous solution to enable safe operation within a hybrid environment of both manned and unmanned operations, optimising productivity while maintaining a safe and harmonious coexistence between human and machine-driven tasks.

Companies could also adopt intelligent warehouse control systems to ensure compatibility and interoperability between machines and products. By integrating diverse warehouse sub-systems and equipment into the control system, companies can then facilitate seamless coordination of workflows without manual intervention, thus resulting in increased productivity and throughput.

When it comes to costs associated with automation, there are two schools of thought. From a traditional ROI perspective, the upfront investment needed to automate processes might seem greater than traditional methods solely based on capital expenses.

However, an increasing number of companies acknowledge that the ultimate cost implications of not implementing automation can surpass the required initial investment. Through automation, businesses can enhance efficiency, mitigate risks related to labour scarcity, and ultimately attain long-term cost reductions.

Lastly, to address the challenge of a lack of implementation experience, companies could seek collaboration with experienced automation firms that have a good track record.

Starting with pilot and small-scale automation projects will allow companies to identify potential issues before scaling up. This process allows for a controlled environment where companies can learn, iterate, and fine-tune the implementation process for larger and more complex automation endeavours.

Enhancing scalability and adaptability through automation

Automation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning algorithms, and integrated advanced sensors, optimises production schedules, allocates resources efficiently, and allows companies to swiftly respond to market conditions and unexpected disruptions, ultimately driving higher levels of productivity and output.

Without automation, companies risk relying on error-prone manual processes, leading to higher costs, extended production cycles, and difficulties in responding to changes in customer preferences or disruptions in the supply chain.

Embracing automation can be challenging, but partnering with like-minded intelligent solutions providers can pave the way for a successful business model, especially in today’s evolving business landscape.

The post Intelligent solutions for complex challenges: A path to automation success 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.

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The new study, Vulnerable Software Supply Chains Are a Multi-billion Dollar Problem, highlights the need for greater emphasis on the software elements of the supply chain as a critical security vulnerability. The study analysed how both shifts in wider cybersecurity processes, and the mindset around the management of the software supply chain are needed to address these risks.

“The software supply chain has been neglected over the years as a source of risk, leading to a situation where organisations face significant issues if they cannot change the way they operate,” said Nick Maynard, report author and head of research at Juniper Research.

“As software supply chains become more complex, the problem becomes exponentially more complicated, requiring immediate attention to resolve, through regulations, SBOMs (Software Bills of Materials), embedded security, and cybersecurity solutions.”

Nick Maynard

BlackBerry CISO Arvind Raman says enhancing the security of software supply chains is critical for national security and for building a trusted digital world. He stresses that software supply chain security practices must be adopted by all industries.

The study also examines the importance of software supply chains across several verticals, including, financial services, government, automotive, and healthcare, making the study vital reading for key stakeholders in those high-risk industries.

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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.

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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As retailers deploy Micro-Fulfilment Centres (MFCs) to augment their distribution networks, automated picking solutions provide the speed and space maximization necessary for e-commerce efficiency and profitability.

ABI Research says Automated Storage & Retrieval System (AS/RS) revenue within MFCs is expected to reach US$1.2 billion by 2027, with uptake primarily seen in the grocery and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries.

“The need for high-density storage and fast fulfilment capabilities allows technologies to scale down and enable a flexible, bespoke frontline distribution network,” said Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

He added that in addition to automated high-density storage systems, retailers are also looking to enhance manual picking operations to deliver micro-fulfilment solutions using handheld devices and Goods-to-Person (G2P) mobile robots.

"With over 2/3 of MFCs currently deployed in or alongside existing stores, micro-fulfilment solutions are helping retailers re-imagine how they utilize their current infrastructure to support online delivery."

Ryan Wiggin

Delivery times are getting faster, down to a matter of hours for certain products. As demand for alternative shopping experiences like click-and-collect increases, customer attraction and retention rests heavily on effective inventory management and localized delivery capabilities.

A few critical solutions vendors have emerged offering dedicated micro-fulfilment packages, including Alert Innovation, Dematic, Swisslog, and Takeoff Technologies, while companies like Ocado Group are offering MFCs as an additional arm to their existing warehouse automation solutions. Most solutions are underpinned by cube or shuttle-based AS/RS, orchestrated by management systems increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Store and warehouse workers are being equipped with more sophisticated handheld devices from companies like Zebra as retailers look to deploy manually operated MFCs within existing stores or facilities and help optimize online order picking. And Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) inVia Robotics, 6 River Systems, and Locus Robotics are seeing deployment in MFCs as an alternative to stationary G2P automation.

Wiggin commented that in industries where online delivery has notoriously been an unprofitable venture, localised, automated MFCs are greatly helping to reduce both cost and picking time.

U.S.-based industry giants like Nordstrom, H-E-B, and Walgreens are leading in MFC solutions adoption. In Asia-Pacific and Europe, MFC solutions vendors are gaining traction signalling wider implementation of automated micro-fulfilment.

"End users must assess current network requirements and understand where micro-fulfilment solutions could offer significant value. Technology vendors must ensure that solutions can be scaled and be adaptable to retailer’s requirements,” concluded Wiggin.

* Editor's note: Comments and stats provided by ABI Research.

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ABI Research says as a new tool in the IoT toolbox, these devices promise a significant expansion in the use cases and corresponding value that can be generated – initially in the supply chain market but with substantial opportunities beyond.

“Over the past 15 years, the printed electronics market for asset tracking has been driven by RFID. This will continue to remain a dominant technology. Still, the evolution of low-power IoT technologies from Bluetooth through to cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies is making possible the creation of RF labels with enhanced capabilities,” explains Tancred Taylor, industry analyst at ABI Research.

“The cost, simplicity, and enhanced features of these devices – including range, lifespan, and data throughput – will enable enterprises to address entirely new use cases which have previously not been possible.” Tancrid Taylor

Bluetooth labels like Wiliot and Reelables have driven awareness around the emerging possibilities from printed IoT. These are already seeing substantial adoption volumes thanks to the technology's maturity using very low-power chip designs.

In contrast, the market for WAN labels has been more complicated due to a higher engineering burden. The alignment of printable batteries, connectivity protocols, reel-to-reel printing, and device provisioning has proven a significant obstacle in the past three years.

While some impressive initiatives have been successful, particularly in China, it is only in the second half of 2022 that significant progress has been made on major LPWAN protocols. Announcements by Sigfox operators and partners, SODAQ (most recently with Qualcomm), NNNCo, and many others have shown that products are nearing readiness for major adoption. Behind the scenes, numerous vendors across the value chain are working on bringing to market their own designs.

Cost is only one of the many aspects of smart labels that make them attractive. Taylor says smart labels are already evolving in numerous directions from features and form-factor perspectives, which will entirely change how enterprises gather data on their assets, which will be the greatest driver of value.

"Initially, the use cases that present themselves most clearly are in the supply chain. Still, opportunities exist in retail and industrial management markets, and even in B2C markets in the not-so-distant future,” he added.

“The key is for companies to target the right use cases, understand how smart labels will function alongside the rest of IoT, and position themselves actively within the value chain to take advantage of this fast-developing market.”

Tancred Taylor

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Gartner says machine customers represent one of the biggest new growth opportunities of the decade, and business leaders must act now to create a path to entry to a business megatrend that will eventually be more significant than the arrival of digital commerce

In the new Gartner book, When Machines Become Customers, authors Don Scheibenreif, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner and leader of Gartner’s research on customer experience, and Mark Raskino, distinguished VP analyst, Gartner Fellow and leader of Gartner’s CEO research, explain that machine customers will be involved in a wide range of consumer and business purchases. In the book, they anticipate and unpack key challenges and opportunities for organisations, and how these organisations should tackle them.

The machine customer is here

“The machine customer era has already begun,” said Scheibenreif. “There are more machines with the potential to act as buyers than humans on the planet. Today, there are more than 9.7 billion installed IoT devices, including equipment monitoring, surveillance cameras, connected cars, smart lighting, tablets, smartwatches, smart speaker and connected printers."

"Each of these has a steadily improving ability to analyse information and make decisions. Every IoT enabled product could become a customer. Gartner predicts that by 2027 50% of people in advanced economies will have AI personal assistants working for them every day.”

Don Scheibenreif

Executives across the enterprise must collaborate to prepare for machine customers. This ranges from legal officers (general counsel) who will need to dig into definitions and start framing what risk-managed ways the company can engage commercially, to CIOs who must lead the construction of the platforms capable of serving machine customer markets, to marketing officers who must reconceptualise what a customer is and how to understand machine customer needs. HR officers, supply chain officers and revenue officers, like the head of sales, will also need to consider how machine customers will impact their organisations.

Three phases of machine customer evolution

The first phase of the machine customers’ evolution can be seen in services such as HP Instant Ink, Amazon Dash Replenishment and Tesla’s automobiles. These are examples of automatically performing limited functions as “co-customers” on the owner’s behalf. People set the rules, and the machine executes them within a specific and prescribed ecosystem. These machines are therefore “bound customers”, and they represent the first in a three-phase evolution.

“In the second, emerging phase, people still set the rules for machines as ‘adaptable customers’, although AI technology can choose and act on behalf of a human with minimal intervention for select tasks,” said Raskino. Examples include robotrading and autonomous vehicle systems.

In the final phase, these new economic actors are “autonomous customers”. They have enough intelligence to act independently on behalf of humans with a high degree of discretion and own most of the process steps associated with a transaction.

Scheibenreif opined that what the machine customers from each phase have in common is that they will make decisions differently from humans in three ways.

“They are logical and will make decisions based on rules that may or may not be transparent. Second, they can also process large amounts of information. Lastly, machines focus on completing tasks efficiently and without emotion, and they can’t be influenced by being ‘wine and dined,’” he concluded.

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IoT Analytics market research, Matthieu Kulezak, observes that within the (ICT) supply chain there are three distinct submarkets: software, hardware, and connectivity. The software itself is further segmented into sourcing software, supply chain planning and design software, and supply chain execution software.

This software is then connected to hardware like packing and place machinery, and automatic sorting and retrieval machinery for logistics. Finally, there is the connectivity submarket such as IoT-based track and trace devices. Network operators fit into the connectivity submarket.

Changes introduced during the pandemic

According to Kulezak, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEOs and CFOs assumed that supply chains just operated unencumbered by the day-to-day problems of running a business. The pandemic revealed just how complicated supply chain issues were – vulnerable not just to business cycles but to operational issues of suppliers and business parties.

“They realise that supply chains are important, and they need to work to have their business working so that that's clear. And they'll ask way more questions on supply chain visibility,” he added.

He concluded this is why supply chain managers are undertaking digitisation.

Digitalisation and transformation of the supply chain

Kulezak noted the recent big push for digitisation in part to support remote work and to gain supply chain visibility.

“There's been a lot of issues on the structures of the supply chain, on the networks. For example, an automotive or pharmaceutical manufacturer realised that they could not produce, not because of their own production capabilities, but because of a supplier that couldn't produce,” he added.

He acknowledged that at times, it’s the very little things that can stop an entire production system. He noted that the adoption of digital twins is enabling manufacturers to create replicas of the entire supply chain network to identify and pinpoint where the issues are.

Trends influencing the digitisation of the supply chain

He reiterated the big push towards visibility across the supply chain. He observed that the different players in the supply chain will have their view, albeit narrow, as to what constitutes visibility within their supply chain.

This complicates the challenge for IT vendors who, according to Kulezak, face a “fight for semantic” where depending on the business of the party in the supply chain will have a different interpretation of what visibility within the supply chain is important.

By way of example, a transportation company may have a different track and trace requirement compared to a manufacturer or warehouse distribution hub or parts supplier.

The cybersecurity angle

Complicating the digitisation journey for organisations in the supply chain is cybersecurity. Kulezak concede to have a functioning supply chain requires that all parties are connected.

“For example, an automotive manufacturing company will need to have all of the inventory of production capability data from suppliers, as well as the suppliers of its suppliers, in order to have a good prediction of the future,” he elaborated.

The predicament here is that some organisations may not be so open to sharing their data with others in part because they are concerned about cybersecurity risks. He called out efforts in some industry sectors to create third-party platforms that allow for data to become available to participants in the supply chain in a secure fashion.

Conclusion

Kulezak sees healthy growth in the software and hardware sectors of information technology supporting the supply chain.

He sees a growing demand for the simplification of technologies that deliver supply chain visibility. This, in turn, is resulting in a consolidation of the technology solutions marketplace. He foresees pe challenge for ICT players – choosing the right product to go for.

Click on the PodChat player to listen to Kulezak’s observations and recommendations for supply chain leaders in 2023.

1. Define Digital supply chain.
2. Looking back from pre-pandemic to this period (mid-August 2022), how have things changed regarding digital supply chains?
3. In accelerating digital transformation, which areas of the software have gained relevance in the industry verticals of the supply chain?
4. Which trends are helping in terms of digitisation of the supply chain?
5. How are companies approaching the topic of cybersecurity in the supply chain?
6. In summarising everything we’ve discussed, what are IoT Analytics’ recommendations for business, operations and technology leaders?

The post PodChats for FutureIoT: Changing the future of global supply chains appeared first on FutureIoT.

Suppliers, distributors, and retailers are turning to digital transformations to cater to a rapidly growing market for end-to-end visibility and operational efficiency.

ABI Research forecasts warehouse management software (WMS) revenue in the food and beverage industry will reach US$975.2 million globally by 2026. Continued technology adoption will be critical to remain competitive and fulfilling growing consumer demand for omnichannel offerings.

“Technology adoption in the food industry has notoriously been low compared to other industries due to the razor-thin margins on food products and the challenge in managing products of different shelf lives and condition requirements,” said Ryan Wiggin, supply chain management & logistics industry analyst at ABI Research.

He opined that these very challenges that wide-scale digital transformations can help overcome, as well as help to ensure long-term price competitiveness and consistency in product availability.

“Accessible and scalable solutions are necessary for companies at each stage of the supply chain to thrive in such a fast-paced market,” he continued.

The technology landscape

As the volume of food and the number of ways consumers can shop for their groceries increases and the amount of labour available decreases, retailers are turning to software and hardware solutions to alleviate operational constraints.

Enabled traceability via the Internet of Things (IoT) data-fuelled software solutions, such as WMS and Supply Chain Control Towers, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and more accessible. As such, companies can move away from manual tracking and support better operational decision-making with deeper visibility and forecasting.

Companies like the Optel Group deliver centralised platforms to harmonize data and stakeholders across the supply chain, allowing companies to manage and react better to events. At the same time, companies like Wiliot offer innovative IoT solutions that can track product location, temperature, and exposure to provide real-time granular data and ensure food safety.

From a hardware angle, handheld devices, mobile computers, and interactive kiosks from companies like Zebra are facilitating retailers' move into omnichannel offerings to significantly increase worker productivity at both a store and warehouse level.

Item-picking solutions from robotics firms, such as RightHand Robotics, are helping to automate end-of-line operations to support micro-fulfilment and online order picking. Broader deployments of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) in warehouses continue to grow as functionality and control over the scale of deployments for end users develop.

“Growing operational pressures and incoming regulation such as FSMA Rule 204 will drive investment, but collaborative strategies and upskilling will be necessary to smooth adoption. Food companies must identify current pain points and establish phased digital transformation plans.”

Ryan Wiggins

“Technology vendors need to facilitate step approaches to adoption with continued engagement to ensure technology dispersal in the food industry is equitable and widespread,” concluded Wiggin.

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As Asia comes out of the three-year economic slump because of the pandemic, what lies ahead for businesses? What is the role of IoT in the return to some form of normalcy?

FutureIoT spoke to Danny Mu, principal analyst at Forester Research on recent trends around IoT adoption in Asia and where this will lead us in 2023 and beyond.

Drawing from the Forester Report, state of IoT in Asia Pacific in 2022. Where is the concentration of IoT?

We have seen that companies in Asia-Pacific are shifting the share of IoT engagements toward production deployments.

Five years ago, in 2017, production deployments comprised just 25% of engagements, and these were predominantly POCs or pilots.

But in 2021, 61% of engagements were production deployments. That is a clear indication that Asia-Pacific firms are getting more confident in the potential of IoT initiatives to generate business value.

Among all the IoT use cases, smart industry, smart consumer services, and smart infrastructure are popular in Asia-Pacific.

Why do you say the smart city industry in Asia Pacific's leading the world in terms of IoT?

As we know, Asia Pacific contributed 35% of the world's GDP, but when focusing on industry value added, including manufacturing, construction, and utilities, Asia Pacific contributed 44%. That is why the smart industry is a leading IoT use case.

What’s driving this deployment of IoT?

Three drivers. The first appearance and rising maturity of specialised IoT solutions and cloud-based IoT. Second, connectivity technologies such as 5G. Third capabilities and offerings of IoT consultants and service providers.

In Asia, which industries are leaving the deployment?

In Asia Pacific, two-thirds of telecom decision makers say their firm is currently adopting IoT solutions.

Adoption and investment are highest in high-tech manufacturing, 81% followed by telecom, 71%. General manufacturing and pharma are broadly in line with Asia-Pacific outreach.

Adoption rates below the average are found in financial services and insurance, 60%, and retail in wholesale 56.

Compared to other regions outside Asia, how sophisticated do you see the level of use of IoT in our part of the world?

According to the survey data, the IoT solution and application adoption rate in Asia Pacific is higher than in Europe and North America. Particularly in the high-tech manufacturing sector, the adoption rate in Asia Pacific is more than 10% higher than in Europe and North America.

Within the leadership at organizations deploying IoT, what do you see are the primary motivations most surveyed?

Asia-Pacific Telecom decision-makers are confident that IoT solutions will generate significant operational efficiency. Half of them expect IoT initiatives to significantly improve customer experience and increase revenue.

How do you see these IoT deployments impacting other initiatives like digital transformation and modernization, for instance?

Impacted by IOT solutions, enhancing customer experience in public places is the most often mentioned. Other use cases related to smart consumer services are also popular.

The two years of the pandemic have likely driven this trend as customer experience in public. It's driven by private companies, public infrastructure operators, and governments.

IoT Solutions also help to enable new business models, particularly in financial services and insurance – a clear indication that those firms will spend the extra IoT budget on usage-based insurance financing and lending.  

Given that security is a rising concern among business leaders, how should enterprises deploying IoT manage the security strategy of the company? 

Security is on top of the concerns with deploying IoT 10% higher than the second option. To help protect data in IoT scenarios, confidential computing can help to isolate sensitive operations in a trusted execution environment during processing.

To support the transfer of data between edge and cloud while appearing seamless to the developers, two networking markets, zero trust/edge, and multi-cloud networking will combine to create a business-wide networking fabric.

Finally, as we step into 2023, how should enterprises review IOT deployment strategies to ensure that these initiatives meet expectations?

We have found that Asia-Pacific companies are less confident in their in-house skills to deliver IoT solutions successfully. These points will need for consulting partnerships.

We also predict that the adoption of in-region digital industrial platforms will gain significant growth. Embracing these in region platforms and industry-specific cloud solutions will help Asia-Pacific firms meet their expectations.

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A report by Grand View Research values the global location intelligence market size at US$14 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% from 2022 to 2030, largely driven by increased investment in the Internet of Things (IoT) and a growing focus on location services across industries.

Regionally, the indoor location-based services market is expected to grow by 36.7% year-on-year owing to the rising demand for digital platforms amid the pandemic.

The state of indoor location services today

The problem with indoor wayfinding is the fact that global positioning systems (GPS) simply does not work well indoors. For GPS receivers to work, they need to be able to receive signals from the constellation of satellites orbiting earth from more than 20,000 km away.

That is why GPS systems in cars take seemingly forever to initialise, and why receiving these signals through concrete walls indoors is seemingly impossible.

So, current indoor access points (APs) on their own do not provide accurate location information. Indoor location-based applications have therefore used alternative technologies such as Bluetooth or other wireless systems to improve the accuracy of indoor positioning and this is typically a separate network to Wi-Fi.

As a result, we have not seen the widespread adoption of indoor locations nor a set of standard applications like we have in the outdoor space.

Users usually end up having to manually map out the location points of their APs. This results in inaccuracies due to human error, to speak nothing of the labour-intensive nature of this process. Each time the location of this AP is changed, time and resources must be devoted towards recalibration.

Imagine the cumbersome process of manually mapping each device or machine within a multi-storey hospital that operates over thousands of devices daily, each taking about 10 to 15 minutes to manually perform.

How GPS is making self-locating indoor access points

GPS-enabled APs, on the other hand, automate this process and drastically lower the cost of operations. APs are generally static—they do not move around a lot—and they need to communicate with other APs around them to self-locate by using high-sensitivity GPS receivers that are embedded in and optimised for APs.

By combining GPS with fine time measurements (FTM), which can orchestrate and coordinate the measurements between APs across the network, AP locations are accurately represented in both latitude and longitude—meaning the true height of the access point is also calculated in the process.

Furthermore, these GPS-enabled indoor APs can be located on ceilings, with their antennas facing the floor, and even in basements—traditionally the worst kind of environments for GPS solutions. But we made it work.

The integration of APs with GPS capabilities puts an end to any abstraction in location services. Instead, these APs communicate automatically with each other and algorithmically determine an optimal anchor point for all APs within the network.

This enables a self-correction of sorts over time after the initial set-up—performed through repeated measurements and correction of anchor APs to provide businesses with the most accurate location possible.

By standardising how APs share their reference locations with the ecosystem—over-the-air and via cloud-based APIs, existing GPS navigation applications can leverage location coordinates supplied by the APs to extend their coverage indoors.

This is highly beneficial for businesses that operate on large premises. In hospitality, for instance, precise indoor location can vastly improve the customer experience by providing guests with better navigation to event halls and food and beverage outlets, as well as easy and secure access to hotel facilities and services.

Beyond navigation, GPS-enabled indoor access points introduce many potential possibilities, including asset tracking of expensive medical equipment in hospitals, and geofencing in daycare centres to ensure child safety.

These self-locating indoor access points engender greater efficiencies across all layers of operations and simultaneously improve the accuracy of today's networks to bring greater value to customers.

By working out how to successfully integrate GPS receivers into indoor access points, network administrators can manage these APs in the long term to enable the delivery of improved indoor location services that make things like object and people tracking more accurate than ever. The potential use cases across industries are staggering, and that's game-changing.

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This growth of 89% will be driven by verticals such as retail and eCommerce, which provide increased online presence and product availability as retailers refine their online customer experience.

OTT-based conversational commerce enables users to make purchases or transfer money directly in OTT messaging apps.

The biggest opportunities in commerce

The new research found that eCommerce and retail will account for over 35% of spend via OTT conversational commerce channels in 2023; accounting for US$9 billion of spending globally. However, it identified regional fragmentation in the OTT messaging space as a key hurdle to growth.

To overcome this, it urges conversational commerce vendors to onboard each messaging app individually, while adhering strictly to the varying financial regulations in each country.

Other issues for conversational commerce vendors include the varying types of payment methods in use across countries. Vendors need to account for these differences and support various digital wallets.

This flexibility will enable vendors to offer a complete omnichannel experience by providing payments across OTT apps, chatbots, voicebots and RCS business messaging.

Omnichannel plus!

To increase market share, conversational commerce platforms must also invest in value-added services to provide differentiation from existing conversational services.

For example, digital loyalty programmes can be used to provide personalised and incentivised messages to achieve increases in digital engagement. In addition, vendors must facilitate features such as link tracking and call-to-action support to monitor engagement.

Research author Elisha Sudlow-Poole commented: “Supporting enough communication channels is no longer enough to ensure the success of omnichannel experiences. Vendors must look to include additional value-added services into their business model to create depth within existing communication channels.”

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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

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To keep up with renewed consumer demands and expectations, companies are increasingly investing in digital technologies such as new manufacturing methods, human-robot collaboration, and advanced analytics and intelligence to overcome supply chain disruptions and productivity challenges.

These businesses are supported by governments in the region, who have implemented progressive digitalisation plans to accelerate their digital economies, such as Singapore’s Smart Nation Plan and Australia’s Digital Economy Strategy.

However, despite having more data and workflows digitalised, complete confidence in the numbers reflected in inventory management systems is still lacking. Many businesses are not yet reporting 100% inventory accuracy or the ability to sense demand, which underlines that more work needs to be done to improve inventory planning.

Furthermore, according to Zebra’s 14^th Annual Global Shopper Study, retail associates surveyed increasingly feel the pain of inventory issues, ranking it their top complaint. From the consumer’s point of view, inventory visibility is also key to shopper satisfaction, as it helps connect shoppers to what they want and gets them in the door in the first place.

As highlighted by my Zebra colleague Suresh Menon, senior vice president and general manager of software solutions, data fragmentation remains an issue for most organisations. Information systems are siloed both within and outside the four walls even though operational functions and supply chain organisations have become more co-dependent than ever.

Fortunately, the introduction of technologies such as read-to-cloud radio frequency identification (RFID) application programming interfaces (APIs), handheld RFID sleds and readers, and affordable RFID tags and labels has made it easier for retailers of all sizes to leverage RFID to improve operational visibility, inventory management and process execution.

RFID systems can automatically read thousands of tagged items and provide highly accurate information about the location of an item, helping to increase the accuracy and reliability of quality control and track and trace processes.

Beyond automating data capture

Online shopping in Southeast Asia is growing at a significant rate. In Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, the demand for both e-commerce and m-commerce is on a huge growth trajectory and is poised to be one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.

With the exponential rise of e-commerce activity, retailers in the region realised that they needed to employ technologies such as barcode-based track and trace solutions to keep up with renewed consumer demands.

With just a single scan, these solutions allow multiple data fields to be automatically and accurately captured, recorded, and effectively interpreted by the relevant stakeholders, such as inventory and operations managers, buyers, and planners.

The introduction of RFID technology has allowed data capture to be further automated. Thousands of tags could be read each second by fixed readers strategically placed throughout facilities or handheld readers operated by workers, and recorded data could be fed in bulk into inventory management systems with increased accuracy.

To be able to sense, analyse, and act on both supply and demand trends in real-time, automating data capture is not enough. Retailers need to start automating analytics too.

Making sense of inventory data

Real-time inventory transparency is key to making the right labour, procurement, merchandising, pricing, and promotion decisions which hardware components like barcode and RFID systems provide to a certain extent.

However, these hardware components still lack the ability to analyse, or action-captured data. As such, retailers need to invest in software and independent software vendors (ISV) to analyse the captured data.

Modern inventory management capabilities have greatly improved since cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms became available at scale. As structured and unstructured data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) components can now flow freely through a data pipeline or directly to a data lake, APIs and machine learning algorithms can be leveraged more extensively to access and mine data in a cost-effective manner.

The system is designed so that anyone and everyone at each stage of the fulfilment process can plug into the same information systems via APIs and extract actionable insights most relevant to their roles.

Workflow applications can also be customised to help drive the best next actions from different stakeholders, including operations managers, associates, and delivery drivers. A prescriptive analytics platform, for example, can be taught to detect certain patterns in the data and assign tasks to employees anytime an inventory-related issue or opportunity arises.

Furthermore, an intelligent demand sensing platform can aggregate inventory data from multiple business systems and analyse it alongside external data such as weather, traffic, holidays, and other demand-influencing events to prescribe calculated best actions when it comes to procurement, merchandising, pricing, or promotion.

Designing a personalised inventory management system

Led by advancements in technology, the progressive shift in focus from automating data capture to data analytics has been key to improving inventory availability and performance in the last decade.

An improved inventory management system offers universal accessibility to workers who are increasingly mobile, even automating decision-making to a certain extent, removing manual processes and legacies from inventory planning and management.

Inventory transparency is a key pillar driving the future of store operations. When designing inventory-related solutions, retailers need to adopt a forward-thinking approach to store and inventory management. Moving forward, better inventory management tools will improve accuracy and availability, increasing satisfaction levels for both shoppers and associates.

The post Inventory management: past, present, and future of retail appeared first on FutureIoT.

To capitalise on the opportunity, Mitsubishi Logisnext Asia Pacific (MLAP) and XSQUARE will collaborate to provide businesses with a solution to overcome labour shortages while increasing warehouse productivity and operational efficiency by:

• developing a new line of Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) based on Logisnext’s brands of forklifts, and
• distributing xSQUARE’s intelligent warehousing solutions through MLAP’s distribution network in Asia, Oceania, and South Africa

The solution is implementable across all types of warehouses, factories, and dynamic environments, seamlessly supporting daily operations and making safety an integral part of the logistics value chain. 

Yasuo Kubota, managing director of Mitsubishi Logisnext Asia Pacific, said, “We believe that our partnership with xSQUARE will help strengthen our ability to expand the product and service offerings in the material handling equipment industry. This collaboration will also enable us to be a complete solutions provider in this domain.”

“We’re excited to work with xSQUARE to bring new cutting-edge solutions to the market so that our customers can manage high order volumes in a seamless manner while reaching their sustainability goals.”

Yasuo Kuboto

XSQUARE’s intelligent warehousing solutions enable warehouse operators to overcome automation fragmentation and achieve full interoperability – all while dealing with high volumes of goods movement.

XSQUARE CEO, Jens Bohnwagner, says the company’s intelligent warehousing solutions have been specifically designed to deliver benefits that impact not just companies in the industry but also their customers and the environment.

“Our shared vision with MLAP is to become market leaders that will push the boundaries of innovation and transform the warehouse automation industry with solutions powered by intelligent systems and pioneering technology.”

Jens Bohnwagner

Going forward, the two companies intend to roll out the solution in the Asia Pacific market according to the partnership agreement.

The post Partnership to tap into burgeoning smart warehouse demand appeared first on FutureIoT.

This is the case of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's Flood Control System in the Jakarta Smart City application. Developed by Jakarta Smart City in collaboration with the Jakarta Water Resource Service (DSDA) to optimise flood risk management in Jakarta, the project involved the use of IoT, AI and ML as part of an early warning system against the risk of floods in the city.

As more organisations deploy IoT in commercial and industrial environments, the amount of data that is derived from these devices and sensors may prove important in improving quality, operational efficiency, and in the case of Jakarta – saving lives and property from natural disasters.

Kenneth Koh, head of industry consulting at SAS Institute, argues that the speed and accuracy with which an IoT system reacts to its environment is critical. However, with the devices and other sensors in a typical system generating overwhelming amounts of data, traditional tools and methods can slow down the process of making sense of that data.

Can you explain what AI-embedded IoT is?

Kenneth Koh: Processing data at or near the edge allows IoT systems to be nimbler and more impactful. But the quality of a data-led action is only as meaningful as the quality of the data-based insights it is acting on.

IoT by itself is not new to manufacturers. Manufacturers have been collecting and storing sensor data from machines for decades. The value proposition for them is in AIoT -analysing that data, at the edge in real-time, using AI and ML to drive efficiencies and value.

By equipping IoT systems with AI capabilities, a wide variety of data, both structured and unstructured, can be processed on the edge. High-quality insights are made available at increased speeds for systems to act on.

AI-embedded IoT and how it unlocks business value

Kenneth Koh: AI-embedded IoT improves operational efficiency and productivity while reducing costs. It also drives innovation towards better customer service, better products, and faster product deployment to the market.

Embedding AI in IoT devices enables edge computing, allowing for the deployment of IoT systems in situations where consistent 5G networks are unavailable. For example, logistics providers can use IoT sensors in their transportation fleet to monitor the internal and external conditions in their vehicles, even in remote parts of the latter's routes.

Aside from edge computing, AI-embedded IoT utilises machine learning to develop actionable insights from the terabytes of data an IoT system generates daily. In the example above, data collected from these sensors are sent to the cloud in real-time, enabling technicians to address vehicle breakdowns more accurately and much faster.

Manufacturers can also use these insights to predict when a particular factory system or piece of equipment would fail, allowing technicians to implement preventive maintenance. Proactive detection of faulty equipment saves precious man-hours while reducing costly unscheduled downtimes.

On the retail side, insights from IoT systems can be used to identify optimal prices for products and minimise disruption to their supply chains.

ML and its role in IoT analytics

Kenneth Koh: Machine learning is the edge AI-embedded IoT has over other IoT deployments. Systems can learn as it processes sensor-generated data using diverse advanced analytical methods such as decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting, neural networks, support vector machines, and factorization machines.

This creates savings for enterprises in terms of man-hours and specialists in the organisation. Without the need to extensively train AI systems, specialists can focus on other critical tasks as non-data scientists can access, view, and process data.

Machine learning capabilities also increase the range of data that AI systems can access and process: visual images online and offline, text, and even verbal speech. The increased volume and quality of available data increases the value and impact of insights derived from it.

Combined, these machine learning capabilities enable both increased speed and volume of data processing, enabling real-time actionable insights which are crucial in many IoT systems.

How AIoT supported Jakarta Smart City: Using SAS's AI-powered platforms, Jakarta Smart City was able to integrate multi-source data in real-time and provides advanced analytics with IoT, machine learning & AI technology to provide emergency/disaster predictive capability and optimisation to serve the public. The result is a flood emergency response to mitigate the risk of floods in Jakarta.

Given that IoT historically falls under operational technology, who should own the securing of IoT?

Kenneth Koh: The introduction of IoT is blurring the lines between IT and OT across enterprises. Sensors and devices are connected to the network to create new systems and improve processes. At the same time, this convergence exposes traditional OT equipment and systems to threats they were previously insulated from.

The fact is that true device security is a combination of technologies, processes, and best practices. Thus, securing IoT systems should not be the sole domain of either OT or IT teams but engendering closer, more effective collaboration between both.

However, this is easier said than done, as IT security teams and OT security teams often don't speak the same language and find it difficult to understand each other's point of view.

Responsibilities are distributed quite differently; priorities often diverge and regulations governing OT security and IT security can sometimes contradict one another. Gaining an overview of all assets within the given environment makes clear what assets and processes must not fail under any circumstances.

By doing this, organisations can establish and practice unified cybersecurity that ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.

Name one best practice for IT and operational technology staff working together.

Kenneth Koh: In manufacturing, data is very time sensitive. For example, if the chemical concentration of a process is drifting away from optimal, the engineer may have only minutes to react to save many tons of product. 

In many semiconductor processes, engineers have only seconds to react. In such situations, Analytics needs to move to the ‘edge’ which means the data must be analysed and decisioned at the machine or on the shop floor, not in the back office or engineering.

This requires the ability to do analytics wherever it is needed –at the machine, on the production floor, in the cloud or the back office.

One of the major challenges faced is data silos. For organisations that are not implementing IT/OT convergence, due to a patchwork of unintegrated or partially integrated apps and enterprise systems. Without careful planning, introducing new sources of data (e.g. IoT sensors) will compound the problem.

Implementing a data integration platform to connect IoT systems with organisations' existing technology stack breaks down silos between historical and future data while providing all teams the same access through a single point of control. This ensures that IT and OT teams are with the same page, establishing a foundation for better IT/OT convergence.

The post The value of AI in IoT analytics appeared first on FutureIoT.

We have heard about 5G for a few years now. Newer smartphones are all 5G-enabled. Service providers want you to get that new phone and experience 5G. If you have a 5G phone, you may have even noticed that downloads are faster (much faster if you happen to be in certain areas). However, 5G is probably not changing your life (yet). Better than 4G? Yes, but perhaps not a transformative experience.

While most consumers think that 5G is all about them, the truth is 5G is ideal for addressing the networking needs of business and enterprise. Many of the new features of 5G may not even be noticed by consumers but will be game-changing for some companies. Some of these new capabilities will be offered by communications service providers (CSPs) to enterprises utilizing public 5G networks, but there is now an even more transformative option: private 5G networks.

Companies have long employed private wired and wireless networks (primarily Wi-Fi), as well as other network types, for their data needs, but why would an organization employ a private 5G network for data? A private 5G network is isolated and restricts the devices that connect to the network.

Wireless networks (of any type) add a level of flexibility not available with wired networks. Moving a connected device with a wired network may involve moving the network as well. This process is often expensive and, in certain situations, not possible. Wi-Fi works great in many situations, but it cannot scale to the same levels that cellular achieves.

Cellular network technology provides several advantages, including being designed for mobility (moving devices) and connection reliability, supporting greater coverage due to increased power levels, and allowing for much higher device density. Private 5G networks are not likely to replace Wi-Fi and wired networks entirely; instead, they will cover use cases that the other technologies do not cover or do not cover well.

Industries to benefit early from wireless networks

In the telecom industry, technologies are often debated and discussed in great detail. However, the reasons an enterprise decides to install a private 5G network is NOT about technology but about addressing business requirements that current networking options (Wi-Fi or wired networks) are not handling.

Public and private 5G networks enable use cases that other wireless technologies do not, and those use cases pay dividends that can be measured financially and with improvements in efficiency and safety. Small improvements in efficiency can add up to millions of dollars in savings. Keeping employees safe is more important than just the financial impact. These dividend-paying use cases may sometimes be solved with public 5G. However, there are other situations in which private 5G networks become the best solution. For instance:

Coverage issues may limit the public option. This is often the case in certain industries where public cellular coverage at a location is limited or non-existent, e.g., underground mines or offshore oil rigs.

While a facility may have adequate coverage outside, inside may be more challenging. Factories or warehouses are good examples, with both the building shell and contents as potential sources of interference.

Control of data can be a deciding factor. Some businesses require that their data never leave their control (for competitive or security reasons).

Most of the current activity in private 5G networks is with large enterprises in certain industries, such as mining, energy, manufacturing, and more. As 5G evolves over the next decade or so, private 5G networks will evolve to support smaller companies in almost all industries.

The consumer market has long been the bread-and-butter for CSPs. The telecommunications industry is capital-intensive and requires heavy investment to compete. CSPs have invested significantly in 5G. The stark truth is those CSPs depending just on the consumer market for a return on investment will fail.

5G is designed with the enterprise market in mind and provides new capabilities that no other networking technology can provide. To achieve an acceptable return on their 5G investments, CSPs must better serve customers outside of the consumer market. This may be with the public 5G networks. Or it may be by providing enterprises with private 5G networks. (Or perhaps some combination.)

Not all private 5G networks will involve CSPs, but perhaps the most lucrative will. CSPs must take advantage of this opportunity, and the most successful CSPs globally are actively involved in growing this market.

All private 5G networks will involve network infrastructure suppliers. As more of the world rolls out 5G, there will come a time with slower growth for network infrastructure suppliers and public 5G networks. With private 5G networks growing strongly, suppliers may not even notice the slowdown.

Private 5G networks have the potential to transform enterprise data communication needs AND enable CSPs to continue providing consumers and industry ever-evolving communications services. First published on Frost & Sullivan

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ABI Research estimates that in 2021, retail sales grew by 14%. This is double that of 2020’s growth which was clocked at 7%. Both periods recorded remarkable growth when compared to the 3.7% annual growth rate between 2010 and 2019.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that this growth is putting a strain on supply chains and retail operations worldwide. In response, retailers and stakeholders are turning to automation solutions such as mobile robotics for operational ease.

ABI Research says worldwide commercial robot revenue in retail stores will have a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 25% from 2022 to 2030 and exceed US$8.4 billion by 2030.

“There is the continued adoption of diverse technologies in the retail space. We can see incoming retail solutions within various points of the retail value chain, such as order fulfilment, in-store inventory check, coordination between store associates, or last-mile delivery. These solutions can directly or indirectly impact the wider supply chain management to retailers for the better,” explains Adhish Luitel, senior analyst, supply chain management and logistics at ABI Research.

Technologies such as contactless checkout, in-store mobile robotics, wearables, and smart carts are getting a lot of traction, with major retailers adopting these incoming solutions to enhance operations and contribute to a more streamlined supply chain management. Companies like Zebra Technologies, Simbe Robotics, and Seoul Robotics have been providing various automation solutions such as wearable computers, handheld devices, LiDAR devices, and in-store robots that can be used for inventory scanning, floor care, or security purposes.

Companies such as Mashgin and Cloudpick offer frictionless checkout in stores by combining proprietary computer vision, deep learning, sensor fusion, and edge computing technologies.

Luitel commented that given their obvious operational benefits of enhanced customer experience, streamlined task/employee management, price management, or automated item monitoring, the impact of these technologies on the wider supply chain management for retailers can’t be understated. Beyond enabling rapid fulfilment/restocking or automated inventory management, these technologies also provide additional data points for precise demand and procurement planning.

“This can also lead to an enhanced omnichannel presence for retailers and stronger partnerships with suppliers, shippers, distribution centre operators, and other supply chain stakeholders through enhanced communication and synergy,” Luitel concluded.

The post Retail store robotics enhancing supply chain appeared first on FutureIoT.

GlobalData says retailers are increasingly adopting autonomous last-mile delivery as a smart logistics service to lower delivery costs and increase productivity.

Kiran Raj, GlobalData’s practice head of disruptive tech noted that since the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns, autonomous last-mile delivery technology has been gaining momentum in retail as it can fight the spread of airborne diseases, cut down traffic congestion and carbon emissions, and take the customer experience to the next level.

Sourabh Nyalkalkar, a project manager at GlobalData, added that with the rise of e-commerce, developing a robust last-mile delivery service emerged as a critical factor for retailers.

“Some of the leading public-listed retailers including Walmart, Amazon, and Ocado Group are introducing various autonomous last-mile delivery solutions such as autonomous robots, self-driving delivery cars, vans, and trucks, as well as delivery drones to provide swift package delivery to customers,” he continued.

Injecting technology at the last mile

In 2020, Walmart partnered with US-based drone delivery startup DroneUp to launch trial deliveries of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits. The retail giant has continued its partnership with the startup by making an undisclosed investment in June 2021 to provide last-mile consumer delivery services at three stores in Northwest Arkansas.

In addition, Walmart recently announced to expand the DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by the end of 2022, to increase the reach to approximately four million US residents across six states. A similar investment was made by the retailer in California’s all-electric autonomous vehicle startup Cruise in April 2021.

Amazon launched a fully electric delivery system Amazon Scout to customers in Snohomish County, Washington in 2019. The system was operational despite the lockdown that followed the outbreak of COVID-19. In July 2021, the e-commerce behemoth established a new Amazon Scout development centre in Helsinki, Finland to focus on autonomous delivery technology.

Tests are also being carried out for the autonomous drone delivery service Prime Air, with California to be among the first to receive parcels via drone. The company is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local officials in Lockeford, California to gain approval to conduct these deliveries.

In November 2021, Amazon and California-based drone company Zipline partnered to transport items such as medicines, thermometers, or other health products via drones to customers within a 50-mile radius of a store in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

In October 2021, UK’s online retailer Ocado started an autonomous technology trial with British startup Wayve, for its last-mile delivery operations in London. To scale its artificial intelligence (AI) models for self-driving cars, Wayve has partnered with Microsoft to gain access to the supercomputing infrastructure.

According to Nyalkalkar technological advances such as AI have enabled autonomous last-mile delivery via drones, robots, and vehicles. He added that retail giants including Amazon, Walmart, and JD.com have made significant progress to deliver packages over long distances without human intervention.

“Following the trend, many retail players are expected to switch to autonomous last-mile delivery solutions that offer not only cost reduction but also address the high demand for online deliveries. However, the absence of country-wide policy standardization poses challenges to the technology’s adoption at scale."

Sourabh Nyalkalkar

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“The rising ‘Asia for Asia’ approach sets the stage for the growth of supply chain networks in the region, particularly in Southeast Asia and India, and also highlights the critical factors that contribute towards the optimisation of these networks,” said Tim Foster, head of supply chain & logistics advisory, Asia-Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield.

So how to capture that future, FutureIoT spoke to Tim McCain, global business development, digital partner program at Rockwell Automation, for his thoughts on how to be smarter at navigating the new and evolving supply chain.

RECAP: Supply chain visibility has always been important to players in the supply chain. What was different during the COVID-19 pandemic? What has COVID-19 taught supply chain decision-makers?

Tim McCain: Many corporations who spent years establishing extended supply chains with offshore dependencies were disrupted due to COVID shutdowns.

The impact varied by region and industry but the sharp decline in consumer demand and resource availability in certain markets created a “ripple” similar to the supply chain concept of the “bullwhip” effect.

There was a combination of dramatic changes in consumer demand in specific industries and spot closures making nodes in the supply chain unavailable which made planning and forecasting difficult, to say the least.

We’ve seen preventative reactions take shape with organisations reshoring manufacturing and increasing critical inventory. It’s easier to buy more inventory than build new plants, but reshoring of manufacturing is occurring.

The lesson for supply chain decision-makers is that improved supply chain visibility means you have access to more real-time data that can be coupled with investments for enabling resiliency and greater agility to adapt to future disruptive events (ex. forecasting and demand planning tools utilising analytics).

Tim McCain

What is hindering the adoption of traceability technology and practices within the supply chain? What needs to happen for better visibility/control of elements of the supply chain?

Background: The Forrester commissioned the report, Increase Brand Loyalty and Generate ROI with Improved Traceability, revealed that almost half of companies surveyed lost up to 60% of sales income each year due to counterfeiting, while almost 9 out of 10 reported the ‘grey market’ as problematic to them. However, 45% feel that they are prevented from implementing practices that might help mitigate these elements through a lack of a clear path to ROI.

Tim McCain: (Citing the Forrester report) Historically, the catalyst for many organisations to invest was regulatory compliance. Compliance as a trigger leads to organisations seeking compliance at the lowest possible cost.

Many traceability systems are implemented to address a specific need and don’t offer the flexibility to address multiple use cases.

The investments to improve visibility will need to be justified by a combination of use cases that span organisational business functions.

Concerns on integration complexity and ROI to justify upfront non-recurring costs to implement mass serialization and end-to-end traceability are the root cause for organisations not investing faster.

What was also notable from the Forrester survey, while organisations were looking to make a business case to invest, many saw a negative impact on their topline due to counterfeit and grey market activities.

Seems as if a compelling financial justification to invest in serialization and traceability infrastructure could be made for deterring small percentages of the current counterfeit and grey market activities.

For true sustainability to be practised by participants in the supply chain, what needs to happen? What is the relationship between traceability and supply chain visibility?

Tim McCain: A combination of business environment factors such as regulatory evolution, industry standardisation, and organisational discipline will lead to sustainability practices.

New forms of regulation are coming. For instance, publicly traded companies along with the broader financial services industry will see more formalised guidance from the SEC on environmental impact and climate-related disclosures.

Companies shouldn’t wait for regulation because consumer expectations are evolving in parallel. Take as an example the Food & Beverage industry (in the US) where consumers prioritise information on ingredients today but are clearly becoming more ESG conscientious.

Improved transparency will support evolving consumer behaviour and enable supplier trust and brand loyalty. Industry associations like FMI are taking steps to help constituents assess overall transparency and identify specific areas for improvement.

Industry Standardisation on information format (ex. standard barcodes and QR codes) will help reduce the cost of adopting systems to enable visibility. GS1 digital link is an example that will force a certain degree of multi-party conformance but also guide individual organisations on a path to creating the necessary data-generating infrastructure that enables increased transparency.

In the months and years ahead, how should organisations prioritise supply chain strategies?

Tim McCain: We’ve used the terms traceability, visibility, and transparency. Let’s assume the following definitions to clarify where and how these terms apply to supply chain strategies:

Traceability is the means to provide provenance (history) of materials, work in progress, and finished goods along with the actual routes.

Visibility is the means to locate and subsequently plan, forecast and/or predict within the supply chain. This definition includes external entities that are both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (point of sale) of manufacturing.

Transparency means making specific information about the supply chain available to external stakeholders.

Given the dynamic macro business environment conditions, many organisations will see changes in their own supply chain maps (complete picture of all potential actors) or face changes in their role as a supplier to their customers and will need to make investments to ensure traceability and enable visibility.

Tim McCain

Traceability investments can be justified when use cases across multiple business functions are identified and addressed. Depending on the industry there is likely lost revenue to grey market and counterfeit activity that can be recovered.

The investments in traceability enable the data infrastructure to provide visibility inclusive of advanced analytics and (external) transparency.

Transparency will be necessary for supporting ESG-related objectives and regulatory obligations.

The post Strategies to achieving a sustainable supply chain appeared first on FutureIoT.

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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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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More EV fast chargers are expected to be installed in other SM malls in the coming months.

“Part of our commitment is building a greener environment for everyone. We will always strive to ramp up our efforts to give back to our communities through our innovative projects in driving sustainability in our 79 malls nationwide,” SM Supermalls President Steven T. Tan said.

The in-mall charging stations are located in SM AURA B1 Parking, SM Mall of Asia 3rd Level North Parking Building, and SM North Edsa 3rd Level North Parking Tower, have two Wallbox Pulsar Plus 7.4KW AC chargers per mall. These chargers support e-Vehicle brands such as Audi, BMW, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Hyundai, among others.

The launch of the EV charging stations is part of SM Supermalls’ ongoing partnership with the Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Trade and Industry in assisting the government accelerate its renewable energy and sustainability initiatives.

“We will continue our staunch support of the government’s new EV law and the National Renewable Energy Program to promote a more eco-friendly society for all Filipinos. Our goal is to increase our share of renewable energy sources by 50% by the end of 2022,” Tan said.

As of 2020, there are 12,965 registered EVs in the Philippines. SM Supermalls is one of the first mall chains to establish in-mall e-Vehicle charging sites in the country.

In 2018, SM North Edsa inaugurated its first EV charging station to service electric public transport routes and most recently these EV chargers have been updated.

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Tracr is the world's only distributed diamond blockchain that starts at the source and provides tamper-proof source assurance at scale, enabling Sightholders to provide an immutable record of a diamond's provenance, and empowering jewellery retailers to have confidence in the origin of the diamonds they purchase.

The platform brings together a range of leading technologies – including blockchain, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced security and privacy technologies – to support the identification of a diamond's journey through the value chain.

De Beers has already registered one quarter of its production by value on Tracr in the first three Sights of the year in preparation for this first scale release.

Delivering100% source assurance

With more end clients wanting to know the source of the products they buy, the deep meaning associated with a diamond purchase requires a technological step-change to meet their expectations. The introduction of Tracr at scale delivers immutable information on the source of De Beers' diamonds across the value chain and makes source assurance for 100% of De Beers' production possible.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: "De Beers discovers diamonds with our partners in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa and, with our long-term investment in Tracr, we are proud to join with our Sightholders to provide the industry with immutable diamond source assurance at scale.

“Tracr, which will enable the provision of provenance information from source to Sightholder to store on a secure blockchain, will underpin confidence in natural diamonds and represents the first step in a technological transformation that will enhance standards and raise expectations of what we are capable of providing to our end clients."

Advanced data security and privacy

The Tracr platform combines distributed ledger technology with advanced data security and privacy, ensuring that participants control the use of and access to their own data. Each participant on Tracr has their own distributed version of the platform, meaning that their data can only be shared with their permission, and only they choose who can access their information.

The advanced privacy technologies used by Tracr reinforce data security on the platform. The immutable nature of each transaction on the platform ensures that the data cannot be tampered with when the diamond progresses through the value chain.

Moreover, the decentralised nature of the platform ensures its speed and scalability, with the ability to register one million diamonds a week onto the platform. With centralised platforms, dealing with large volumes of data can cause bottlenecks, but the decentralised model used by Tracr avoids such issues and enables rapid scaling.

The scalability, speed and security of Tracr are combined into an intuitive user experience to support ease of use for platform participants.

Lefoko Moagi, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Government of Botswana said: "The introduction of this advanced provenance technology is extremely exciting and we are very pleased as a large diamond producing country, and shareholder in De Beers, to be a part of this development. Confidence in diamond origin is extremely important and we look forward to seeing the roll out of this new programme delivering new benefits to the diamond industry and giving more assurance to consumers."

De Beers' provenance claims have been certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council and trust in the De Beers source of diamonds is also assured by the business's Pipeline Integrity programme which involves annual third-party verification visits of participants by independent auditors.

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The new in-store experience boosted with new tailored services for greater personalisation is in line with the fashion company’s renewed focus on omnichannel engagement, leveraging the hybrid customer experience model.

The company will transform a number of stores in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand into NextGen Indigo stores fitted with new store designs, digital features and operating models – all aimed at boosting Levi Straus’ omni-channel capabilities for deeper connection with consumers.

"We are committed to the future success of our business at every level and are reimagining what we do and how we win in today's marketplace. At the same time, we are embracing the technologies of tomorrow to power innovation and better serve our customers and deliver greater value to stakeholders. We will do this by placing people at the heart of our business and through responsible practices because being a force for positive change is integral to being the world's best apparel brand," said Nuholt Huisamen, managing director and senior vice president, Levi Straus.

Coupling heritage with digitisation

While drawing on its 169-year heritage to drive key category growth, Levi Strauss is redoubling its digital transformation efforts.

The company will leverage digital, data and AI to stay ahead of trends, drive efficiency and innovation in the product creation process, deliver omnichannel offerings, claim its space in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) sphere, and ultimately enhance the consumer experience.

As part of its DTC strategy, the company also provided learning opportunities to existing staff to upskill themselves through training and development programs such as a Machine Learning Bootcamp to equip employees with the tools they need to thrive in a changing and increasingly digitalised economy.

ESG initiatives

On the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) front, Levi Strauss targets measurable metrics and remains committed to responsible and sustainable practices outlined in its 2020 Sustainability Report.

The company is on track to achieving its 2025 Water and Climate Action Strategy targets. Initiatives include Water<Less finishing techniques that have enabled billions of liters of water to be saved; reducing emissions across the supply chain; driving innovation in sustainable materials and designs through Wellthread; and advocating ethical consumerism through the Levi's Buy Better, Wear Longer campaign. These initiatives embody the company's move to develop and implement circular products and practices

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Gartner observed that in the past three years, nearly 20% of organisations have already observed cyberattacks on IoT devices in their network.

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.

This means that for some of their IoT projects – which may be anything from an EV charging station to connected medical equipment – businesses don’t use any protection tools. Kaspersky posits that may be due to the great diversity of IoT devices and systems, which are not always compatible with security solutions.

Barriers to protecting IoT

The study noted that 64% of businesses fear that cybersecurity products can affect the performance of IoT while 40% fear it can be too hard to find a suitable solution. Other common issues businesses face when implementing cybersecurity tools are high costs (40%), being unable to justify the investment to the board (36%) and lack of staff or specific IoT security expertise (35%).

Barriers to implementing IoT

The study also noted that 57% of surveyed organisations see cybersecurity risks as the main barrier to implementing IoT. This can occur when companies struggle to address cyber risks at the design stage and then must carefully weigh up all pros and cons before implementation.

Stephen Mellor, chief technology officer at Industry IoT Consortium, insists that cybersecurity must be front and centre for IoT. He posits that managing risk is a major concern as life, limb and the environment are at stake.

He warns that an IT error can be embarrassing and expensive; an IoT error can be fatal. But cybersecurity is only one part of making a system trustworthy.

“We also need physical security, privacy, resilience, reliability and safety. And these need to be reconciled: what can make a building secure, (locked doors for example), could make it unsafe if you cannot get out quickly,” he continued.

While IT projects such as messaging/communication, analytics, CRM, etc., have around 80% of common requirements, IoT deployments are very fragmented, loosely coupled, domain-specific and integration-heavy in nature.

Eric Kao, director for WISE-Edge+ at Advantech comments that in the case of IoT implementation, companies must deal with all kinds of legacy systems, physical constraints, domain protocols, multiple vendor solutions. They must also maintain a reasonable balance in availability, scalability and security.

“In pursuit of higher availability and scalability, certain cloud infrastructure has to be leveraged, the system has to be open to some extent, then security becomes an enormous challenge,” he added.

The bright side

Challenges aside, there remains optimistic about the potential benefits of the technology and the possibilities of protecting IoT solutions as they are integrated into operations and IT.

Andrey Suvorov, CEO at Adrotech in Russia, says IoT is widely used in smart cities (62%), retail (62%) and industry (60%). These include projects such as energy and water management, smart lighting, alarm systems, video surveillance and many more.

“Experts around the world are working on the task of effective protection for such projects but efforts should be made at every level – from equipment manufacturers and software developers to service providers and companies that implement and use these solutions,” he added.

Next steps for securing IoT

To help organizations fill the gaps in their IoT security, Kaspersky suggests the following approaches:

• Assess the status of a device’s security before implementing it. Preferences should be given to devices with cybersecurity certificates and products from manufacturers who pay more attention to information security.
• Use a strict access policy, network segmentation and a zero-trust model. This will help minimize the spread of an attack and protect the most sensitive parts of the infrastructure.
• Adopt a vulnerability management program to regularly receive the most relevant data about vulnerabilities in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), equipment and firmware, and patch them or use any protection workarounds.
• Check the “IoT Security Maturity Model” – an approach that helps companies evaluate all steps and levels they need to pass to achieve a sufficient level of IoT protection.
• Use a dedicated IoT gateway that ensures the inbuilt security and reliability of data transferring from edge to business applications.

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“Vendors are already building ways for users to replicate their lives in digital worlds,” said Marty Resnick, research vice president at Gartner. “From attending virtual classrooms to buying digital land and constructing virtual homes, these activities are currently being conducted in separate environments. Eventually, they will take place in a single environment – the metaverse – with multiple destinations across technologies and experiences.”

Gartner defines a metaverse as a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. It is persistent, providing enhanced immersive experiences, as well as device independent and accessible through any type of device, from tablets to head-mounted displays.

Because no single vendor will own the metaverse, Gartner expects it to have a virtual economy enabled by digital currencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

Massive impact on consumer and business engagements

The metaverse will impact every business that consumers interact with every day. It will also impact how work gets done. Enterprises will provide better engagement, collaboration and connection to their employees through immersive workspaces in virtual offices.

Businesses will not need to create their own infrastructure to do so because the metaverse will provide the framework. In addition, virtual events that have gained popularity over the last 18 months will offer more collaborative and immersive networking opportunities and workshops.

“Enterprises will have the ability to expand and enhance their business models in unprecedented ways by moving from a digital business to a metaverse business,” said Resnick. “By 2026, 30% of the organisations in the world will have products and services ready for metaverse.”

Invest with caution

The adoption of metaverse technologies is nascent and fragmented, and Gartner cautions organisations about investing heavily in a specific metaverse.

“It is still too early to know which investments will be viable in the long term, but product managers should take the time to learn, explore and prepare for a metaverse in order to position themselves competitively,” said Resnick.

Indeed, a latest Gartner Marketing Survey warns companies to temper short-term expectations, as more than one-third of American consumers (35%) have never heard of the metaverse.

The survey finds that 58% of respondents have either heard of the metaverse but do not know what it means, or think they understand the metaverse but would struggle to explain it to someone else. Only 6% of people identify as being comfortable enough in their understanding of the metaverse to explain it to others.

Kyle Rees, senior director analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice, noted that the survey result is a helpful signal to temper short term expectations of the metaverse, and its potential impact on consumer’s daily life

Metaverse opens new doors of opportunities

Rees pointed out that it will be exciting to see how meta-aware companies begin to make sense of next-generation technologies to bring new products, services and experiences to the world around us.

“Technologies that are intertwined with the metaverse, such as projects on the blockchain or digital currencies, need to be highlighted as disruptive to the status quo thinking. Even properly communicating business use cases around metaverse-adjacent concepts, such as AI and augmented reality, will go a long way in demystifying what is still largely an unknown technology to the everyday consumer,” Rees added.

Of those who at least know about the metaverse, 60% have no opinion on it, and only 18% are actually excited about it. Meanwhile, 21% say they are concerned about the impacts the metaverse might have.

“Companies with interests in the metaverse have a lot of work to change consumer’s attitudes,” said Rees. “Contemplating the metaverse is a luxury that most people don’t have time for currently. Getting people on board to see past the individual pieces of AI or head-mounted displays is paramount to them to truly embracing the multiple technologies that make up a complete metaverse. There are complex, innovative new opportunities and business models that the average consumer needs to be able to grasp easily, or companies risk losing their interest."

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The brand’s range of AIoT solutions fall under four products categories: smart entertainment, smart home, smart care and smart accessories. DIZO is the first partner brand under realme TechLife ecosystem.

“Malaysia is a large and emerging market with increasing numbers of tech savvy purchasers in pursuit of smart tech lifestyle products. We aim to offer cutting-edge digital products suitable for modern living, starting with DIZO Watch 2 and DIZO Buds Z.  Other products are in the pipeline will be launched here in stages,” said DIZO in a press statement.

DIZO products will be soon introduced to countries in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Africa.

In Asia Pacific, DIZO expects a turnover of RM30 million of sales by 2023, targeting the trendy and tech-savvy youngsters aged 15 to 28.

“As a new brand, we aim to break the clutter of tech similarities and offer products that are aligned to the  needs of every consumer. We offer technology that complements the individuality of every consumer, empowers them and become an extension of their personalities,” said DIZO.

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"OP Retail store inspection solution is an important part of our business decision," said Roxie Market & Deli in a press statement. "OP Retail's solution saves us a lot of time by its standardised, territorial restraint-free solution. The six-featured inspection modes improve our execution of merchandising programs in different scenarios vastly, creating more awareness and accountability at store level."

The OP Retail store inspection solution includes connected cameras together with an intelligent NVR console that enables centralised management of cameras, intelligent distribution of store inspection tasks and secured storage of video recordings.

Store staff can access the system via the cloud through their mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The initial application mainly has the following features:

1. Inspect at anytime and anywhere

OP Retails cloud service allows Roxie Market & Deli's supervisors to check the store through real-time streaming, which helps them to identify and keep track of the problems before they escalate to liabilities.

2. Set standard  and details are not missed

Roxie Market & Deli uses the in-app checklist to regulate store shelves display, promotion, employees attires & service, etc. When something goes wrong, it will be recorded and sent to the store manager for further  instructions. Voice intercom can also be conducted to guide the remediation process immediately.

3. Close the loop

After an issue is completed, the store manager will take photos of the completed changes back to the inspector. The problem will be considered as solved only after the inspector confirms they meet the standard, thus forming a closed loop of the entire incident.

"Through our solution, you can easily find out issues and subsequently ensure each optimisation has been conducted correctly. For example, shelves display and staff service quality can be viewed and rectified on time, advertisements can be arranged more reasonably," said Jayson Zhou, CEO of OP Retail.

Covering almost 60% of the Chinese retail market, OP Retail has helped more than 2,000 well-known brands and 300,000 stores globally, delivering comprehensive solutions for retailers from in-depth customer traffic analysis to products display, store landing and store operation management among other.

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BI-FAST is developed to meet the public demand for fast and efficient money transfer services that operates around the clock. Currently, the National Clearing System (SKNBI) cannot fully meet the demand due to the finite window time, lack of real-time effective funds and limited payment channels – which defeats the goal to deliver the convenience of cashless transactions.

Indonesia is the latest in a series of Southeast Asian countries to upgrade its national payments infrastructure to drive digital economies and accelerate growth. As legacy payment systems continue to impede mature market innovation, the region’s countries are leapfrogging increasingly outdated technology and leveraging strong domestic central infrastructure as the foundation for real time digital and cross-border payments.

BI-FAST is an integral part of Indonesia’s ongoing digital modernization initiative and central to its Payment System Blueprint, IPS 2025. IPS 2025 aims to transform the country’s payment infrastructure, integrate its digital economy, and finance sector.

BI has developed BI-FAST with the help of  real-time payments provider ACI Worldwide, implementing the national infrastructure in less than nine months – one  of the fastest countrywide implementations on record. When complete, the vast undertaking will incorporate 135 banks, as well as merchants and payment service providers, making it one of the world’s largest real-time payments initiatives.

“ACI is proud to help drive BI-FAST and Indonesia’s bold payment transformation,” said Leslie Choo, managing director – APAC, ACI Worldwide. “Together, ACI and Bank Indonesia have created one of the most secure and future-proof real-time payment systems in the world, one that will help accelerate Indonesia’s digital economy and bring millions of unbanked citizens into the formal financial sector.”

Phase one of the national initiative is already live with more than twenty banks across the country, providing participating institutions with access to a series of key services including:

• 24/7 real-time credit transfers with real-time transaction settlement at bank & customer level
• Unique identifiers (proxy addresses) to simplify, secure and facilitate payments
• Integrated real-time fraud detection

According to Choo, ACI’s Low Value Real-Time Payments technology drives BI’s central infrastructure hub, which allows more than one hundred payment scheme players to connect. ACI also provides immediate access to the core real-time infrastructure, laying the foundation for future services such as Request to Pay (R2P), eMandates, direct debit, and cross-border payments

“Delivering a national central infrastructure of this size and complexity from scratch, while simultaneously supporting the go live of over 20 banks in less than nine months, is no easy undertaking. It is testament to the dedication and commitment of all involved to Indonesia and its digital future,” added Choo.

Digital payments have gained considerable traction in Indonesia and are in regular use by more than half (55%) of the country’s consumers. The rapid growth over the past year highlights Indonesia’s dramatic shift towards digital payments due to the pandemic. The government now anticipates even greater adoption with real-time payments, and a further boost to its digital economy ambitions.

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The deployment of the robot is also part of FedEx Express’ latest push in digitising its operations and building a smart logistics network.

Called the DoraSorter, the robot is being deployed at the 5,200sqm FedEx South China E-Commerce Shipment Sorting Center in Guangzhou. DoraSorter is already part of the daily sorting operations and is capable of handling small inbound and outbound packages from e-commerce customers in South China.

Kawal Preet, president of the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region at FedEx Express, said: “With e-commerce taking centre stage in the future of retail in our region, the speed with which a parcel can be picked up and delivered to customers’ doorsteps has become a dominant factor in driving the adoption of sorting robots.”

He added that bringing DoraSorter to China as a pilot program is a natural choice as the country is the world’s biggest e-commerce market with an expected valuation of US$3.3 trillion by 2025.

“As we look to build a data-driven, smart logistics network to help our customers thrive in the digital economy, this alliance with Dorabot is part of becoming the network for what’s next. AI-powered technology will continue to change how we support customers in the region and enhance supply chains for the future,” said Preet.

DoraSorter’s core function of sorting parcels based on destination matches the sorting centre’s operation process. Key features of DoraSorter include:

• At approximately 40sqm , the robot can carry up to 10 kilograms of packages, covering up to 100 destinations simultaneously.
• The robot has a special drawer-shaped gripper that can connect with the conveyor belt seamlessly.
• Equipped with a barcode reader that scans package to obtain destination information, the robot uses its gripper to receive a package inward from the conveyor belt and moves it outward to the corresponding destination slot.

 "The use of DoraSorter helps FedEx sort a higher volume of cross-border e-commerce shipments,” said Xiaobai Deng, founder and CEO of Dorabot. “It is the starting point of a global collaboration between Dorabot and FedEx. We hope that we can work together to bring AI and robotics applications to more businesses and consumers."

Indeed, FedEx investment in warehouse automation echoes broader industry trends. Triggered by the global pandemic, logistics players are optimising operational efficiencies, from warehouse management to last-mile delivery, to cater to the soaring demand for e-commerce products, seasonal peaks, and consumers’ heightened expectations for fast delivery.

According to McKinsey & Company, the global warehouse automation market is projected to reach US$51 billion by 2030. By 2025, more than four million commercial robots will be installed at more than 50,000 warehouses.

“Innovation is at our core and is a major factor behind FedEx strategy in China,” said Robert Chu, vice president, Operations, FedEx China. “To meet customers' changing needs, we have been exploring and investing in new technologies to enhance every key aspect of transportation. The rapid rise in e-commerce has led to higher customer demand for timeliness and flexibility in logistics services, creating new challenges and opportunities for the entire logistics industry. Our collaboration with Dorabot is our latest effort to improve operational efficiencies and build an agile logistics infrastructure through robotics technology that will support the growth of China's e-commerce industry."

FedEx continues to leverage advanced technologies to streamline its operations and help customers of all sizes in China and beyond seize opportunities in the global market.

Last October, FedEx teamed up with Neolix to test an autonomous delivery vehicle in China. The company is also testing FedEx SameDay Bot , Roxo  in AMEA to explore the future of contactless, last-mile delivery.

In addition, FedEx also launched a sensor-based logistics device – SenseAwareID, designed to enhance tracking precision, reliability and timely delivery of critical shipments such as life-saving pharmaceuticals and emergency medical supplies.

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Called Visa Acceptance Cloud (VAC), the platform will allow acquirers, payment service providers, point of sale (POS) manufacturers, and Internet of Things (IoT) players move payment processing software from being embedded in each hardware device to being universally accessible in the cloud.

“Cloud acceptance is the future of payments,” said Mary Kay Bowman, senior vice president and global head of payment and platform products, Visa. “Cloud-connected POS lets sellers accept payments across a range of devices quickly, simply, and safely, whether at an unattended kiosk in a hotel, a mirror in a high-end retail store or virtual in-home gym, or a smart phone in the hands of a small seller with a roadside newsstand.”

Already live across six geographies, VAC not only  turns virtually any device into a cloud-connected payment terminal, but it will also provide seamless, cloud-based software updates, robust analytics, and network services from Visa. Since VAC runs on Visa’s data centers, it also offers leading data security capabilities.

“VAC is a universal platform that helps open up acceptance for all – by freeing our leading technology partners to innovate. On one end of the spectrum, cloud acceptance helps drive inclusion for more small sellers who want to offer digital payments. On the other end, Visa Acceptance Cloud enables advanced shopping and buying experiences that will be central to the future of retail for businesses of all shapes and sizes,” said Bowman. “Moving acceptance to the cloud opens up the possibility of so much innovation from the entire payments ecosystem. This is only the beginning.”

Changing the payment landscape

The new VAC platform comes on the heels of Visa’s successful “Tap to Phone” solution – another industry-first – that transforms current generation Android smartphones and tablets into contactless point of sale terminals.

Introduced in January 2020, it is Visa’s first offering that let sellers accept payments on the devices they already own, just by downloading an app. As of December 2021, there were more than 300,000 devices across 54 countries using Tap to Phone.

Now, expanding beyond phones, VAC enables any POS or connected device to seamlessly accept payments and to incorporate a range of added services, including buy now, pay later, fraud management, Rapid Seller Onboarding, and advanced data analytics.

Ongoing pilots test VAC real-world viability

According to Visa, ongoing pilots of VAC in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia cater to a variety of use cases, including retailers and restaurants in Australia through Visa’s work with U.S.-based fintech, Bleu, NOBAL Technologies’ smart mirror and public trains in Brazil.

“Bleu is working with Visa to bring seamless payments to businesses across Australia for the very first time,” said Sesie Bonsi, president & CEO, Bleu. “While the average business owner can spend as much as $1,000 on POS devices, plus countless hours and more money on time consuming certification processes, moving to Visa Acceptance Cloud removes the barriers of traditional hardware and burdens of device-bound kernel certifications, making it easier for the independent business that we serve to deliver touchless payment options to their customers through any connected device.”

“Retailers are looking to enhance their in-store customer experience to meet the speed and convenience of the online and in-store checkout experiences,” says Bill Roberts, CEO, NOBAL Technologies. “NOBAL‘s intelligent mirror in partnership with VAC from Visa provides payment experiences on our mirror without the expense and expertise required for embedded hardware modules, helping us push the future of retail in new ways.”

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Japanese credit card provider JCB and Keychain GK have developed the first payment infrastructure for machine-to-machine transactions that supports offline payments using near-field communication (NFC).

This will enable offline payments, addressing the challenges related to the risks of operating through network outages and distributed attacks.

Under the collaboration, the two companies implemented the payment processing system using IoT devices, mobile phones, and smartwatches, and demonstrated the following:

1. Payments may be conditionally processed even during a double-offline scenario.

2. Payment processing consensus may be done over mixed networks simultaneously.

3. Upon network restoration, the offline transactions may be securely repatriated to online in batches.

Leveraging Keychain's blockchain and self-sovereign identity technology, the new infrastructure allows payments to be conditionally accepted by merchants, even in the event that both the payer and the merchant are disconnected from the network, a scenario known as double offline.

Notably, the shoppers' experience is as easy as swiping a smart watch at the store payment terminal with this system. The system uses NFC network protocol and leverages Keychain Core to support small IoT devices with, in principle, as little as 32 megabytes of memory.

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Both companies will explore cooperative ventures to drive innovation in smart warehouse, including joint development of warehousing products and building specialised automated warehouse properties.

“Our customers are always looking for ways to create efficiencies in their supply chains to meet growing consumer expectations for cost effectiveness and rapid delivery,” said Kristoffer Harvey, chief executive officer, Greater China at Goodman Group. “Well-located smart warehouses are the answer. By partnering with Geek+, we are giving our customers and China’s consumers access to the latest warehouse robotics and technology.”

According to Harvey, China continues to be a world leader in e-commerce and online retail already makes up over 27% of total retail sales. This is expected to increase by 63% to 2025.

Goodman Group is an integrated property group with operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, North America and Brazil. Goodman Group is the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the largest listed specialist investment managers of industrial property and business space globally.

As part of their partnership, Goodman will be able to provide its warehousing customers with the flexible and scalable Geek+ Robot-as-a-Service package. Geek+ products and solutions include Goods-to-Person systems, vertical storage systems, robotic sorting, and autonomous forklifts, known for their precision, reliability, and cost savings logistics for retail, e-commerce, manufacturing customers.

Founded in 2015, Geek+ has over 1500 employees and is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Germany, the UK, the US, Japan, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore. To date, it has deployed more than 20,000 robots worldwide.

“With our extensive logistics management experience from over 300 automation projects worldwide, Geek+ can provide comprehensive automation solutions that take full advantage of Goodman’s well located and high-quality properties,” said Lit Fung, vice president and managing director APAC, UK and Americas at Geek+.

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The alliance allowed the two companies to combine their IoT capabilities – Mindtree Nxt IoT service line and the IoT-geared ServiceNow Connected Operations platform – to help companies in industry sectors such as manufacturing and consumer goods achieve smarter operations and improve their decision-making by tapping hidden insights  in their IoT data.

"The true transformative potential of data can be realised only by using it effectively," said Alex Nicholas, vice president and head of ServiceNow Business at Mindtree. "Siloed data and disconnected systems can undermine the best of IoT programs. The capabilities of Mindtree NxT alongside ServiceNow and their dedicated Connected Operations team position us well to help enterprises better manage critical infrastructure, deliver superior customer experiences, and drive customer loyalty."

Mindtree, a technology consulting and services company, applies its deep domain knowledge to more than 260 enterprise client engagements to break down silos, make sense of digital complexity and bring new initiatives to market faster. The company enables IT to move at the speed of business, leveraging emerging technologies and the efficiencies of “Continuous Delivery” to spur business innovation.

Operating in 24 countries across the world, its geographic footprint in Asia Pacific include presence in Auckland, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, as well as several cities in India.

Turning data into actionable insights

Manufacturing and consumer goods companies are increasingly looking to make better use of the data generated through multiple platforms and legacy operational technology (OT) systems.

This means working around operational and data silos between OT and IT, a lack of common processes and tools in floor systems, and an inability to bring all data into a single system of record. Through Mindtree's solutions, these companies will be able to gain greater visibility across the enterprise; mitigate risk; and, reduce cost. They can also harness a single source of truth for collaborative decision-making and leverage advanced analytics, data insights, simulation and modelling for better evaluation of their value chains.

"Across industries, businesses realise the need for digital workflows to deliver greater operational efficiencies and better customer outcomes," said Jonathan Sparks, vice president of IoT and operations products at ServiceNow. "Together with Mindtree, we're helping move customers in manufacturing and consumer goods beyond dashboards to automate issue resolution with IoT. Combining Mindtree's powerful IoT, AI and Machine Learning capabilities with ServiceNow's leading workflow platform will improve decision-making and drive smart operations while helping customers realise new business outcomes based on business-relevant insights."

By connecting IoT data with digital workflows, ServiceNow Connected Operations enables organisations to realise the full value of their IoT investments, help increase customer satisfaction, and access new business models. Together with Mindtree driving actionable and industry-specific insights, these solutions will allow customers to break down data silos, proactively resolve issues, and evolve collaboration between customers, operations, customer service, and field service.

Indeed, with its industry partner solutions,  ServiceNow is able to extend its capabilities to deliver industry-specific applications and services that are tailored to customers' unique digital transformation needs.

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For the first time, H&M Mitte Garten store customers can scan IoT care labels of selected products with smartphones, not only to track multiple individual product journeys at item level on blockchain, but also to add memories and stories to the garments by uploading their looks.

With one click, the garment is booked and paid – and ready to be worn. When the garment is returned to the Store, it will be checked, cleaned and prepared for the next rent.

“I am very excited to exclusively try out this blockchain based rental service in our Berlin Mitte Garten Store. We have a unique community and customer base – they love to explore new things, to experiment with their style and looks in a fashion-forward, sustainable and affordable way,” said Stiliana Stoyanova PR & event manager Mitte Garten.

H&M Mitte Garten store has teamed up with Lablaco, which supplied its SPIN platform that allows garments to be listed and tokenised with traceable digital ownership across circular models: swap, share, borrow, and trade back to a specific fashion retailer.

“Each garment has unique stories. We can’t wait to see how H&M Mitte Garten community will create stories by ‘SPINning’ their fashion.” says Eliana Kuo, founder and co-CEO of lablaco.

lablaco creates blockchain-powered platform geared towards encouraging various members of the fashion industry to embrace the circular fashion system. The circular fashion system is one in which all garments can be reused, recycled, or returned to the earth (by virtue of being biodegradable or compostable). It is currently one of the buzzwords around sustainability initiatives designed to  reduce industries’ impact on the environment.

The rental service at H&M Mitte Garten Store is available now until the end of the year. During this period there will be different collections available for the customers to rent. The first collection is comprised of 12 different fashion pieces. The rental period ranges from 5 days to 3 weeks. The price per piece ranges from 5 EUR to 9 EUR per day. The account for SPIN is free of charge.

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This is part of the pilot-first  "CCG Accel – Powered by HKSTP" accelerator” programme, which allows tech ventures to install and test solutions in a real market environment even at concept stage. The first batch of shortlisted startups have exclusive opportunity to develop pilot solutions at the Central Market in collaboration with Chinachem Group to ensure they can deliver market-ready solutions  before  general adoption.

“We are excited to be working with HKSTP to support high-potential tech ventures and their innovations that can make Hong Kong a better place to live, work and play for our future generation,” said Donald Choi, executive director and CEO, Chinachem Group. "Our expertise and wide portfolio of commercial properties provide the ideal testing and development opportunities for innovation to thrive. We believe this can accelerate smart city development in Hong Kong and benefit people, prosperity and planet."

Chinachem Group was awarded the operation contract for the iconic market in February this year.

Accelerating product development process

Indeed, the pioneering pilot-first accelerator program speeds up the product development process, while closing the critical gap between ideation and commercialisation which halts many early-stage ventures. The process allows tech ventures to collect valuable data and instant user feedback so that they can strengthen the opportunities for adoption.

Grouped under “Cohort 1”, the tech startups participating in proptech innovations at Central Market

Cohort 1 participants will focus in the areas of visitor experience, environment and sustainability, as well as operation and facility management.

Pilot testing will take place from September to December 2021, with a final demo day in January 2022 when all participating tech ventures will showcase their solutions. By collecting real-life data through trials at Central Market, the final winning innovations may be adopted within Central Market itself and help revitalise the building into a 21st century marketplace blending old and new.

Access to training and HKSTP’s tech ecosystem

HKSTP will  facilitate a programme of training sessions during the pilot period to equip the selected tech ventures with diverse technology and business skills. The tech ventures will benefit from direct access to HKSTP's extensive ecosystem and value-added services.

"This unique partnership with Chinachem Group is a continued extension of the HKSTP I&T ecosystem to new locations in Hong Kong and will help innovators fast-track their ground-breaking ideas into fully-tested solutions ready for market adoption,” said Albert Wong, CEO, HKSTP.

He added: “We constantly seek new ways to smooth tech ventures' path to success and this programme will spur more successful innovation while also propelling Hong Kong's smart city vision with smart property and retail solutions."

The "CCG Accel – Powered by HKSTP" accelerator” programme features  a series of three themed cohorts,  which will use designated Chinachem Group properties as a testing stage in each cohort as the innovators are tasked to solve property-based challenges. CCG will also assign mentors to each programme participant and provide industry insight and knowledge to refine their solution with the participating tech ventures.

The landmark Central Market  started trial operation three weeks ago after completing the first phase of revitalisation that spanned three years at the cost of HK$500 million. The first phase of revitalisation covered 80% t of its work space, open space facing Queen's Road Central and its atrium.

Central Market was handed over to the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) in 2009, and revitalisation work began in October 2017. The market opens officially in November, with  20% of the market still under construction – it is expected to be total completed in the second quarter of 2022.

The short-listed technology startups selected to participate in the Central Market proptech pilots are:

• Apicem Technology Services Company Limited (ATS) - provides a smart air purifying system that prevents cross air contamination and keeps air quality high. It uses a high voltage direct current air purifying system with a patented metal foam material with fully automated monitoring in a totally green device. Using this keeps buildings up to sustainability standards and air quality high for better health and productivity. It will be installed at Central Market to give a safe and comfortable indoor environment for people.
• Dayta AI Limited - provides a real-time plug and play solution that collects visitor data in shopping malls, retail outlets and exhibitions. It is an all-in-one service which integrates with existing cameras and provides data analysis and visualisation of visitors. Dayta.ai will help address market needs in Central Market via its building management services platform and provide performance indicators to continuously perfect operation quality. Using this platform, management staff can learn more about its frequent customers and market demographic, and tailor more caring experiences for visitors using real data.
• i2Cool Limited - invented a passive radiative cooling paint (patented in Hong Kong) that can achieve an electricity-free and refrigerant-free self-cooling effect. By applying this paint on the roof or external walls of buildings, the indoor air temperature can be decreased, saving the energy usage of air-conditioning systems and reducing carbon emission. Apart from that, adopting this technology would cut down both running and installation costs of cooling equipment and reduce the amount of maintenance needed. At the same time, by reducing the amount of equipment, more space can be freed up for other amenities. The cooling paint developed by i2Cool will be tested in the Central Market and make it a place to CHILL.
• Megasoft Limited - provides real-time temperature monitoring and track & trace solutions for the F & B industry, where food management, cooking safety, and food delivery are primary concerns. To ensure that these primary concerns are fully addressed by food stalls, restaurants, central kitchens, or even processing centres, the solutions have been developed to preserve food safety during transportation, assuring the temperatures of several food types across multiple outlets can be instantly tracked. The ultimate result would be a safer kitchen and a more satisfying experience for diners in the Central Market.
• Negawatt Utility Limited - established an Anti-COVID Management Solution and implemented Negawatt Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) solution on-site, with the control capability to high-quality air disinfection system. Multiple Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Sensors and people count devices are deployed at Central Market and continuously collecting IEQ data. Based on the activities of the site and immediate IEQ data , Negawatt A.I. calculates the Risk Factor on indoor environmental safety. With reference to different Risk Value, Negawatt A.I. is capable to activate the air-disinfection system installed at Central Market, providing a safe & immunised indoor environment for visitors.
• Novelte Robotics Limited – developed Heritage , a guiding robot designed a futuristic and interactive experience for visitors wanting to learn more about the site. This robot is fully automated, increasing the appeal of the area with its personalised service which decreasing staff workload. It also adds to the customer's experience while visiting to be able to enjoy a unique heritage tour at Central Market.
• Optical Sensing Limited – specialises in fibre optic sensing monitoring system development and installation to achieve digital transformation in building and facility management. The system uses optical fibre cables as tools and installed in targeted facilities such as air conditioning system, water and sewer pipes and power network. Optical fibre cables can collect data from difficult to reach pipelines to understand their condition. This provides predictive monitoring to prevent public areas of Central Market from being closed off, giving a better service to visitors.
• Rice Robotics Limited – developed an unmanned, autonomous robot that guides customers during the day and patrols for security at night. It is fully integrated to elevators and gates, and seemingly becomes part of a building's day to day operation. It increases shopping outlets appeal with its futuristic functions, alleviates staff workload from repetitious and tedious tasks and gives a unique and enhanced visitors experience.
• RV Automation Technology Company Limited - Developed people-centric robot. Its patrol and food tray collection robot aims to help enhance operational efficiency, reduce labour costs, and ensure consistent performance. Using this robot not only increases the appeal of the site, but also significantly reduces staff workload from menial tasks while giving visitors something interesting to experience.
• Tech Hill Limited – Developed a 3D multiple radar array bird deterrent is a product that protects buildings from damage and reduce maintenance from hard-to-read areas. It protects the historical and valuable building and rooftop of Central Market from unexpected damage and provides a smooth, comfortable and worry-free experience for visitors.

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The 17-year-old company, which has an annual turnover of AU$165 million, has chosen HAIPICK robots from  Shenzhen-based HAI Robotics. The solution differs from a standard autonomous mobile robot solution in that the robots use a telescopic fork that stretches 4m high. This gives the robots the ability to carry cartons as well as individual totes and to bring multiple cases to pickers or conveyors in one movement. This allows Booktopia to gain more speed in completing multiple customer orders at one pick station – greatly improving fulfilment and dispatch rates.

"By deploying this innovative robot solution, we have doubled our capacity and significantly improved our picking and put away rates. This gives us the confidence we need to continue to serve our customers," said Tony Nash, CEO at Booktopia

He added that while although the company's key decider for implementing this technology was efficiency gains, they are now finding improvements across their entire operation.

First Australian deployment

With integration and implementation services conducted by BPS Global, Booktopia is the first deployment of HAIPICK robots in the continent.

"COVID-19 placed immense pressure on e-commerce retailers and we saw volumes reach record heights across the entire retail landscape. We're thrilled to work with Booktopia on the first ever deployment of this innovative automation solution in Australia,” said Malcolm Druce, managing partner at BPS Global said. “This investment ensures they are well-placed to meet rising demands and continue to service the nation with its favourite books.”

The deployment is a significant win for HAI Robotics, which recently entered the Australia market, as part of an expansion plan outside of China. The warehouse robotics startup is leaning on its technology – touted to be the world's first carton picking and double deep autonomous case-handling system – to give it a competitive edge in overseas markets.

In Australia, HAI Robotics hopes that its robots will help companies like Booktopia to deal with the rising rental cost of warehouses is becoming a major issue across the country, as the HAIPICK solution  now makes it faster and easier for them to increase capacity and storage.

"Through our partnership with BPS Global, the end customer gets access to both local advice, implementation, service, and support as well as the latest in robot-based automation technology," said Michael Rolfing, director of sales – Australia, HAI Robotics.

Advanced robotics and AI algorithms

Hai Robotics uses advanced robotics and AI algorithms to deliver intelligent and customisable warehouse solutions.

As the world’s first autonomous case handling robotic (ACR) system, its HAIPICK ACR system enables intelligent picking, storage and handling in the warehouse. The system intelligently identifies the desired totes and cartons, and bringing them to the workstation autonomously. At the same time, the ACR robots can reach up to 6.5m high, taking advantage of the available vertical space most warehouses don’t use when using automation solutions.

According to company spokesperson, the robots can be deployed within seven days and can seamlessly integrate with WMS, EMS, and other systems.  Once they are up and running, companies can achieve 3X-4X productivity and 80% to 130% storage density.

Established in 2016, HAI Robotics this year has set up offices in in Tokyo, Japan, and Fremont, United States, while partnering locally to provide full-service and deliver automation faster and easier. In March this year, it secured series B+ funding valued at US$15M.

To date, the company has implemented  over 200 ongoing projects worldwide, covering industries such as e-commerce, 3PL, apparel, manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceutical, energy, automotive, and others.

Meanwhile, its HAIPICK ACR series have obtained the CE Mark, meeting European quality and safety standards.

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Rajiv Bawa, chief business officer at dtac, pointed out that 5G Private Networks can unlock the potential of Thailand’s businesses embracing digital transformation.

“This is especially true in the post-Covid-19 economy in which the deployment of IoT applications, automation, and edge computing are critical for businesses’ recovery and resilience. The key benefit of a private network is that it can be custom-built for specific use cases for each corporation. In particular, we see fantastic potential in vertical industries such as manufacturing, automotive assembly, shipping, logistics, public health, and agriculture.”

He added 5G Private Networks also support advanced requirements for digital transformation and automated manufacturing requiring ultra-high data transfer speeds or near-zero latencies – citing IoT, robots and manufacturing automation as the most significant use cases that require machine-critical performance and security.

“Not only can 5G Private Networks lift the corporate infrastructure by enabling high performance, but they are also shielded from public network threats of attacks from hackers who may otherwise use a public network to breach into corporate data or IoT devices,” Bawa said.

Collaboration with AWS

The mobile operator is working with AWS on this POC deployment at the latter’s corporate headquarters at dtac House, where a new real-time, AI-based video analytics solution – co-developed with AWS – is now running on the 5G private network.

The AI-based video analytics solution is designed to demonstrate how private networks can enable smart solutions for the new normal with an automated system designed to ensure social distancing, The solution features a smart camera that can analyse distances among individuals in real-time to detect breaches of social distancing rules. It covers COVID-19 use cases such as PPE( personal protective equipment) compliance, intrusion detection, people occupancy and physical distancing.

The solution uses 5G dtac’s 5G Private Network and AWS Snowball Edge, a device with on-board storage and compute power for select AWS capabilities. AWS Snowball Edge can do local processing and edge-computing workloads in addition to transferring data between local environments and AWS.

“We are excited to be working with dtac to launch a brand new service that takes advantage of 5G and edge cloud computing to deliver industry specific low latency use cases,” said Fabio Cerone, managing director of the telco business unit for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at AWS.

He added: “By providing edge cloud infrastructure that moves data processing close to where data is, we will allow customers to take advantage of use cases based on AI and ML running inference at the edge. We look forward to deepen our collaboration with dtac and continue to drive innovation and enhance customer experience.”

Two types of 5G Private Networks

5G Private Networks can power mission-critical systems that require ultra-high reliability, ultra-low latency, 99.999 percent availability, and very high security. When integrated with edge-computing capabilities, private networks can provide customers with a scalable, customisable platform to take advantage of developments in new generation technologies.

Dtac has two types of 5G Private Networks. The first one is a standalone private network, with network hardware that  includes edge computing operating on 26 GHz 5G and is not connected to a public network. Optimal data transfer performance is assured due to an exclusive corporate network with low latency, superior security, and isolated data traffic.

The second type is a hybrid private network. 5G and 4G connectivity are combined with base stations installed within the corporation and a public radio access network (RAN). Data processing is isolated within the corporate edge computing but can be stored in hyperscale data centres with superior security.

Apart from its collaboration with AWS, dtac is also working closely with other strategic partners, such as Telenor. In Europe, Telenor has been deploying private networks for various use cases including security, healthcare, retailing, and robots. dtac is benefiting from Telenor’s expertise. dtac currently holds a 5G license with a 26 GHz spectrum which supports 5G Private Network services for all corporate customer requirements.

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Envisioned as a last-mile logistics solution for urban and suburban areas, Roxo was developed in collaboration with DEKA Development & Research Corporation, the R&D company that also produced the Segway.

The robot uses DEKA’s established iBOT electric wheelchair base, capable of negotiating rough terrain, traversing steps, and steep inclines. Its sensors maintain 360-degree awareness of its surroundings and uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to choose the safest path or course of action. With a tall profile it is easy for pedestrians and road users to see. It also uses signals, lights and a signalling screen that clearly communicate its directional intent.

Roxo is designed to travel on sidewalks and along roadsides, safely delivering smaller shipments to customers’ homes and businesses. Its features include pedestrian-safe technology, multiple cameras and LiDAR allowing the zero-emission, battery-powered bot to be aware of its surroundings.

Equipped  with machine-learning algorithms to detect and avoid obstacles, plot a safe path, Roxo is enabled to follow road and safety rules. Proprietary technology makes it highly capable, allowing it to navigate unpaved surfaces, curbs, and to even climb deep flights of steps for an extraordinary door-to-door delivery experience.

The idea is simple. A customer orders a small item from a local merchant and – Roxo can deliver it right to a customer’s door within a 3-5 mile radius. Naturally, this takes some work: after all, no 2 sidewalks or driveways are exactly the same.

Japan: a fertile ground for robotics testing

Since Roxo was unveiled in 2019, FedEx Express has been conducting tests with major retailers in several US cities such as Memphis, Tennessee; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Plano and Frisco, Texas.

Roxo’s first international appearance  was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in October 2019 for an experimental project with local businesses, including Dubai Airports

Roxo is currently undergoing testing in the U.S. to generate data to ‘train’ the self-driving software and validate safe performance, in compliance with all applicable safety regulations and guidelines. There is significant opportunity in Japan to identify local, case-specific applications to make the best use of the technology to benefit FedEx customers.

Meanwhile, FedEx Express picked Japan for Roxo’s first road test in Asia because it provides a fertile environment for testing and adoption of robotics with its positive regulatory framework and world-class infrastructure.

“As we sit at the intersection of physical and digital networks, Roxo brings a glimpse of the future of logistics, where customers can enjoy same day, contactless delivery services at their doorsteps,” said Kawal Preet, president of the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) region at FedEx Express. “The FedEx SameDay Bot is truly an innovation opening new possibilities for on-demand, same day, hyper-localised delivery.”

With businesses of all kinds embarking on digital transformation, Preet said they look forward to collaborating with future-ready companies to advance delivery services in Japan and elsewhere in Asia Pacific.

“Let’s not forget the rest of Asia: a hugely diverse region of testing climates and extreme weather events; densely populated cities; unique public transport and varied terrains. No small challenge for an urban delivery bot,” Preet said.

She added: “Asia has long been a dynamic breeding ground for SMEs and driver of the entrepreneurial business culture that makes global trade what is it is today. Asia Pacific also remains a world leader in the development of smart, sustainable cities.

“One thing’s for sure: when we look at what’s next for Roxo in Asia-Pacific, it feels like innovation has landed in the right place.

ROXO: VITAL STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

Dimensions: 61.80” Height x 39” Length x  29” Width (H157 cm x L99 cm x W73 cm)

Weight: 450 lbs. approx. (200 kg)

Capacity: 100 lbs  approx. (45 kg)

Sensors: A sophisticated set of sensors and technology gives 360-degree awareness

Built-in: Turn signals, lights, camera, microphone and signalling screen clearly communicate intent to nearby pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles

Zero-emissions: Battery powered

Stabilisation technology: iBot wheelchair base used to keep cargo level

Safety: Constantly monitored and capable of being controlled remotely

   Watch surroundings through built-in cameras

   Remote teleoperators can intervene and take over control

   Remote teleoperator can communicate through built-in microphone

The post FedEx’s delivery bot sets foot in Japan for pilot tests appeared first on FutureIoT.

Tokyo-based CG provides Japan's first decentralized ID platform called UNiD, while the Yokohama-based TSSR, has  strong expertise in IoT device software development.

The rise of the Stay-at-Home economy has accelerated the adoption of contactless transactions at the consumer level, and both companies see a huge business potential in providing verification  of IoT devices used contactless transactions. Particularly with the shift to contactless transactions in smart bank branches, virtual concierges at healthcare and government services, digital orders at restaurants, and automated receptions at offices and hotels.

According to a Deloitte study, the market size of the contactless economy in Asia Pacific will reach US$11 trillion, double the current level.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic, the number and type of businesses that need to interact with users contactless have exploded beyond the specific industries. We believe that the verifiable data exchange platform between "people" and "machines" in a decentralised manner, will support the transformation to contactless systems in a wide range of fields, including new work styles, mobility, logistics, and smart cities, and will contribute to progress our digital society. We are pleased to be the first mover in the world to take on this challenge,” said Masayoshi Mitsui, CEO, CollaboGate Japan.

A decentralised  IoT platform

With the alliance, both companies will be working on a proof-of-concept project that intends to build a "decentralised IoT platform" that smoothly connects people and things, and a "smart concierge" that enables the contactless economy by using "UNiD" decentralized ID platform developed by CG and TSSR's expertise in embedded system development on Renesas’ MCUs.

“In the current Internet system, it is difficult to automatically verify the data provided by users without a trusted third party. In reality, the manual verification process of the data is still necessary for businesses. By introducing a decentralised identity mechanism to IoT devices, we can build a mechanism that allows them to autonomously verify the data provided by users. This will enable the safe and quick delivery of services of their needs,” the companies said in a press statement.

They added: “In this project, we will build a prototype of a "smart concierge" with an identity verification function for use in BFSI, healthcare, government, and access management at offices, hotels, factories, logistics warehouses.”

IoT devices must be able to correctly identify, authenticate, and authorised users, automatically verify the data applied for, consider user privacy, and ensure the security of unattended IoT devices. A decentralised IoT platform that meets these requirements is needed for a smooth transition from the face-to-face to the non-face-to-face system.

CG”s and TSSR’s “smart concierge model has four steps: first, service provider issues credentials (identity verification information, usage permit) to the user's mobile wallet; second,the user sends the credentials stored in the wallet to the IoT device; third, the IoT device verifies the credentials and opens/closes the gate; and fourth, access log is sent to the cloud server.

With the smart concierge model,  people can check in to hotels, accommodations, and other lodging facilities and unlock their rooms by simply carrying their mobile app. It can also streamline the validation and entrance for live music, concerts, baseball, football, and other sports, as well as theme park facilities. The system is also expected to enable contactless operations and efficiency that have been conducted face-to-face, such as the efficient management of office visitors, logistics warehouses, medical and educational facilities.

Raising IoT security

IoT devices that are connected to the network are subject to security risks such as hacking and identity theft. For one,  the access IDs and passwords hard-coded into IoT devices are vulnerable if they are left as default settings or are easy to guess. In fact, there was a case where a large number of IoT devices were illegally accessed and used as a botnet to launch DDoS attacks.

For this reason, security by the PKI standards has significant advantages over the password method. However, the conventional PKI standards using CA certification authorities require manual management of many certificates for each IoT device. In addition to being a very time-consuming task, there are risks such as the leakage of private keys managed by the service operator. In addition, the time and effort required to renew certificates lead to the use of certificates with a long expiration date, which causes vulnerabilities. Thus, the conventional PKI standards have problems in terms of cost, operation, and security.

By introducing a decentralised ID mechanism to IoT devices, first, a key pair is generated within the IoT device, then the public key corresponding to the digital signature is registered in the decentralised PKI network. Anyone from the network can reference this public key, and a cloud server communicating with the IoT device can retrieve this public key and verify the digitally signed data. This is expected to eliminate the need for manual verification, increase security strength, and significantly reduce the operating costs of IoT devices.

Enabling privacy-preserving data transactions

CG and TSSR will also design the decentralised IoT platform to comply with current regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, which impose a separation between holding data and using the data.

In Japan, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information is scheduled to take effect in April 2022, and the handling of personal data via IoT devices will require system design based on the same consideration of individual privacy. Decentralized IoT platforms provide a mechanism that enables IoT service providers to provide the desired services without retaining unnecessary personal information. It provides a mechanism for safe and smooth authentication and data transactions between people and IoT devices based on personal consent, using a mechanism where individuals control their personal information.

Sakae Ito, vice president of IoT Platform Business Division at Renesas Electronics is pleased to contribute in the decentralised IoT platform with its secure MCU/MPR technologies.

“We hope that this demonstration experiment of the decentralized IoT Platform by the CollaboGate and Tessera will prove IoT devices can bring security and reliability as well as improved convenience to users, expanding the demand for contactless applications,” he said.

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The introduction of the new family of products comes a little more than two weeks after the company launched its first IoT modem solution that is equipped with 5G connectivity and optimised for Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications. The Qualcomm 315 5G IoT Modem-RF System is a modem-to-antenna solution designed to support the IoT ecosystem in building upgradeable LTE and 5G devices for IoT verticals.

The newly released chipsets span across entire market segments from entry level to premium tier, and purpose-built to support emerging IoT devices and solutions designed for industrial and commercial applications.

“We have two variants of products. One classified  under the QCS family, which is an application processor with WiFi connectivity; and the other is classified under the QCM, which is an application processor with an integrated cellular connectivity,” said Nagaraju Naik, senior director for product development at Qualcomm.

He added: “With the understanding of the IoT portfolio across industrial and enterprise applications, there is a need for extended hardware availability as well as extended software support. So, we have defined that as a programme. All the new chipsets are extended life chipsets with a minimum hardware availability of at least eight years; and we have an extended software support programme that is very well established, which offers security bug fixes on a quarterly basis.”

The new Qualcomm IoT chipsets are:

• Qualcomm QCS8250 | Target applications: connected healthcare, digital signage, retail, and video collaboration

This premium-tier offering is optimised to deliver maximum performance to enable compute intensive AI at the edge with support for Qualcomm® Wi-Fi 6 solutions and 5G connectivity. It offers a new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for ultra-intuitive AI in addition to machine learning for compute-intensive IoT applications to enable smart cameras, video collaboration, AI hubs, connected healthcare and smart retail. Purpose-built for industrial and commercial applications, this platform delivers ultimate performance experience with flexible options enabled by Qualcomm’s 3rd party ecosystem to accelerate deployment and commercialisation at scale.

• Qualcomm QCS6490/QCM6490 | Target applications: connected healthcare, logistics management, retail, transportation, and warehousing

With the Kryo 585 CPU architecture this solution delivers powerful performance and is purpose-built for industrial and commercial IoT applications such as transportation, warehousing, connected healthcare, logistics management and across retail point of sale (POS) kiosks. Equip to support 5G mmWave/Sub-6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6E, this solution helps enable the latest generation of ruggedised handhelds and tablets, industrial scanners, and human machine interface systems. Through powerful connections, reduced latency, along with dynamic triple ISPs and advanced Edge-AI and compute based on 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, this solution delivers astonishing performance at reduced power compared to previous generation solutions.

• Qualcomm QCS4290/QCM4290 | Target applications: cameras, industrial handhelds, and security panels

These chipsets offer maximum mid-tier benefits. With the Kryo260 CPU architecture for increased speeds and robust on-device performance, in addition to the 3rd generation Qualcomm AI Engine, this platform delivers powerful performance, dynamic camera capabilities and broad connectivity options (LTE Cat13, Wi-Fi 6-Ready),ideal for industrial and commercial IoT applications such as industrial handhelds in logistics and warehousing, security panels and cameras. For increased intuitive on-device intelligence, devices based on this new solution will help enable productive and efficient work environments.

• Qualcomm QCS2290/QCM2290 | Target applications: camera applications, industrial handhelds, retail and tracking

These are robust entry-level offerings, enabling reliable performance and power-conservation with LTE connectivity, upgraded features and memory support for low power consumption. Equipped with the Cortex A53 CPU architecture, the entry-level platform is a cost-effective solution, delivering greater performance, higher graphics capabilities, better quality images, and improved power performance. This platform is well-suited for, retail point-of-sale (POS),industrial handheld, tracking and camera applications. Also, QCS2290/QCM2290 baseband chip is pin-to-pin compatible with QCS4290/QCM4290 which helps customers use hardware and software across various IoT devices to reduce cost and time to market.

The Qualcomm QCS8250, Qualcomm QCS4290/ QCM4290, and Qualcomm QCS2290/ QCM2290 solutions are available now. The Qualcomm QCS6490/ QCM6490 solution are expected to be available in second half of 2021.

Enabling the IoT ecosystem

With its latest family of IoT chipsets, Qualcomm hopes to enable its more than 13,000 IoT customers accelerate their development of connected products.

“We uniquely positioned to lead the IoT ecosystem forward with our systems-level approach. Along with the recently announced Qualcomm315 5G IoT modem, these new IoT solutions further exemplify our commitment to driving global digital transformation and providing a portfolio of solutions to transform industrial and enterprise IoT applications to achieve cutting-edge performance and seamless connectivity,” said Jeff Lorbeck, senior vice president and general manager of connected smart systems at Qualcomm .

He added: “We believe in the power of technology to enrich lives through purposeful innovation with solutions to support the ecosystem in reimagining how the world connects, works and communicates. These new IoT solutions are a step towards achieving that goal.”

A number of the company’s customers and partners have expressed optimism about the new IoT chipsets.

“The announcement of Qualcomm Technologies’ newest IoT solutions is an exciting step forward in the global proliferation of next-generation IoT devices. Coupled with Fibocom’s end-to-end IoT modules and wireless communications solutions, these new solutions will enable powerful, intelligent, and revolutionary IoT solutions across a variety of industries and vertical applications,” said Lingpeng Ying,chief executive officer, Wireless Inc.

"As a leading IoT solution distributor in Taiwan, we have strong application insights and support customers from concept to design to manufacturing. The Qualcomm QCS8250 is a leading AI computing platform, and we are pleased to be collaborating with Taiwan customers to enable the high-performance, low-power computing IoT platform in 1H2022, including a SMARC module from biases and video conference solution from Aver," said Eric Cheng, president, Hongtech Electronics.

“Qualcomm Technologies’ newest IoT solutions are a strong step forward for the retail market and IoT ecosystem to enable the global proliferation of next-generation devices. We are proud to work with Qualcomm Technologies to continue to enable the growth of this market and ecosystem.” said Tom Luo, executive vice president, PAX Computer Technology (Shenzhen).

“Based on our long strategic relationship, we congratulate Qualcomm Technologies on the launch of these cutting-edge solutions,” said Julie Johnson, vice president of product management, Zebra Technologies. “This innovation gives us more flexibility than ever before to build the right technology solutions for our customers based on their specific needs.”

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The Aruba User Experience Insight (UXI) AI software agent embedded in Zebra mobile computers analyses real-time voice and data traffic and proactively flags issues that could affect application, Wi-Fi connectivity, roaming, and voice performance.

The embedded solution will be available in October of 2021. Target markets include healthcare, hospitality, logistics, and retail applications.

However, companies using Zebra devices can get hold of the solution now through early access trials.

The early warning provided by Aruba UXI informs remedial actions so that business-critical applications and end user experiences are not impacted. The result is higher up-time, increased productivity, and more expeditious problem remediation.

Aruba’s AI-based UXI agents’ network and application testing capabilities work in concert with Zebra’s Worry-Free Wi-Fi Edge Insights to expose a device-level view and pre-analysed insights of the network. Results are displayed on Aruba’s intuitive UXI dashboard.

Edge-to-cloud early warning system

Zebra developed WorryFree Wi-Fi Edge Insights to deliver device communications and management services. It will provide businesses with an edge-to-cloud early warning system that can directly enhance productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

The solution enables IT teams to automate the collection, analysis, and remediation of performance issues in real-time using data observed from the very devices that are being impacted, as simulated or historical data simply cannot provide the same level of accuracy as live data.

For example, connectivity and voice performance might vary considerably while standing at floor level, moving on a forklift, or while picking at the top of a storage rack. The combination of Aruba’s UXI agents and Zebra Worry-Free Wi-Fi Edge Insights will expose these differences, enabling IT staff – locally or remotely – to precisely target solutions. The real-time nature of data collection means that even transient events that might otherwise go unnoticed are captured and analysed.

“COOs are laser focused on improving operational efficiency, reducing downtime, and making the best use of skilled labour,” said Michael Tennefoss, vice president of IoT and strategic partnerships at Aruba. “Many of the most vexing problems are transient in nature and extremely challenging to troubleshoot. Capturing real-time information right at the point of impact gives the most insightful view of what’s happening, and best informs how to fix it. And that’s exactly what the combination of Zebra’s new Worry-Free Wi-Fi Edge Insights and Aruba’s UXI accomplishes.”

Mining business insights from big data

The vast amount of data generated by Zebra mobile computers and other IoT machines can be meaningfully collected, analysed, and acted upon by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).

Aruba pioneered the application of AI to automated network and application performance monitoring. Aruba UXI, a component of Aruba’s AIOps suite, is AI-powered and its Incident Detection feature baselines application performance over time and automatically identifies and alerts when it detects service-impacting changes in behaviour.

The cloud-based service allows IT to proactively resolve issues before they impact operations, and minimise alert fatigue, often without ever stepping foot on the site being monitored. AIOps runs as a service within Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), the industry’s first cloud-native platform designed to automate, unify, and secure the edge.

“As enterprises make the leap to digitally transform, the amount of business-impacting data that has to be analysed for meaningful insights is growing exponentially,” said Brian Ray, vice president of engineering at HarborTech Mobility, an Aruba Platinum partner and Zebra PartnerConnect Premier Solutions partner.

He added: “Data science has to be leveraged, but it is only as good as the sources from which it draws. Mobile device-generated data is the gold standard for performance and troubleshooting information because it’s coming directly from the source, from the very device that’s impacted by network, service, and application issues.”

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With the pandemic reshaping the way retailers in the region engage with customers and digital technology adoption accelerating, security must come to the forefront of device management strategies.

This sheer quantity of connected devices in retail today opens innumerable points of access for cyberattacks with costly repercussions. Customers using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and mobile applications to shop in-store and avoid long lines at checkout are at risk of exposing their data to online breaches. And those who use retail-owned devices, such as the handheld mobile computers powering personal shopping solutions (PSS), also open retailers’ systems up to vulnerabilities.  Though some may be hesitant to assume the risk given the significant impact a breach can have on business, delaying digital transformation efforts isn’t really an option anymore. Zebra’s 13^th annual Global Shopper Study found that 65% of shoppers in APAC prefer shopping at stores with contactless payment options.

As such, retailers in Asia must continue to invest in connected devices to increase their competitive advantage and enhance the customer experience. Yet they must do so in a way that also prioritise security.

The need for privacy by design

Privacy has also been top of mind with both businesses and shoppers as the collection and utilisation of digital data has exploded. Retailers that want to introduce self-scanning technologies in-store should adopt a privacy by design approach which ensures customer data is as secure as possible, whether the scan occurs on a company- or customer-owned device. This strategy integrates shopper safety into the entire development process of innovative retail point of sale (POS), customer service, and returns solutions. Privacy protocols that are essential to handling personal data, like encryption and data housing, must be included from the very beginning.

When a retailer implements any scan-and-go or IoT solution, there are critical processes and elements that should be in place to reinforce the security of the platform and protect shoppers’ data.

Retail operations and customer data must be kept separate so retailers can track and monitor physical retailer-owned devices but not the data housed on them. Once the data is uploaded, retailers should always ensure mechanisms that allow the customer to delete the data are in place. Customer data should also never be saved in plain text but in encrypted data. This makes it much more difficult to decipher, hence helping to protect shoppers’ privacy in the case of a data breach. These measures will bring about greater ease for Asian shoppers as they continue to shop on both their personal devices and the devices retailers offer for in-store use.

Enhancing the shopping experience without compromising safety and sales

As retailers in Asia work to boost operations while providing a safe and enjoyable shopping experience, retailers need to look for more ways to ensure shoppers are in safe hands. Countries like Singapore have issued safe distancing guidelines for retail and food and beverage outlets, ensuring establishments comply and even pushing for more adoption of mobile ordering and payment solutions.

In retail, self-scanning devices can offer customers personalised shopping experiences and frictionless checkout, while maintaining social distancing and minimising surface contacts. For example, solutions such as PSS allow retailers to send highly personalised promotions directly to customers as they navigate store aisles. They also enable customers to upload personal shopping lists and other information to make the shopping experience easier. Plus, the solution can identify items customers are scanning into their carts and recommend recipes. If customers are interested, the PSS can then direct customers to the other ingredients they will need.

In addition, these mobile computing devices can instantly price check and plot a course to the next destination in the store for the customer. This helps customers monitor spending in real time, which can help them budget better – which statistically leads to more spending. Retailers that employ self-serve contactless shopping solutions also find lines at checkout are heavily reduced – if the customer must go to the register at all. Shoppers like the option to pay on the device from anywhere in the store using a simple credit card swipe. It enables them to avoid the time-consuming process of unpacking, re-scanning, and re-bagging items already in their carts. Once payment is made, the customer simply needs to return the scanner to the display for sanitisation and preparation for the next customer before proceeding to the exit.

A customer-first mindset can help retailers recover quickly

Contactless self-service shopping solutions can help to increase revenue and reduce costs as they provide a platform to enable next-generation digital services. More importantly, as the pandemic persists, the only hands touching the customers’ groceries are their own. Social distancing is also far easier to maintain when customers can bypass the checkout lane. Additionally, store associates can use the scanners for online orders and carry-outs, further increasing retailers’ return on investment.

The benefits of this technology are vast, but whenever shared devices access personal information, retailers must take measured steps to preserve customers’ security and privacy.

It is undoubtedly vital to stay compliant with the data protection laws being enacted in Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Beyond that, on a more granular level, retailers must work with technology solution providers to integrate and maximise toolsets that provide multiple layers of protection and maintain a high level of security throughout each product’s full lifecycle.

Retailers in APAC should also work with leading security vendors and invest in security training to equip personnel to meet today’s security challenges and protect customer data in this era of IoT.

The post Balancing act: digital innovation and security in retail appeared first on FutureIoT.

The property’s unique ARgo AR navigation application delivers an all-scenario navigation across all of Chengdu IFS’ multiple venues. The mixed-used complex consists a flagship 210,000sqm shopping mall, premium Grade-A office buildings, the 230-room Niccolo Hotel and the 76,000sqm IFS Residences.

The property management partnered with AI-specialist SenseTime to develop the ARgo AR navigation feature using the latter’s SenseMARs AR platform.  The platform is capable of processing large-scale 3D mapping reconstructions of the 460,000 sqm mega complex. Combined with real-time localisation and Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) technologies, it achieves centimetre-level precise positioning accuracy of over 99%.

To make the AR features more accessible and convenient, ARgo can be launched via the menu of Chengdu IFS’ WeChat Service account or the kiosks inside the mall without downloading any Apps, compatible with multiple operating systems including Androids and iOS.

By leveraging AI and AR technologies and exploring the innovative application of all-scenario AR navigation at an urban complex, Chengdu IFS include  innovative as an essential part of the premium shopping environment for customers.

With the AR directions on ARgo, Chengdu IFS  allows customers to easily explore and navigate around its 300 plus stores, while enabling brands to use a more interactive marketing approach.

To create an interesting AI-powered navigation journey, the smart service first helps customers identify their locations through AI vision technology, then presents “AR arrows” on the mobile phone screen to guide them to their destinations easily and quickly. The application even integrates the country’s first car parking navigation system for urban complexes – customers who drive to the mall can locate their cars with one click by entering the parking floor and location numbers, as well as paying for the parking tickets online.

New level of intelligence to offline retail

In addition to the Chengdu IFS’s new navigation features, the SenseMARS platform brings a new level of intelligence to offline retail by offering fun games for different marketing campaigns or themes to boost customer interaction.

Along with the launch of ARgo, Chengdu IFS also introduced the “Ready GO!“ interactive mini-game. Users who catch over five falling balls within 30 seconds will be able to attend a lucky draw of gift cards, e-vouchers and other gifts. As users navigate themselves around the mall, the “Promotions” section on the screen displays the latest promotion information, with AR vouchers of nearby stores popping out randomly.

For customers seeking a nice place to dine in, a Dianping (China’s largest platform for locally found consumer products and retail services) page appears on the navigation interface with ratings, reviews and popular dishes when they stand in front of a restaurant, revolutionising their dining experience in a brand-new and immersive way.

Furthermore, SenseTime has deployed AR to enhance the complex’s main attraction, the giant panda sculpture called “I AM HERE” that is mounted on the roof. By clicking the panda icon on the ARgo interface, customers can follow the AR paw-prints of the panda to approach the sculpture. This user-friendly feature not only helps customers avoid getting lost in this large commercial complex, but also connects brands with their customers through various scenarios for targeted marketing.

According to SenseTime, the application of SenseMARS AR technology in an urban complex like Chengdu IFS is a major step in their goal to empower city-level smart cultural tourism, while significantly enhancing the venue service and management quality.

Moving forward, SenseTime will continue to explore the wider potential benefits of AI in off-line commercial scenarios, contributing to a smart and human-centric urban living space with innovative AI applications.

The post Chengdu IFS, SenseTime deploy AR in smart retail bid appeared first on FutureIoT.

“Our study finds that people in the region haven’t just adopted new payment  technologies—they’ve made deliberate shifts based partly on necessity, but also on considerations around personal safety, security and convenience, at a time when these concerns were paramount,” said Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president for products & innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.

Pandemic spurs shift in payment habits

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a major driver towards broader enthusiasm for a range of payment technologies in Asia Pacific, according to the latest Mastercard New Payment Index, which polled consumers across 18 markets, including India, Australia and Thailand.

The index shows that a new shopping reality and payment habits have emerged in the region. About 84% of consumers in APAC have seen their access to emerging forms of payments increase in the past year alone.

While 88% used at least one emerging payment type in the last year, two-thirds (64%) of all respondents (including 75% of millennials) have tried new payment methods that otherwise they would not have tried were it not for the pandemic.

Furthermore, the index points out that as consumer demand increases, businesses of all sizes will face greater expectations to provide multiple ways to purchase and pay. Its findings show 80% of respondents prefer to shop at stores that have both an in-person and online presence, and 69% are more excited to shop at retailers who offer the latest payment methods. In fact, 60% of  consumers polled say they would avoid merchants that do not accept electronic payments of any kind.

“This behaviour shift is reinforced by people’s desire for choice – with 85% of consumers in APAC saying that they expect to make purchases when they want and how they want,” said Malhotra. “Businesses that can provide multiple ways to shop and pay will be best positioned to meet the unique needs of this moment that are shaping the future of commerce for years to come.”

Use of QR codes, cryptocurrencies and biometrics on the rise

Looking ahead, the index said the use of a range of payment technologies is trending upwards as people’s comfort with and understanding of them increases – while the use of cash steadily decreases.

Indeed, 69% of respondents in APAC plan to use cash less frequently in the coming year, as digital or mobile wallets have gained significant popularity amongst consumers in the region. In fact,  68% of respondents anticipate using this type of payment in the next year – higher than the global average of 62%.

Among the various emerging payment methods are:

• QR codes especially popular in APAC – QR codes have gained particularly strong traction in APAC compared to the rest of the world. Of those who used QR codes for payment, 63% said they used them more frequently in the last year than they had in the past. In both Thailand and India, the number is 64%, above the global average of 56%. In APAC, majorities of respondents perceive new payment methods like QR codes to be cleaner (76%) and more convenient (71%) for in-person payments as it is likely consumers are using their own mobile device. In Thailand and India, 77% and 71% of consumers respectively perceive QR codes to be secure while only 67% and 64% respectively perceive cash as a secure form of payment, demonstrating people’s greater trust in QR codes and other forms of digital payments.
• Cryptocurrency gains ground, millennials primed to jump In – Today consumers can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency as a commodity or investment. Consumers are also increasingly showing interest in being able to spend crypto assets for everyday purchases. 45% of those surveyed in APAC say they are likely to consider using cryptocurrency in the next year – a huge jump over the 12% that already used it in the last year, and higher than the global average of 40%. Millennials and centennials are relatively more comfortable using cryptocurrency (41%) compared to Gen X and Boomers (26%), with 71% of millennials saying they are more open to using it than they were a year ago. Geographically speaking, more consumers in Thailand (46%) and India (44%) are comfortable using cryptocurrency as compared to consumers in Australia (17%). Finally, while consumer interest in cryptocurrency - especially floating digital currencies such as Bitcoin - is high, work is still required to ensure consumer choice, protection, and their regulatory compliance as a payment instrument.
• Consumers increasingly comfortable with biometrics – Perceptions of safety and convenience have been front and centre for people over the past year. 64% of consumers in APAC say they are excited about the potential of biometric verification methods like gait or walk assessments and fingerprint authorization. In fact, 62% feel safer using biometrics to verify a purchase than entering a pin.

“These findings confirm that consumers in the region are more open to new technologies compared with the rest of the world, and this trend is only set to continue as more digital payment options rapidly become mainstream,” Malhotra said.

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Both companies are entitled to an investment of up to US$4 million in total from AEF and its co-organisers Hong Kong Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).

“The Hong Kong and global markets have faced severe challenges over the past year. We are happy to see that many startups still hold on to indomitable, innovative and flexible thinking during their journeys. The support from enterprises is crucial to the growth of startups. With the help of Cyberport, HKSTP, as well as other sponsoring companies and institutions, we will have abundant resources to match startups with mentors to share relevant experiences in entrepreneurship and management,” said Cindy Chow, executive director of AEF.

Established in 2017, this year’s competition received over 2,000 applications from 100 countries worldwide vying in four different categories:  retail, fintech, smart city and deep tech industries. Moving the entire event online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, JUMPSTARTER 2021 nevertheless proved to be the largest in terms of scale with over 220 semi-pitch sessions that attracted more than 126,000 fans and supporter globally.

Rice Robotics bagged the prize in the smart city category and was also given the Social Impact Startup award.  The Hong Kong-based company is building the infrastructure for companies to deploy robot fleets. It has four robots: Rice (delivery), Jasmine (disinfection), Valencia (patrol and guiding) and Waiter (food court delivery), each of which are autonomous, navigating in crowded areas and charging without help, and run by the management software RiceCore.

China’s  Lingxi AR Technology received the Top Innovative Startup Award for its waveguide AR technology – the first to be developed in the Mainland, which various companies from consumer electronics, smart-eyewear manufacturers and industrial enterprises can apply in their see-through wearable displays.

Due to the pandemic, JUMPSTARTER 2021 moved the entire contest online for the first time. It received an overwhelming response with over 2,000 applications from 100 countries and regions around the globe. Startups from Greater China and Asia Pacific are the most active among the applicants. With the support of collaboration partners, more than 220 semi-pitch sessions were held online, attracting more than 126,000 fans and supporters worldwide. The scale of the event was the largest since its inception, showing the passion of startups and their supporters, even amid the pandemic.

The competition has been opened to startups in the retail, fintech, smart city and deep tech industries. Among the top 200 finalists, retail startups made up a relatively high proportion of entries. The judging panel of JUMPSTARTER 2021 believes that due to the popularity among fintech in the last few years, participants in this area will face fiercer competition in the market. By region, startups in the Mainland are concentrating on deep tech such as biotechnology, while startups in Hong Kong are focusing on retail and fintech. Startups in Southeast Asia meanwhile are showing strong interest in the retail sector.

JUMPSTARTER 2021 winners in the other categories are:

• Retail – Outpos of Indonesia for using digital solutions to integrate  street food  hawkers into a modern street food ecosystem at a fraction of the cost and time it takes to setup a traditional restaurant.
• Fintech – Benefit Vantage of Hong Kong for improving mobile authentication and the user experience without compromising security and privacy through IPificiation, where mobile users can be easily authenticated via their Public IP address. The company also creates extra revenue for telco partners and helps service providers win trust with safe and seamless authentication.
• Deep Tech – Hinyeung Limited of China, which is committed to manufacturing high-speed, high-definition 3D visual devices. Its products are known for precision and are primarily used for robot navigation and industrial inspection. It has successfully worked with sectors including food, electric appliances, logistics, ceramics and shipping

The judging panel of JUMPSTARTER 2021 believes that due to the popularity among fintech in the last few years, participants in this area faced fiercer competition in the market. By region, startups in the Mainland concentrated on deep tech such as biotechnology, while startups in Hong Kong focused on retail and fintech. Startups in Southeast Asia showed strong interest in the retail sector.

Making Hong Kong Asia’s startup hub

Peter Yan,  CEO of Cyberport said innovative technology has become an important driving force for the global economy under the new normal.

“In face of current challenges, I look forward to seeing more startups solve real world pain points in innovative ways to create value for society. We are committed to providing comprehensive support to promising startups, and will work with institutions and investors to promote the development of Hong Kong's startup ecosystem,” Yan said.

According to Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP said Hong Kong is home to a diverse talent pool with direct access to the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asian markets, a diversified capital market and many factors to support startups.

“In recent years, the government, private companies and investors have strongly embraced the innovation and technology sector, making the city a great place for startups to develop their businesses. We have cooperated with Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and other organisations to create and nurture the innovation and technology ecosystem. We are confident in the startup development in Hong Kong,” Wong said.

Lukas Petrikas, head of Innovation and Data Lab, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) said, “We are excited to see the breakthroughs achieved by a growing number of Hong Kong startups. Hong Kong’s thriving corporate venture capital ecosystem bodes well for local startup success stories. HKEX looks forward to welcoming some of these home-grown startups to our world-leading equities market soon, adding more vibrancy and innovation to this international financial centre.”

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This was the key insight to the latest research from Frost & Sullivan, pointing out that the pandemic challenges have catalysed technology trends across the globe and accelerated organisations' digital transformations sooner than initially predicted.

“More than 50% of businesses have already invested in IoT and digital visualisation. The former offers potential for enhanced CX for organisations in insurance, healthcare, and manufacturing with its monitoring capabilities, and the latter can be valuable for agent desktops to improve employee performance,” said Alpa Shah, Global VP of CX Research at Frost & Sullivan.

She added: “"The retail/wholesale, travel/hospitality, energy, and education industries will invest in AI to facilitate innovation and are most interested in using the technology to boost CX. On the other hand, banking and finance companies, along with government and transportation, are focusing on cost efficiencies."

Other key findings of Frost & Sullivan’s latest research, include:

• Big data analytics takes the lead on investments in transformative technologies, followed by IoT and data visualisation. More than 75% of organisations will be investing in these solutions by 2022.
• Post-pandemic plans for technology investments are focused on moving applications to the cloud (31%), followed by video conferencing (25%). Over the next two years, 80% of CX solutions are expected to be in the cloud.
• The key digital transformation objectives in 2021 are adapting to the new work modes (35%), accelerating digital customer engagement self-serve (31%), and enhancing e-commerce capabilities (30%).
• For 44% of companies, customer satisfaction is the prevalent method for measuring digital transformation success, which aligns with top business goals and investment priorities.
• Cybersecurity continues to be the top concern for 51% of companies; this is only exacerbated by the number of remote workers caused by the pandemic. COVID-19 has augmented the move to the cloud and the use of digital commerce and digital marketing. While CX is a top corporate goal, CX investments are not ranked high.

The research report stated that delivering a holistic customer journey is top of mind among end-user businesses. Finance, healthcare, and travel and hospitality organizations are focused on managing the entire customer journey; high-tech and transportation companies want to leverage CX information across all departments.

"Companies recognise the importance of CX and even measure their digital transformation success on customer satisfaction but tend to invest in solutions that only solve short-term problems," Shah said.

The post Frost: Firms eye IoT and AI to upgrade customer experience appeared first on FutureIoT.

Frost & Sullivan said the managed services market will see an uptick as companies recognise the benefits of assistance across connectivity, cybersecurity, data management, device management, and infrastructure management.

The company’s latest research encompasses regional trends in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa across five managed services segments—connectivity, data, device, infrastructure, and security.

"While the recent pandemic adversely affected expansion across verticals, the impact is expected to be short to medium term, and businesses will recover," said Deepali Sathe, senior industry analyst, Frost & Sullivan. "Technology adoption across verticals has been increasing as the benefits of IoT are quantified for companies to move from pilot and proof-of-concept stage to implementation. Almost all verticals, such as manufacturing, retail, healthcare, utilities, and energy, are expected to regain strong growth trajectories."

Sathe added: "In the IoT-managed services market, APAC is expected to be the fastest-growing region, followed by North America. Regional disparities in terms of infrastructure development and regulations are a challenge for mobile network operators, an important segment within paid IoT connectivity. North America and Europe lead when it comes to 5G, LTE-M, and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) deployment, but high costs of spectrum lead to higher cost of services, affecting providers. Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia lag, with 2G and 3G still forming the bulk of connectivity infrastructure. In APAC, some countries are ahead as governments promote infrastructure development."

The research cited that the lack of standardisation in the IoT industry has resulted in an extremely fragmented ecosystem; and, users struggle to find solutions and devices that are interoperable and compatible with their existing systems.

Frost and Sullivan pointed out addressing this challenge and focusing on the following strategic recommendations will offer tremendous growth prospects for IoT-managed services providers:

• Private mobile networks: Vendors that want to deploy private mobile networks should look for partners that can provide relevant connectivity solutions.
• eSIM and iSIM for global connectivity: As more digital-first devices are launched into the market, IoT-managed service providers can leverage this growth opportunity with eSIMs and iSIMs.
• Vertical solutions: Companies must leverage the services and expertise of a managed services provider that can embark on a long-term collaborative partnership to execute their IoT strategies and enable their vision.
• Intelligent edge: Managed services providers can deliver the benefits of intelligent edge, including reduced costs, latency, and security risks.

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“We are working with companies throughout Asia Pacific, especially Japan and Korea. And facilities managers there are keen to use both technologies from design and development of buildings to daily operations and management,” Schwarz told FutureIoT.

Resonai is an AI company that is digitising physical spaces and delivering real-time intelligence for smarter operations of all software & machines, and innovative, new experiences that improve daily lives.  Its computer vision platform  called Vera creates an intelligent digital twin of any commercial building, enabling mobile applications that address critical business issues.

With Vera, building owners and operators can leverage the huge compute power of the cloud to automate processes, create engaging AR experiences, gain access to a new level of data analytics, and identify new revenue streams from the new digital real estate.

“Computer vision is about teaching machines to duplicate  human vision which is a very complex challenge that has prevented applications from operating with the level of accuracy needed to power business critical applications,” said Schwarz.

She added that Resonai has been working on solving many of these critical challenges in computer vision and spatial embedded AI.

“That’s exactly why we built Vera, which digitally reconstructs a building from the inside out to transform commercial buildings into intelligent environments with unprecedented semantic understanding and object recognition,” Schwarz said. “Vera combines this with very precise localisation and tracking services and the ability to overlay AR content.”

According to Schwarz, these technologies give facility managers highly accurate 3D visualisations of buildings and everything in them. They have one dashboard with real-time data for business insights and they can leverage AR navigation and AR content to create innovative new end user experiences.

Rise of AR in facilities management

AR is currently driving the digital transformation in facilities management (FM), with an average 20% of vertical markets – including hospital and healthcare, manufacturing, education, corporate offices, and shopping malls – are already using AR in the workplace.

Indeed, nearly three out of four facilities managers – approximately 73% of those surveyed – who do not currently use AR expect to implement the technology at their workplace sometime within the next two years.

This is one of the key takeaways from the 2021 State of Augmented Reality in Facilities Management report released by Resonai last week. The digital survey conducted between November 2020 and January 2021 involved a curated audience of senior facility management directors and executives throughout the United States and Europe.

Participants represented a cross-section of building types, including corporate offices, manufacturing facilities, retail/apparel, residential, hospitals and medical, shopping centres, education, entertainment, and food and grocery.

Of the vertical markets survey, AR has been embraced most by facilities managers of hospitals and healthcare facilities at 30%, followed by manufacturing facilities (26%), educational facilities (25%) and corporate offices (23%).

To date, most common uses of AR among facilities managers are marketing applications such as tours and virtual demonstrations (20%), followed by industrial manufacturing applications (18%), smart maintenance and repairs (12%), tenant and visitor services (10%), and training/tutorials (10%)

However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey stated that  many FM professionals are focused on solutions that can help ensure their facilities remain operational and that guests feel safe whenever they’re able to return.

Those polled by the survey said future AR adoption are likely around smart maintenance, with 45% saying that it can help cut down repair times while keeping health and safety prioritised for both visitors and maintenance teams. Future AR use cases are expected to be around  tenant and visitor services (40%) and indoor navigation and wayfinding (38%).

Schwarz told FutureIoT that most of the key findings from the survey are common throughout the world: “And we have a lot of momentum with clients in Asia Pacific. AR is on the rise, and its use by facilities managers and property owners to streamline their operations, boost tenant experiences and improve their businesses in other meaningful ways will increase rapidly in the very near future.”

She added: “We also see a lot of interest for AR in the retail segment for marketing and branding purposes. To provide engaging experiences to consumers and also to extend brands into physical venues. We are working with a number of clients in the region, and we’ll be able to share more details shortly.”

Ubiquity of IoT spurs AR growth

According to the report, the rising adoption of AR in facilities management is driven by the ubiquity of IoT in the workplace, citing that 75% of facility managers currently work in buildings with IoT functionality.

Most notably, 44% of respondents use IoT-enabled environmental sensors, while 42% use the technology in HVAC systems. Meanwhile, many businesses use IoT in cameras (32.74%), lighting systems (25.45%), and automated doors (25.45%)

Modern AR platforms can leverage data points from these physical assets for the safe and efficient management of devices and equipment.

Combined with IoT, AR platforms can ingest data from sensors, devices and applications to glean valuable facility-specific insights that can allow for personalised visitor-level experiences. Survey results suggest that the world is closer to this outcome than ever before due to a variety of pre-existing IoT integration.

Of course, there are challenges. And the report cited cost as the major barrier to AR adoption in FM as the technology is perceived be  too expensive by 40% of respondents. However, this concern is offset by AR’s ability to bring in new revenue opportunities, which was cited as the technology’s greatest potential benefit by 30%t of those facilities managers already using AR or expecting to do so within 24 months.

“AR has come a long way since its first implementations in gaming and entertainment. As buildings become smarter and the digital and physical worlds become one, building owners and facilities managers are turning to AR and AI for everything from improved maintenance to indoor navigation,” said Emil Alon, CEO and founder of Resonai, in a media statement. “We published our state of the industry report to help facilities management professionals navigate the complex world of digital transformation and understand how their peers are leveraging the exciting innovations taking place.”

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With the goal of being everywhere the customer is, the virtual store adds another dimension to TUMI's evolving omnichannel retailing approach.

Deploying 360-degree 3D and augmented reality, the TUMI Virtual Store encourages customers to explore interactive  touchpoints, and they can engage with shareable social photo moments at TUMI’s Magic Mirror and play mini-games on Instagram and WeChat.

"The TUMI Virtual Store is an incredible milestone for the brand. For the last few years, we have been pioneering new digital experiences and looking to enhance and elevate the customer journey. Our new Virtual Store is part of this holistic approach to connect with customers wherever they are,” said Adam Hershman, vice president of TUMI, Asia Pacific and Middle East.

“Accelerated digitization and shifting customer habits brought on by 2020 have reinforced this direction and shown that we must continue to create exciting, meaningful interactions both in the physical and digital worlds,” he added.

Further enhancing the overall TUMI O2O ("Online to Offline" also "Offline to Online") shopping experience, the virtual store is connected to other TUMI shopping channels via its Chat & Shop function allowing for seamless customer movement to the point of purchase.

Customers exploring the Virtual Store can easily connect with sales associates to ask questions and place orders, or via the connected local e-commerce websites. Furthermore, those visiting the TUMI physical stores in the region can explore the TUMI digital landscape via in-store kiosks, for an enhanced offline experience.

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Called Sensormatic IQ, the new platform integrates data from retailers and third party sources to deliver total visibility into operations and shopper insights – all with the help of AI, IoT and machine learning. This combination drives prescriptive, data-driven outcomes for retailers, creating value and growth opportunities as retailers move into the future.

“In today’s hyper-connected world, the customer experience is about how, where, when, and why engagement happens. That’s why our commitment to enabling customers to harness diverse insights to drive positive outcomes and informed business decisions is more important than ever,” said Bjoern Petersen, president, Sensormatic Solutions.

“The launch of Sensormatic IQ reflects our forward-looking business strategy. Through collaborating with our technology partners and leveraging the global reach and scalability of the Google Cloud coupled with smart sensors and advanced analytics, our platform is designed to evolve with the industry and our customer’s needs,” he added.

Petersen said the company’s new open platform represents years of investment and innovation moving to outcome-based operations that meet the shifting needs of retailers.

“The addition of the Sensormatic IQ platform is one more way of providing the foundation for a digital journey that allows retailers to run at an enterprise scale,” Petersen said.

Sensormatic IQ’s flexible, open platform can incorporate insights from edge devices, such as POS, sensors, EAS, RFID, Computer Vision, and more, capable of delivering AI predictive and prescriptive models to support operations in retail environments from grocery and apparel to home improvement and malls.

Daren Ng, general manager, Sensormatic Solutions Loss & Liability, Asia Pacific, is optimistic that the region’s retailers will embrace the new platform.

“Asia Pacific retail took the lead in driving global industry growth prior to the impact of COVID-19, and the region is expected to recover the fastest from the health crisis,” Ng said.

He added: “One thing that has not changed as retailers gear up for recovery is consumers’ expectation for better shopper experiences -- from personalisation and choice to a frictionless buying journey. Sensormatic IQ provides retailers a view across their operation on one platform and with actionable insights that they can use to engage customers in an cost efficient and meaningful way.”

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The company has teamed up with Singapore-based banking-as-a service provider MatchMove and wearable payment integrator Tappy Technologies to develop the innovation that turns custom wearables into secure contactless payment devices by simply attaching the small tokenised chip.

MatchMove cardholders can now add their MatchMove Mastercard to this payment chip by simply placing the wearable or the accessory on a Bluetooth-connected device developed by Tappy Technologies.

Tokenisation is the industry-leading security standard in electronic payments. Its integration into Tappy’s product is particularly important at the present moment, as consumers in Asia and across the world are migrating towards contactless payments during the pandemic to stay safe and adhere to social distancing measures. A Mastercard global 2020 study  found 91% of respondents in Asia Pacific were using tap-and-go payments, while 75% said they would keep using contactless after the pandemic is over due to concerns about safety.

After downloading the Tappy app and following the in-app instructions, the MatchMove Mastercard will be tokenised via Mastercard’s Digital Enablement Service (MDES) into the secure payment chip of a wearable via the Bluetooth device. This contactless enabled wearable device works exactly like any contactless card or digital wallet where the user taps the wearable at any contactless accepted terminal.

“We are proud to introduce network tokenization to the world of wearables in partnership with MatchMove and Mastercard.  The Tappy patented provisioning accessory digitalises payment credentials into wearables within seconds which is an absolute game changer to the banking industry.  Embedded inside the wearable is the Mastercard-certified payment chip which operates contactlessly without batteries.  Our goal is to rewrite the standards of consumer wearable by producing products that are secure, easy to use and at the same time maintaining the natural aesthetics of the fashion wearable accessories which is critical to end consumers,” said Wayne Leung, CEO, Tappy Technologies.

Mastercard initially developed its relationship with Tappy through the Mastercard Accelerate initiative, a global platform which offers start-ups and emerging brands a range of programs that support and provide assistance for every stage of their growth and transformation. The Accelerate program that connected Mastercard with Tappy is Mastercard Engage—an initiative that identifies qualified technology partners and connects them with thousands of Mastercard customers to help scale their business, quickly and efficiently.

“Mastercard is constantly innovating technologies that securely and seamlessly integrate payments into people’s day-to-day lives. By combining the versatility of Tappy and MatchMove’s technologies with tokenization, Mastercard is able to meet consumers’ need for both security and convenience at a time when contactless payments are more important than ever,” said Ben Gilbey, senior vice president for digital payments and labs, Asia Pacific at Mastercard.

Amar Abrol, chief commercial officer, MatchMove said the company’s collaboration with Mastercard and Tappy enables them to continue the process of innovation in a safe and secure manner.

“With the addition of the Tappy solutions to our banking-as-a service offering, our customers will be able to take greater control of how they make payments and how payments can fit in their lifestyles. We see this as a real opportunity to drive conversations in this space and create a new dimension of what’s possible,” he said.

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But imagine using your finger to pay for groceries at a vein-pattern checkout scanner. Or completing your takeout order from your fridge, buying movie tickets using your car’s navigation system, or installing a smart landing pad on your balcony to pay for items delivered by drone.

The rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the digital payment environment. These that are possible somewhere in the world, are forming an expanding version of IoT - Internet of Payments (IoP), which enables payment over IoT devices.

Use cases

In the meantime, we see the pandemic fuelling countries toward cashless societies. India's Prime Minister has encouraged the use of digital payments during the pandemic. Kyash, a Japanese-based digital wallet provider, raised $45 million recently to help Japan convert to a cashless economy. South Korea's central bank said in March it would aim to take all banknotes out of circulation for two weeks and would burn some of the bills to reduce the spread of the virus.

In Singapore, a chain of self-service laundry stores named Happy Families Laundromat implemented the country’s first Online-to-Offline (O2O) digital payment for in-store laundry-goers with the support of KuikPay. It decreases the usage of cash and coins which is regarded as virus-spreading in the post-pandemic world.

IoT devices with IoP capabilities are gaining momentum from this trend in creating a cashless business environment and better customer services. According to Statista’s research conducted in November 2019, there could be around 75 billion connected devices globally by 2025, with most having payments function.

IoT is growing and it’s shifting the way businesses interact with people. In the past, self-service laundromats used coin- or token-operated machines. The new system lets customers pay for laundry services and activate an IoT-enabled washer or dryer right from their mobile device or an in-store kiosk.

It is a good example of how IoT provides benefits to operators of coin-based business. They save time in coin-counting and paying extra bank charges like coin-handling fees. Additionally, it also attracts a group of high-spending tech-savvy consumers who are highly receptive to new innovations.

Benefits

The benefits have undoubtedly accelerated the adoption of IoP services in smart cities.  Payments and IoT are ready to intersect with each other and disrupt the market. To ensure an efficient and secure user experience, and deliver benefits for the company itself, here are the four key digital technologies that businesses should pay attention to:

• In-app payment for seamless checkout: Providing QR code for users to scan and click to pay in the app, triggering the IoP platform to activate the devices. This enhances the customer experience, replacing inconvenient coins, tokens or cards with just a smartphone for a fast and seamless checkout.
• Tokenization for secure one-click payment: All payment information, including the card number and expiry date, is stored securely in-app through an encrypted token. This enables fast and secure one-click payment without the need to present a physical card or to re-enter information.
• IoT to enable equipment to accept digital payments: The system’s IoT technology establishes a secure device as a machine communication channel, which enables traditional electronic and robotics equipment to accept digital payment. This provides a more cost-effective cashless digitalization solution than was previously possible, along with ease of use for the store customer.
• Cloud-based CRM to drive business improvements: Leveraging big data analytics and artificial intelligence, a centralized customer relationship management (CRM) solution in the cloud generates meaningful insights from the data the system collects. This helps the business operator improve store layout, offer relevant promotions to increase traffic and spending during festival seasons or special weather conditions.

Business operators are required to adapt to the rapidly changing world and constantly evolving customer preferences to stay competitive in the market.

Therefore, it’s crucial for businesses to get ahead by updating their payments infrastructure and solutions through a trusted expert in the payments industry, who can help them connect with customers at every point of commerce.

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Earlier this month, Singtel has announced that it is tapping on 28 Ghz mmWave – in addition to 3.5Ghz and 2100Mhz frequencies – to boost its rollout of ultra-fast 5G speeds in Singapore.

Delivering massive bandwidth, higher capacity and lower latency, mmWave is an ideal frequency for mobile coverage in manufacturing and industrial plants, maritime ports and airports, as well as dense environments such as concert venues and live sporting events.

For a start, Singtel has switched on mmWave in several locations, including Orchard Road, the Padang area and Marina Bay Sands Expo.

The 5G contract award to Ericsson takes the partnership between the two companies to new levels, as Singapore accelerates its journey towards Industry4.0 to keeps its top position in the global competitiveness ranking.

“We are committed to building a secure, resilient, world class 5G network that will serve as the backbone of Singapore’s digital economy,” said Mark Chong, group chief technology officer at Singtel, said. “We are pleased to be working with Ericsson to deliver innovative applications and transformative customer experience for our consumers and enterprise customers.”

Ericsson’s radio and core solutions will ensure that residents, enterprises, industry and government authorities in Singapore  are among the first in the world to benefit from the highest performance that 5G can offer.

5G-enabled application use cases could include cloud gaming, immersive virtual reality/augmented reality, robot-human collaboration in real-time, autonomous transport, remote healthcare, precision smart manufacturing and smart nation connectivity.

“As a long-standing partner, we are determined to work alongside Singtel to ensure its subscribers and business customers enjoy the best experiences and opportunities that 5G has to offer,” said Martin Wiktorin, head of Ericsson Singapore, Brunei and Philippines.

Meeting demand for advanced mobile connectivity

Singtel has been extending its lead in the rollout of 5G since it was officially granted with a 5G licence by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)  in June 2020.

According to Chong, Singtel is progressing in 5G deployment by boosting its capabilities to meet increasing demand for advanced mobile connectivity in the consumer and enterprise sectors.

“mmWave 5G’s super-fast speeds and low latency will bring about a striking change in the way we communicate and work. On the consumer front, we are tapping the power of 5G to transform applications such as cloud gaming and augmented reality. We are also working with enterprise customers in key industries to develop 5G solutions in areas such as autonomous guided vehicles, mixed reality and location-based services.”

Singtel’s 5G network harnesses mmWave through a combination of the latest cellular technologies including Massive MIMO (Multiple input multiple output), carrier aggregation and beam-forming solutions.

Singtel customers with 5G plans can expect to enjoy mobile speeds of up to 3 Gbps speeds when mmWave-enabled handsets arrive in Singapore next year.

To let everyone in Singapore have a taste of true 5G speeds, Singtel will be launching Singtel 5G Experience Zones progressively across the island. These Experience Zones will feature exclusive content that consumers can stream for free over a WiFi connection powered by mmWave 5G.

First mmWave 5G use case

Meanwhile, Singtel has recently deployed the fastest 5G speeds of 3.2Gbps at its pop-up store, UNBOXED. As Singtel’s first 5G use case, UNBOXED is an example of how mmWave 5G can enable innovative business solutions and enhance consumer experiences by offering reliable high-bandwidth connectivity that supports real-time machine communications, artificial intelligence and smart analytics, as well as deliver flexibility and efficiency for store deployment without having to lay fibre cables.

With 5G’s ultra-fast speeds and minimal latency, it is expected that mobile networks, together with emerging technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and edge computing, will spur Industry 4.0 applications such as precision robotics and advanced video analytics.

On the enterprise front, beyond engaging ecosystem partners such as device makers, app developers and vertical solution providers, Singtel is also gearing up to offer dedicated mmWave network solutions to its enterprise customers in the coming months.

The post Singtel picks Ericsson to drive high-end 5G connectivity in SG appeared first on FutureIoT.

The company has partnered with printed electronics pioneer Ynvisible to provide the displays for the dynamic expiry date labels on food packages.

“After recent breakthroughs with our sensors, we are now ready to take the next step to produce a prototype, and we believe Ynvisible to be the optimal partner for this because of their experience and cutting-edge technology within printed displays and electronics,” said Erik Månsson, CEO of Innoscentia.  “The results of the project will hopefully move us a big step closer towards disrupting the current labelling system of food and help us create a more sustainable food value chain in the future. We are very pleased to be able to join forces with Ynvisible to fuel the development of our digital sensor labels.”

Jani-Mikael Kuusisto, CEO of Ynvisible, said that providing smart labels for retail, logistics, and premium products is a key business platform for Ynvisible. “With Innocentia, we recognise that by helping firms to achieve the highest levels of product freshness through scalable IoT packaging solutions, we can help unlock added value through to the end-user and minimize food waste," he added.

Currently, vast amounts of food go to waste because of static expiry dates. Innoscentia’s labels aim to unlock the lost shelf life of food products to help decrease this unnecessary waste. The labels also create possibilities for traceability solutions and connection to digital platforms to trace products from farm to fork, a rapidly growing trend within the food industry.

On the other hand, Ynvisible is a leading company in the emerging printed and flexible electronics sector. It has the experience, know-how and intellectual property in electrochromic materials, inks, and systems. The company’s  interactive printed graphics solutions solve the need for ultra-low power, mass deployable, and easy-to-use electronic displays and indicators for everyday smart objects, IoT devices, and ambient intelligence (intelligent surfaces).

Given the cost and power-consumption advantages over conventional electronics, printed electronics are a key enabler of mass adoption of IoT and smart objects. Ynvisible provides a mix of services, materials and technology to brand owners developing smart objects and IoT products.

"To integrate a display into a label for packaging, three things are crucial: low power consumption, which enables wireless powering, flexibility, which enables a label-like form factor, and low cost, which is a must for integration on packages,” said  Philip Holgersson, business developer at Ynvisible.

Besides choosing Ynvisible's display technology, Innoscentia is currently using Ynvisible's R&D services for the label development, including system design and adapting the sensor for large scale production with printing processes.

“At Ynvisible, we can offer clients tailored R&D services to incorporate our displays into existing products as we have done for Innoscentia," he added.

The post Intelligent expiry date labels to vastly reduce food wastage appeared first on FutureIoT.

While Asia is eager to springboard its economy into recovery, the threat of a second wave of infections is always there, as can be seen from what’s happening in other continents such as Europe and North America.

Open today, closed tomorrow?

Asia is keen to reopen the economy through initiatives such as green lanes and travel bubbles within the region. However, the success of these initiatives hangs by a thread, as new spikes in COVID-19 cases can put a stop to them and trigger the closing of borders once again.

We’ve seen how the planned travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong had been delayed a day before its launch, due to a spike in the latter’s COVID-19 infections. Even plans for travel between Australia and New Zealand had to be ditched due to new outbreaks in Victoria.

On the other end, businesses are equally ready to start production and trading. However, the risk of resurgence still looms heavy as a potential outbreak in factories or offices can prove catastrophic.

Even factories manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are not spared – case in point being the incident with Malaysia's rubber glove manufacturer, Top Glove. This is notably concerning, given that PPE factories will need employees to operate onsite regardless of the viral situation.

The act of managing priorities to prevent a resurgence while stimulating the economy proves to be a monumental task. What can governments and businesses do to stay the course to recovery?

Treading the fine line between recovery and resurgence

While government and business leaders look towards maintaining the balancing act of safety and reopening the economy, key investments in the right infrastructure and technologies will be central to a post-pandemic recovery. Even when COVID-19 is long gone, we can be sure that our cities, workplaces, homes, social spaces and shops will never be the same again.

Leaders should consider shoring up on infrastructural technologies, such as video technology and their IoT ecosystem. IoT-enabled sensors and devices, used in conjunction with a camera network and a Video Management System (VMS), can provide decision-makers with smart video capabilities. There are four sectors where these smart video capabilities can provide governments and businesses in Asia an edge, as they look towards the safe reopening of the economy.

Logistics and supply chain

We’ve seen how supply chains have become the crucial lifeblood of a world under lockdown, especially when it comes to commodities such as food. The pandemic has also triggered an eCommerce boom, with Southeast Asia’s internet economy projected to surpass US$ 300 billion by 2025 due to growing consumer demand.

The logistics sector can tap into video technologies to ensure their supply chains remain resilient. Tapping on video analytics and the IoT network, logistics leaders can streamline operations, ensure on-time deliveries, track shipments, reduce missing shipments and theft. Given the dominance of the just-in-time supply chain, predicting and mitigating possible delays can make or break a bottom-line, at a time where economic downturns are threatening even the most solvent businesses.

Transportation

While lockdown measures have started to ease, governments in Asia must still ensure that citizens do not breach non-essential travel restrictions outside of their local or approved regions. Video technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) capabilities help ensure errant travellers are quickly identified on the roads.

Video analytics can help transport companies to monitor footfall and traffic in roads and other areas such as rail stations, to ensure social distancing can happen and reduce potential overcrowding in popular destinations. In busy road areas, video can monitor for high-traffic and open or close lanes in response. It can also open lanes solely for emergency vehicles - and even integrate with a hospital’s (or other location) access control system to reduce emergency response times.

Retail

As more retailers re-open their physical stores, adherence to social distancing is critical to reducing the likelihood of viral transmissions and future closing of locations. Likewise, retailers must consider ways to remain responsive and agile to an ever-changing situation.

There is an array of different smart video capabilities that can help businesses resume operations while adhering to safe social distancing requirements. These include heat mapping and occupancy statistics, crowd counting for public spaces or even distancing detection.

Safe cities

Globally, governments and public authorities faced a significant challenge in controlling and monitoring the spread of COVID-19. The concept of ‘safe cities’ now encompasses not just public law, order and safety, but also health measures and infection control.

Video analytics can be deployed in tight-knit cities to ensure people adhere to social distancing rules. Additionally, integrating them with crowd and traffic control solutions can help identify gathering or overcrowding, redirecting people to safer spaces or routes whilst reminding them of social distancing rules. In the long term, video analytics can also help with reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

Preparing for a resilient economy, today

While governments and businesses in Asia continue to look for means to reboot the economy safely, strategic investments in infrastructural technologies such as video will continue to have long-reaching advantages, especially in a post-COVID-19 scenario.

It ensures that cities and businesses have a smart and flexible infrastructure that can adapt to changing demands and challenges posed in the new normal, helping the economy to stay open. These strategies are not only relevant today but will ensure Asia’s economy remains futureproof in the face of challenges to come.

The post Can video help Asia stay open for business? appeared first on FutureIoT.

The deployments show that Wi-Fi 6, with wider channels up to 160 MHz, and capacity up to 9.6 Gbps (compared to 3.5 Gbps in Wi-Fi 5), can enable nearly three times faster gigabit data rates. They also now proves that Wi-Fi 6 delivers better reliability, lower latency, more deterministic behaviour, and better network efficiency, especially in environments with many connected devices.

Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6 will help with congestion problems, increase densification of the network – helping to connect more devices, and enable new use cases.

“These successful deployments prove the strength of Wi-Fi 6 technology to achieve better throughput, lower latency, enhanced reliability, improved network efficiency and better user experience,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO, WBA. “Ultimately, they prove the readiness of Wi-Fi 6 for carrier deployments, and the WBA continues to develop and expand new trials that support Wi-Fi 6 and 6E expansion into new areas in different geographies around the world.”

WBA is the global industry body dedicated to improving Wi-Fi services and standards. Established in 2003, it seeks to drive seamless, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem.

Besides its advocacy role – as well as setting industry guidelines and conducting trials and certification, WBA works on key programs including  NextGen Wi-Fi, 5G, IoT, Testing & Interoperability and Roaming, with member-led Work Groups dedicated to resolving standards and technical issues to promote end-to-end services and accelerate business opportunities.

The alliance enables collaboration between service providers, technology companies and organisations, with its membership include major industry players such as BSNL, Orange, Facebook, Google, HPE Aruba, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Shaw, Swisscom, Softbank, Rogers, Telstra, Telus and T-Mobile US.

The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, Broadcom, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom AG, GlobalReach Technology, Google, Intel, KT Corporation, Reliance Jio and SK Telecom.

Trials focused on key verticals

For many WBA Members, Wi-Fi 6 is now moving rapidly to commercial deployment. In a recent WBA survey, it was found that more than 65% will have deployed Wi-Fi 6 by the end of 2021.

“Wi-Fi 6 is one of the fastest-adopted technologies across numerous device categories and has amassed more than 500 million chipsets shipped. Its success across a wide range of environments is why it has become an essential feature in new smartphones and access points,” said Gabriel Desjardins, director of product marketing at Broadcom.

For the Wi-Fi 6 deployments, WBA members had set up the trial environments and executed the test cases in end-to-end real-life networks. These trials spanned key vertical markets, such as:

• Industrial manufacturing: Mettis Aerospace worked with Broadcom, Cisco, iBwave and Intel to deploy Wi-Fi 6 in a dense industrial environment with heavy metal, high temperatures and moving machinery, where previous generations of Wi-Fi did not perform well. The Wi-Fi 6 trial demonstrated much improved reliability, coverage, throughput and lower latency for supporting mission critical applications.
• High-density malls: SK Telecom deployed Wi-Fi 6 to improve connectivity for consumers, increase quality of experience (QoE) for densely populated areas and provide high throughput for immersive media services. Wi-Fi 6 reduced latency by 80%, reduced throughput fluctuation, and improved service reliability to customers anywhere, anytime, throughout the mall.
• Single-family and multi-dwelling units: CableLabs, Intel and Kyrio deployed Wi-Fi 6 in a mixed-use residential area to increase the user experience in a Wi-Fi loaded network. In this trial, Wi-Fi 6 delivered a significant increase in throughput, enabling the delivery of multiple 4K video with higher quality.
• Education in rural areas: C-DOT and Intel deployed Wi-Fi 6 in a rural school trial in India to enhance new learning technologies, and improve signal coverage and streaming performance. Wi-Fi 6 improved throughput by more than 50% throughout the network.
• Transportation hubs like John Wayne Airport: In the U.S, Boingo, Cisco and Samsung worked together to launch Wi-Fi 6 at John Wayne Airport (SNA) to power a next generation connectivity experience and support airport operations. Following the SNA deployment, Boingo has moved its Wi-Fi 6 technologies from trials to commercial operations and most recently, Boingo has announced an airport-wide commercial deployment of Wi-Fi 6 at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), delivering incredibly fast speeds and low latency to passengers.

Ready for commercial deployments

Indeed,  the recently-concluded establishes Wi-Fi 6 readiness for carrier Wi-Fi deployments around the world, as the trials show the key capabilities of the technology in live networks.  This lays the foundation for deployment of Wi-Fi 6 in enterprises, homes, schools, transportation hubs, travellers and the Internet of Things (IoT).

“Wi-Fi 6 is a strategic pillar of Boingo’s technology roadmap to elevate wireless performance and equip airports and other large venues with connectivity solutions for the 5G world. Wi-Fi 6 meets key 5G requirements to power a broad range of connected use cases in dense environments with greater capacity, speed and scalability,” said Dr. Derek Peterson, chief technology officer at Boingo Wireless.

“We are pleased to be among the first to put Wi-Fi 6 in action and move the technology from lab to real-world launch,” he added.

Eric McLaughlin, vice president of the Client Computing Group and general manager of the Wireless Solutions Group at Intel noted that the WBA trials demonstrate how Wi-Fi 6 addresses connectivity challenges in real-world deployments

“We are committed to driving adoption of Wi-Fi 6 across industries, localities and public spaces. And we look forward to ongoing collaboration with the industry to enable the best connectivity solutions for today and in the future.”

Matthew MacPherson, chief technology officer of wireless at Cisco said that manufacturing and other industrial organisations should be so excited by the results of the Wi-Fi 6 trials.

"Mettis is a great example of a ‘challenging’ Wi-Fi environment. Using Cisco wireless technology, Mettis was able to reliably use Wi-Fi for truly game-changing applications,” he said.

He pointed out that this is a testament to the capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 for industrial use cases, as well as the innovation of the WBA, Cisco and partners.

“The lessons we learned as part of this trial will help so many other companies as they look to digitise,” he added.

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The city recently unveiled plans to pilot a common data infrastructure designed to encourage a more robust supply chain for international trade flows. Companies from both private and public sectors will join the trials that aims to improve data efficiencies in financial processes and container flow.

The initiative is spearheaded by the Alliance for Action (AFA) on Supply Chain Digitalisation, one of the seven industry groups formed in June to seize opportunities amid the global health crisis. The other alliances look after key areas such as robotics, e-commerce, education, construction and real estate, and environmental sustainability.

“A common data infrastructure is part of our drive to put in place digital utilities as baseline infrastructure for the digital economy. Similar to their physical counterparts, digital utilities provide common standards and functionalities to enable data to flow and transactions to be made. Companies and platforms will also be able to build additional services and offerings on top of these open digital utilities. This brings about more value and enhances capability for all industry participants,” Lew Chuen Hong, chief executive, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), said in a media statement

The AFA on Supply Chain Digitalisation, jointly led by PSA International and Trafigura, engaged with more than 50 supply chain players in the last three month to identify pain points, opportunities and solutions across the entire ecosystem.

It emerged that a reconfiguration of trade flows  has occurred in the wake of COVID-19, exposing vulnerabilities and opportunities for Singapore. Specifically, significant inefficiencies have been identified in physical event, documentation and financial information flows across the value chain. These inefficiencies caused considerable cost and asset underutilisation that all enterprises.

As a result of its consultations, the alliance concluded a common data infrastructure was necessary to resolve pain points in the ecosystem. It added that the common data platform will facilitate data sharing and will enable all businesses l to “plug and play” into the infrastructure easily.

“For Singapore to remain relevant in the growing digital economy, it is laying a common foundational layer with digital utilities that enable businesses to move into the digital domain, build a stronger and more robust supply chain ecosystem for international trade flows, thereby advancing our position as a global supply chain and trading hub,” the AFA said.

According to the alliance, the common data infrastructure will augment existing data sharing systems and platforms by connecting the supply chain end-to-end, creating visibility and transparency, linking importers/exporters, shipping companies and financial institutions. It will provide all companies with access to exchange data in an efficient, trusted and secured way.

Besides  providing timely accessibility to all players across the value chain, the platform will be scalable and will be able to interoperate with local and global data platforms.

Two pilot applications unveiled

The IMDA and other government agencies will work with the AFA on a pilot to develop this common data infrastructure.

Kicking off the initiative, the AFA revealed two pilot applications will be developed to enhance trade finance and container flow.

Financial institutions (FIs) currently have limited visibility over the physical movement of goods in the supply chain, which reduces their ability to address demand from shippers. The common data infrastructure will allow them to provide and access data directly from trusted parties, in order to reconcile trade details with the physical movement of goods. For sellers, digitally tracking the physical movement of their goods throughout the supply chain will improve visibility and traceability across the trade process, allowing them to make better decisions.

On the other hand, logistics players face frequent congestion at container flow nodes, such as depots and warehouses, due to limited end-to-end visibility of container flows. This results in long waiting times and therefore sub-optimal asset utilisation and additional cost.

Through the common data infrastructure, major shipping lines, depot operators, warehouse operators and hauliers can share (with consent) key operational and event data such as container bookings, time slot bookings, job management and other data to enhance end-to-end logistics operations visibility. This will improve planning and asset utilisation, efficiency and productivity, reinforcing Singapore's place as a logistics hub.

Furthermore, the common data infrastructure will reduce dependency on physical documents, improve data flow and builds greater trust across the trading and financial communities.

“During this pilot we are working alongside Singapore banks to access data directly from reliable sources and parties to reconcile trade details with ease and potentially to detect and mitigate trade related fraud,” said Tan Chin Hwee, CEO-Asia Pacific, Trafigura Group.

He added that building a “digital twin” of the physical movement of goods will improve visibility across the trade process, and help stakeholders reduce dependency on physical documents in the long term.

According to Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO, PSA International, Singapore’s ability to rally together multiple stakeholders to bring a common vision of supply chain end-to-end visibility to fruition will set the city apart as a trusted global trade and logistics hub.

“The development of a common data infrastructure is our opportunity to enable large and small businesses to optimise their supply chain flows through Singapore, promote long-term sustainability as a key nodal hub in the global supply chain, and at the same time, support Singapore businesses in expanding their export markets,” he said.

Other companies that are participating in the initiative include DBS, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific and Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore).

“Establishing a common set of digital standards and guidelines around data sharing across trade platforms will be key to achieving enhanced interoperability, secured data flows, and a seamless e-invoicing experience for trade participants,” said  Patrick Lee, CEO, Standard Chartered (Singapore).

Tan Su Shan, group head of institutional banking, DBS, noted that close collaboration among all partners in the trade ecosystem is needed to pave the way to digitalisation of the supply chain. To achieve this, he underscored the need for all industry players “to accept digital data as a trusted medium of exchange and communication”.

“This makes it even more critical today for financial institutions and trading partners to work together in the development of a common data infrastructure to enhance efficiencies and remain competitive in the new normal.”

The post SG common data infrastructure to close gaps in supply chain ecosystem appeared first on FutureIoT.

The survey said almost seven in 10 (69%) decision-makers say the industry is prepared to manage food traceability and transparency, but only 35% of consumers agree. Furthermore, only 13% of consumers felt the industry was extremely prepared today to manage food traceability and be transparent about how food travels through the supply chain, whereas 27% of decision-makers reported feeling this way.  Unfortunately, this is not just a short-term challenge as approximately half (51%) of surveyed food and beverage decision-makers said meeting consumer expectations will remain a challenge in five years.

“The F&B industry in Southeast Asia is already taking measures to ensure more transparency in the supply chain. However, our study found that a lot more work still needs to be done in order to increase consumer confidence and improve food traceability in this region,” said Fang-How, Lim, regional director for Southeast Asia, Zebra Technologies. “Due to the digital world we live in today, businesses have more information available to them. Businesses should leverage this and provide consumers access to the same information, which in turn can increase consumers’ faith in their food sources.”

Technology can close gaps in F&B supply chain

One bright spot identified in the research is the role that technology can play in closing these gaps in both the short- and long-term.  An overwhelming majority (90%) of decision-makers acknowledged that investments in traceability-focused solutions will provide them with a competitive advantage by enabling them to meet the expectations of consumers.

When asked about the top benefits that technology-based track and trace solutions would provide, nearly six in 10 decision-makers cited risk reductions with proper handling, transportation and storage and tracking product perishability. 41% of industry decision-makers reported RFID tags improve food traceability within the supply chain more than any other technology, yet only 31% currently use them within their own organisations.

Mobile computers and tablets, mobile barcode label printers, scanners and specialty labels and tags will also be key enablers in winning consumer trust and delivering more transparent information to consumers.

Approximately 90% of surveyed industry decision-makers expect to use rugged handheld mobile computers with scanners, barcode scanners and mobile barcode label printers within the next five years to digitally manage and track food products and related information.

Food contamination is consumers’ biggest concern

The survey entitled “Food Safety Supply Chain Vision Study” included approximately 4,957 consumers and 462 food and beverage industry decision-makers in the manufacturing, transportation & logistics, retail and wholesale distribution markets in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe who were interviewed in January 2020 by Azure Knowledge Corporation.

The study highlights the views of consumers as well as food and beverage industry decision-makers worldwide from distribution and warehouses to grocery stores and restaurants around safety, traceability and transparency.

Some key findings for Asia Pacific are:

• Nearly three-quarters (73%) of consumers listed illness and deaths caused by contamination as their biggest concern for risks posed by the food supply chain.
• 93% of surveyed food and beverage decision-makers believe their companies have an ethical responsibility to ensure the safe handling and management of food.
• 89% of industry decision-makers believe investments in traceability-focused solutions would provide their companies with a competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, Aik Jin, Tan, vertical solutions lead at Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific, said the company has a portfolio of solutions that “transform the food supply chain from farm to fork”.

“Businesses can choose from basic track and trace solutions by pairing up of the likes of the ZQ511 and ZQ521 mobile printers with the CS60 Series companion scanner for barcode printing and scanning. Otherwise, they can opt for RFID solutions by pairing up the likes of the ZQ511 and ZQ521 RFID mobile printers that produce RFID-enabled labels with handheld RFID readers and RFID-enabled scanners. By doing so, businesses will be empowered with real-time visibility that takes their track and trace efforts to a whole new level,” they said.

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NCR’s Digital Connected Services Internet of Things (IoT) management software will run on top of Azure IoT AI technology. That means data can be turned into insights faster, and incidents that could potentially impact availability can be identified sooner, increasing uptime.

Through this unique combination, NCR’s retail, restaurant, and banking customers will gain a wall-to-wall IoT monitoring and managed services solution that proactively keeps connected devices running with greater uptime, enhancing their customers’ experiences.

“With Digital Connected Services, our customers gain peace of mind that their mission-critical technologies are always ready and available,” said Dan Campbell, EVP for global sales at NCR Corporation. “We can help global retailers, restaurants and financial institutions protect availability of edge devices and quickly turn massive amounts of data into meaningful insights.”

NCR makes it simple to access these end-to-end technology services, with thousands of service professionals in 160 countries that provide the experience, breadth and global scope customers require.

"By leveraging Microsoft Azure and its AI and IoT capabilities, NCR is helping retailers, restaurants and financial institutions simplify and keep commerce running with Microsoft's trusted, secure and scalable platform,” said Sam George, CVP, Azure IoT at Microsoft Corp.

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This mobile infrastructure will enable companies in the city to monitor and control real-time Internet of Things (IoT) applications. By integrating 5G with mobile edge computing in a private campus network, enterprises can also deploy IoT applications and enable data sharing through 5G connectivity.

The initiative was formed through the partnership of Dell Technologies, HGC Global Communications (HGC), SmarTone and VMWare. The four companies are also planning to launch a 5G technology lab in the second half of this year to further navigate and accelerate Hong Kong’s 5G journey.

“5G opens a broad new frontier for businesses and consumers with the power and connectivity of rich mobile services and various broadband options, bringing positive impacts to industries and enterprises, expanding and improving economic activities and enriching our daily lives,” said Danny Tam, vice president, Hong Kong Sales and China Global Account Sales, Dell Technologies.

“With the strong expertise and technological know-how of industry-leading telecom and technology companies – HGC, SmarTone and VMware – we are well positioned to offer enterprise-grade 5G solutions that are the best fit for customers in Hong Kong. Our collaborative efforts and synergy will enhance and stimulate the development of 5G in Hong Kong,” he added.

An ecosystem driving 5G development and innovative applications

With this newly announced 5G initiative, the four companies hopes to nurture a rich ecosystem to support industries and businesses in the deployment and development of 5G technologies with reference use cases across retail, construction, education and healthcare.

5G can help industries transform by leveraging on many other technologies including computing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, IoT devices, machine learning and domain knowledge in vertical sectors ,among others.

In view of the importance of cross-sector collaboration in facilitating creative, successful and commercially valuable 5G applications, the alliance aims to foster cross-industry collaboration on 5G applications for all enterprise sectors.

Combining the expertise of the four companies with solid fibre-based network infrastructure will assist organisations in Hong Kong to simplify IT operations. The combined set of solutions from the respective companies will enable local application developers, technology startups and enterprises with an application development environment that supports edge computing platforms, AI APIs, IoT hardware and software.

This will not only foster the ecosystem but also nurture a wide range of innovative applications. With those applications and the experience gained, a huge data lake in Hong Kong from different sectors will be established and maintained, which can be further utilised by different industries for the next step of innovation including big data analytics, business insight creation, machine learning for better performance of newly-developed AI algorithms, and more.

Joe Cheong, COO, Corporate Business & Enterprise Market at HGC, expressed excitement about playing a significant role in helping Hong Kong’s public and private sectors to meet business challenges with comprehensive 5G solutions.

“Leveraging on HGC’s solid and sizeable local network infrastructure and rich base of local corporate, enterprise and consumer customers, as well as a comprehensive suite of ICT solutions supported by Macroview Telecom, our subsidiary company, we are confident in delivering one-stop, customer centric and sophisticated digital and 5G solutions to customers and assisting them to harness the power of 5G in the new era of digital transformation,” he said.

Stephen Chau, CTO of SmarTone, echoed the same sentiment: “5G unleashes limitless opportunities for enterprises with its ultra-high speed, low latency and massive connectivity. 5G private networks can act as a springboard for organisations to capitalise on 5G for digital transformation with security and privacy, control and flexibility, backed by SmarTone’s powerful 5G network. It can also be tailored for business or industry needs, creating new opportunities that improve operational efficiency and experiences for organizations.”

In May this year, SmarTone successfully launched its widest coverage 5G network with Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology.

“Companies in Hong Kong need to transform their IT systems rapidly to be 5G-ready and create new opportunities in the cloud economy. VMware has over twenty years’ experience in helping companies achieve success with digital transformation, and we are ready to help in the 5G era,” said Franco Lan, general manager of VMware Hong Kong and Macau.

He added: “The VMware Ready for Telco Cloud program has been relied upon by more than 100 telecom operators worldwide to deliver premier services to 800 million subscribers daily. VMware is happy to work together with other industry leaders in Hong Kong, to empower companies to maximise the benefits of 5G.”

The post New alliance set to deploy enterprise-grade 5G in HK appeared first on FutureIoT.

According to the technology research firm, the growth of contactless payment is a result of growing usage of contactless cards and Near-Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile payments. In large part, this usage reflects a growing trend in changing consumer behaviour regarding payment habits and trends, driven by maturing smartwatch technologies, evolving tokenisation platforms, and the convergence with other end verticals such as ticketing and transport, and fitness and health applications.

A combination of technology maturity, consumer popularity, familiarity with contactless payments, and the unique external phenomena (and notably COVID-19, whereby contactless is being pushed as a safe and hygienic alternative to cash by the payment networks, merchants, government, and the World Health Organization) is accelerating today's market adoption of contactless technologies. Wearable devices are primed to take advantage of this trend, with increasing choice and flexibility in terms of form-factors and available payment methods.

Ecosystem players such as wearable OEMs, silicon and IP providers, payment enablers, and financial application developers are all working to develop wearable payment experiences that are EMV-compliant, lightweight, interoperable, and intuitive UI. But most importantly, wearable payment technology can easily converge with other applications, such as loyalty and rewards, fitness and health, ticketing and transport, access control, etc., offering up new revenue streams and business opportunities for the various stakeholders.

This can be seen primarily by the growing adoption of open-loop payment systems in active devices such as smartwatches, which are outstripping closed-loop passive devices (such as silicon wristbands) in terms of shipment numbers over the forecast period. Regardless of device type however, increased merchant acceptance and growing consumer adoption serve to highlight the ease and convenience of wearable-enabled payments.

Some of the top players in the market include Apple, CPI Card Group, G+D, Idemia, Infineon, MasterCard, NXP, Qualcomm, and Thales Gemalto, all of which are pushing through innovative solutions in the space. While wearable payments is a small market today, it is not niche. There are increasing and lucrative opportunities that will continue to push adoption and usage, and showcase new applications, including M2M payments, pay on demand, micropayments, 5G for instant B2B payments, and beyond, such as access control and transit.

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In the recently released 12^th Annual APAC Shopper Study, results showed that 81% of polled retailers in plan to provide mobile ordering as a fulfilment option by 2021. In line with their shifting priorities toward the online storefront,  83% and 89% of polled retailers in the region said robot assistance and real-time store IoT platforms will be extremely important to their operations in the next five years.

Indeed, the study commissioned by Zebra Technologies showed that the region’s retailers are looking to harness technologies like intelligent automation, cloud computing and mobility to drive economic growth.

The study also revealed that one monumental shift relates to the concept of “Economy at Home”, which addresses the way consumers have completely changed their shopping habits.

Most notably, the frequency and of online spending on food has increased across the region, with consumers expressing a preference for self-checkout rather than assistance from cashiers for safe distancing.

To meet rising customer expectations, retailers need to rethink the safety of the customer journey, whether it is in store or via delivery. Click-and-collect, or buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS), are becoming preferred methods of shopping, with 55% of consumers requesting more retailers to offer volume mobile ordering options.

This is forcing businesses to rethink their fulfilment strategies given that only 36% of respondents agreed that their stores are equipped to fulfil web orders. The study expects this trend to continue, while retailers implement additional solutions that minimize in-store contact and improve customer convenience at the same time.

According to Fang-How Lim, regional director for Southeast Asia, Zebra Technologies, the current pandemic is driving both essential and non-essential retailers to reassess their omnichannel fulfilment capabilities – quickly adapting their operation models in a span of a few days.

“Retailers are now transforming ‘dark stores’ into temporary distribution facilities inside their establishments. As demands continue to increase, retailers should prioritise the expansion of click-and-collect service offerings and invest in technologies which increases shopping capacity and speed. Not only does this reduce in-store traffic and help with social distancing efforts, this can provide retailers inventory visibility across their retail floor,” Lim said.

A shift towards more mobile devices

Putting a mobile device into the hands of a retail associate simplifies tasks like inventory management, yet an estimated 64% of retail associates are not equipped to maximize the benefits of technology, according to Zebra Technologies.

In response, retailers are moving away from dated green-screen technology to enterprise-class devices with intuitive, user-friendly interfaces with smartphone-like operating systems.

“The pandemic has proven this true as click-and-collect orders have surged, creating the need for store associates to enable contactless transactions via curbside pickup with handheld mobile computers and tablets. Mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS) solutions like the ET51 enterprise tablet, TC52 touch computer, TC21 touch computer and ZQ310 mobile printer are driving contactless fulfilment by alerting associates of new online orders, enabling them to pack merchandise, label products and print receipts prior to the customer’s arrival,” Lim said.

Meanwhile, the adoption of mPOS solutions is expected to hit 98% by 2026, up from 76% today. The same trend is also observed for handheld mobile computers with scanners as retail associate device usage is expected to reach 96% by 2026, up from the current 75%.

Returns are another pain point for shoppers and poses a significant challenge for retailers. Up to 51% of retail executives report that they have started or are planning to start upgrading their returns management technologies in the next five years. Meanwhile, 83% of retailers currently have or plan to implement automated inventory verification systems within the year to advance real-time inventory accuracy.

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Japan’s retail sector has been facing expansion difficulties caused by  the significant decline of the labour force. This challenge is exacerbated by the restrictions on physical interaction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unmanned concept store collected live customer data to demonstrate how retail stores that are both employee-less and touchless can thrive.

The smart retail project  was tested for real-word application from June 1 to June 15, 2020. The integrated solution combines remote serving services, digital information monitors and the use of anonymised AI data analytics to drive a stronger self-service customer experience.

Cyberlink’s FaceMe facial recognition engine  supported the pilot programme by identifying the age, gender and facial emotion data of customers inside the retail environment to assist in measuring the effectiveness of  the project.

Integrated and interactive customer experience

The solution provides customers with guest guidance using interactive monitors and displays to facilitate touchless customer transactions. Sales consultants at the Shinjuku office use virtual avatars to offer brand instructions and product recommendations.  With this, the retailer was able optimise the specialised product knowledge  of sales consultants by giving them the flexibility to serve in different store locations despite of the geographical limitations.

In-store cameras use FaceMe to identify age, gender and emotional data, combining with NTT Data’s voice-to-text technology, the collected data can be used in the future to further improvement of customer service quality, product development and estimate the return of investment of promotional events.

The pilot project provides a proof-of-concept on the FaceMe AI facial recognition engine's ease of integration and powerful capabilities.

FaceMe‘s edge-based architecture offers fast and efficient processing with higher accuracy and speed than other cloud-based solutions. It supports more than 10 operating systems, including Windows, Android, iOS, and various Linux distributions such as Ubuntu x86, Ubuntu ARM, RedHat, CentOS, Yocto, Debian and JetPack.

It can run on low-power CPUs to enable facial recognition on cost-effective IoT/AIoT devices and the ability to integrate with high-end servers, workstations, and personal computers equipped with a GPU, providing highly efficient performance.

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Restaurant owner Lee Gwangjo has cited labour shortage as the major factor for deploying robots to deliver food orders of dine-in customers last year.

“Despite having a small human waitstaff, we are able to fulfil customer orders in a timely manner thanks to the robots. The Pudu robots are able to complete many of the tasks a human can do while serving in a restaurant,” he said.

“Due to their autonomous ability to navigate obstacles, the robots are able to deliver food to multiple tables throughout the restaurant. Moreover, the robots are able to carry the orders for more than one table, creating greater efficiency for the restaurant,” he added.

The robots are supplied by Shenzhen-based Pudu Robotics, which focuses on the R&D, design and production of robots and offers a number of popular delivery robots, including PuduBot (food delivery robot), BellaBot (food delivery robot), HoloBot (building delivery robot), HolaBot (dish-return robot), and GazeBot (multi-scene delivery robot).

Its first mass-produced robot PuduBot has been widely used in extensive scenarios, including restaurants, hotels, office buildings, hospitals, Internet cafes and Karaoke, with customers in 200+ cities in more than 20 countries.

With its latest delivery of three PuduBots, Muhguri has increased its non-human serving fleet to 11. The 11 Pudu robots have been implemented along with the human waitstaff in the restaurant to provide higher quality service for the diners.

With their successful deployment, Pudu Robotics expects more restaurants in South Korea to use robot technology in their restaurants and anticipates filling the demand.

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By activating "Starbucks Now" through any of these apps, users can pre-order and pay for their favourite Starbucks beverage and food online, and then pick up in-person at most Starbucks stores across the Chinese mainland. Previously, this service was only available through the Starbucks China mobile app.

The extended service enables Starbucks to engage with more Chinese consumers through multiple channels that tap into the Alibaba Digital Economy's user base of nearly 1 billion. It also gives China's growing number of coffee lovers the added convenience of having their online orders ready for pick-up at the store location of their choice whether on the way to the office or on an adventure in an unfamiliar city.

The latest announcement spotlights Alibaba's ability to help brands of all sizes unlock new growth using the Alibaba Business Operation System (ABOS). Through the ABOS, with the support of a cross-functional team at Alibaba, brand partners can access all the tools available in the Alibaba Digital Economy to help accelerate their digital transformation to innovate and become more competitive.

"The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of digitalisation, which is the cornerstone for any successful brand in China. Alibaba is committed to bolstering businesses' digital firepower through ABOS. Through this partnership, we will continue to support Starbucks in expanding its digital service offerings across China to meet ever-evolving customer preferences and create long-term value," said Toby Xu, vice president of Alibaba Group.

Merging Online Ordering and Offline Dining

Earlier this year, the COVID-19 lockdown severely disrupted much of China's offline retail. As the country bounces back from the pandemic, retailers are seeing an uptrend in foot traffic while online business remains robust.

With more consumers heading back to the stores, the extended "Starbucks Now" services available via Alipay, Taobao, Koubei, and Amap make it easier for them to enjoy their daily cup of coffee at their favourite Starbucks locations.

This latest service expansion follows the successful strategic partnership entered into by Starbucks and Alibaba in 2018 that helped create a seamless Starbucks Experience. Alibaba's local services platform Ele.me began to deliver Starbucks coffee to consumers' doorsteps in September 2018.

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The digital driver’s license service is developed with the collaboration between the Korean National Police Agency, the Road Traffic Authority, and the country’s three mobile carriers – SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus – which developed the PASS app and rolled it out in 2018.

The digital driver’s license marks the first case where a digital version of an official identification is used as a legally acceptable form of identity verification in the country.

“The Korean National Police Agency will make concerted efforts with the three Korean mobile carriers to boost the usage of the digital driver’s license service, which can help address social problems caused by theft or illegal use of driver’s license,” said Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency.

From July 2020, the digital driver’s license will be used for reissuance and renewal of a driver’s license, as well as issuance of a driver’s license in English at 27 Driver’s License Examination Offices located throughout South Korea.

The Korean National Police Agency is also reviewing plans to apply the digital driver’s license service to police work that involves identity verification such as a check by traffic police. Moreover, the three mobile carriers are in talks with companies in the car rental and shared mobility industries to adopt the digital driver’s license to facilitate non-face-to-face services.

Protected by blockchain

PASS users can register their driver’s license on the app through a verification and encryption process. Users can only use one smartphone registered under their own names.

To confirm the authenticity of the information on the driver’s license and block attempts to register counterfeit driver’s license, the three mobile carriers connected their identity authentication servers to the Korean National Police Agency’s driver’s license system and applied blockchain technology.

For identity verification, the app will show the user’s photo on his/her driver’s license along with a QR code and barcode. To prevent theft or illegal use of identity information, the codes are automatically refreshed and come with a floating animation layer.

“We are delighted to launch the digital driver’s license service, which will provide users with greater security and convenience,” said Oh Se-hyeon, vice president and head of blockchain/authentication office at SK Telecom. “Going forward, we will work closely with diverse institutions and enterprises to promote its use in non-face-to-face services, which have surged since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The new digital driver’s license service can be used at CU and GS25 convenience store chains to verify age for the purchase of  goods such as alcohol and cigarettes.

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In its latest report “Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on the IoT Market”, the technology research firm predicts an 18% drop in the net addition of IoT devices in 2020 as a result of manufacturing shut-downs, supply chain interruptions, and changes in connected product availability and demand.

This equates to the loss of 66 million potential Wide Area Network (WAN) connections over previous forecasts. Proportionally, the most heavily impacted markets will be fleet and other heavy vehicles/equipment. These are expensive assets that enterprises are buying less of in the interests of cost control. Fixed assets, digital signage, and kiosks also face huge impacts, as they are driven by a entertainment and retail sector that has been effectively put on hold by the massive reduction in personal mobility and footfall, and increased emphasis on online shopping.

“COVID-19’s impact on the IoT is three-fold. Some applications will experience a decline in shipments during 2020, ergo a reduction in the expected growth rate to their installed base. Yet, with no intrinsic change to their desirability and utility, they will return to expected growth in subsequent years,” said Jamie Moss, research director for M2M, IoT and IOE at ABI Research.

He added:  “Some will experience a temporary stall in 2020 that will be compensated  by increased activity immediately after, to bring things installed base expectations back into line. While others will experience fundamental shifts in demand, both positive and negative, for years to come as consumer and enterprise priorities shift in the light of COVID-19.”

In the consumer space, passenger vehicle and connected car markets are suffering considerably as people stay in place. Yet, by spending more time at home, improving the function and comfort of that environment is expected to boost smart home revenues. For enterprise, while utility metering initiatives face delays as home visits are temporarily prohibited, they are expected to bounce back fast. At the same time,  asset tracking, inventory management, and condition-based monitoring are all set for greater long-term investment to build better businesses that allow people to do more with less and to reliably run things remotely.

Moss noted the diversity of the IoT and the pragmatic nature of its utility.

“At ABI Research, we analyse 32 IoT applications, that’s 32 different types of connected device embedded in the fabric of the world around us. Each provides information on where things are, what their status is, and what actions we must take. To be forewarned is to be forearmed and the mass use of Microcontroller Unit (MCU)-based Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) sensors can help us make a safer world, where we can quickly respond to threats. The IoT is a market that grows naturally as and when it right for it to do so, to deliver planned results. And the need for guaranteed outcomes has never been more acute than now.”

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While the application of 5G-enabled IIoT is currently limited to quality inspections, supply chain management, and generic machine control, key system manufacturers are actively exploring other areas in industrial operations where the benefits of 5G connectivity can be leveraged for process optimisation and increased automation.

"Incorporating 5G in IIoT devices will enable low latency, increase data throughput, and reduce operation time, thus leading to improved overall process productivity," said Mogana Tashiani, Frost & Sullivan technical insights research analyst. "Apart from enhancing the automation of industrial operations and control, 5G-enabled IIoT devices can also minimise the complexity of supply chain networks and warehouse management, helping businesses to efficiently operate in dynamic business environments."

The research firm made this assessment in its  latest analysis entitled “Role of 5G Communication Revolutionising Industrial Internet of Things”.

Tashiani also pointed out that 5G will play a key role in ensuring the sustainability of businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The low latency will aid in managing the high traffic to e-commerce by improving network accessibility at a faster pace, accelerating online purchases and order placements.

“Furthermore, 5G-integrated IIoT devices have the potential to disrupt traditional on-site job functions through remote working and virtual meetings. COVID-19 has led to a massive shift to remote working to maintain business operations on par with on-site job operations,” he said.

Key sectors that can leverage the growth opportunities from 5G-integrated IIoT include:

• Banks, Financial Services, and Insurance: The BFSI sector deals with millions of transactions every day and most of them are mundane and repetitive. 5G-integrated IoT devices and systems allow transactions to be completed and recorded at a faster pace, increasing accuracy by reducing human errors in the process, thus improving the overall productivity of the system.
• Retail: Businesses in the retail sector can automate in-store transactions with 5G-ready radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, which can be attached to items or shopping carts to facilitate autonomous check-out in brick-and-mortar stores, leading to unmanned/cashier-less stores.
• Automotive: 5G facilitates data transfer among AI algorithms, sensors, and mechanical parts to navigate self-driving or autonomous vehicles. In addition, 5G-enabled vehicles establish a connected system in which real-time data transferring and receiving can be achieved conveniently and effectively. Apart from vehicle-to-vehicle communication, interaction with traffic system is possible with 5G technology, which enables data transmission beforehand to achieve practical navigation for certain road conditions.

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The two companies  will combine resources and work closely with partner companies in Japan to fuel growth by selling Blue Yonder’s Luminate solution, as well as to deliver new jointly-developed solutions on the Blue Yonder Luminate Platform that enhance customers’ capabilities for supply and demand forecasting, inventory and labour optimisation, and streamlining business operations.

“Modern day supply chains face a number of challenges including rapidly shifting demand, hyper-personalisation of consumer needs, labour shortages and operational inefficiencies, so by further developing our relationship with supply chain software specialists Blue Yonder, I believe we will be able to make larger, more transformative contributions to a greater number of customers,” said Yasu Higuchi, representative director of Panasonic Corporation and CEO of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company.

He added: “In order to do so, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of Blue Yonder’s advanced global solutions and business model so that we can augment and further elevate our own solutions capability. Through this collaboration, we aim to become a global leading provider of frontline process innovation.”

Girish Rishi, CEO of Blue Yonder, said: “I am excited about this collaboration to realise our joint vision for digital supply chain — where our platform synchronises with Panasonic’s edge offerings to deliver more autonomous, successful business outcomes for retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers. We look forward to working within our joint venture in Japan to deliver tremendous customer value.”

The joint venture in Japan 13 months ago, and with the two companies’ expanded partnership, Panasonic is making is  an equity investment in Blue Yonder via a secondary sale of shares values at an enterprise value of US$5.5 billion. Panasonic will have a 20% minority ownership stake and one seat on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder.

Meanwhile, Kazuhiro Tsuga, CEO of Panasonic Corporation said their investment in Blue Yonder is a vital step in the ongoing  business transformation of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company. “Until now, the Connected Solutions Company has taken the lead in promoting corporate culture and workstyle reforms, and with this investment we are now delving into transforming our actual business model. Specifically, we will be adding the provision of software, consulting, and services to our traditional business model of selling hardware. This will allow us to support fundamental innovations in the supply chain field — many of which have been highlighted as mission-critical amidst COVID-19 disruptions — and thereby enable us to evolve our solutions to directly address our customers’ challenges. I am certain this is a bold step in the right direction.”

Blue Yonder’s global customers include many of the leading brands in manufacturing, retail and logistics, including Best Buy, BP, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, DHL, Lowes, Mercedes Benz, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Unilever, and Walmart. At the core of Blue Yonder’s solutions is its end-to-end Luminate Platform, which delivers seamless digital fulfilment experiences through AI-powered supply/demand planning and execution orchestration.

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The new  Connected Modular Golf Edition 2019  is design to enable users to enjoy daily connected services offered from Wear OS by Google, to immersive sports experiences thanks to the new TAG Heuer Sports app, which provides detailed tracking for golf, running, cycling, walking, fitness and other sessions, thanks to the watch’s built-in GPS and heart-rate monitor, among other sensors. The experience on the wrist is complemented by a newly developed TAG Heuer mobile companion app that allows for even greater personalisation and insights into the wearer’s achievements.

“The TAG Heuer Connected watch was designed and engineered with the same passion and attention to detail as our mechanical watches. Quality of execution is paramount in everything we do, and we never compromise on aesthetics or emotion,” said TAG Heuer’s chief strategy and digital officer Frédéric Arnault, who has led this ambitious project since its start 18 months ago.

He pointed out that the connected watch is not only a beautiful timepiece, but a truly immersive experience.

“It now sits within a complete TAG Heuer digital ecosystem geared towards performance and sports. The navigation has been deeply refined so the product is as intuitive and easy to use as possible, both in everyday life and during sports sessions. It expresses the brand in a completely new way and offers limitless possibilities in terms of innovation for the future,” Arnault said.

Connected lifestyle

Powered with Wear OS by Google, the TAG Heuer Connected watch supports wearers throughout every activity of their day with invaluable services such as Google Assistant and Google Translate using the microphone located on the left side of the case, mail and message notifications, Google Pay in shops and countries where this service is enabled, as well as music controls, an agenda, weather, maps and more with Google Play and its wide selection of apps, available for iOS and Android mobile users alike.

“TAG Heuer sets the standard for building smartwatches that are uniquely personalised and curated for their customers. As strategic partners, TAG Heuer and Wear OS by Google push the wearable platform forward and enable innovative connected experiences for our users,” said Wear OS by Google and Google Fit’s vice president of product management Stacey Burr.

She added: We’ve truly enjoyed working together on the new TAG Heuer Connected, which raises the bar of quality and style for the category.”

Ready for action

Every feature of the TAG Heuer Connected watch has been purposefully selected to enhance the wearer’s experience – specifically during sports.

Designed with high-intensity activities in mind, the TAG Heuer Connected watch offers sapphire glass screen protection, ultra-lightweight grade 2 titanium on the matt black case, rubberised straps for optimal grip, breathability and comfort, a 5 ATM water resistance rating, suitable for low-velocity and shallow-water activities, such as swimming or running in the rain, and a 430 mAh all-day battery optimised to include a one-hour sports session using GPS, audio streaming and heart-rate monitoring. For longer activities the battery can support up to six hours of constant sports tracking using GPS, heart rate monitoring and music, and can be fully recharged in just 1.5 hours at temperatures between 15°C and 45°C.

The new custom-designed TAG Heuer Sports application is the highlight of the 2020 range and supports golf, running, cycling, walking, fitness and other activities, with more on the way. The golf experience is similar to the 2019 edition, with integrated mechanical pushers, while all other sports tracking functions are new this year.

Wearers can track their activities directly through the watch with key metrics such as speed, pace, distance, heart rate and splits displayed in real time in the Sports app and as an overview in the TAG Heuer Sports tiles, then gain detailed insights into their performance on their TAG Heuer mobile application, and even synchronise their data with Apple Health or Strava.

Paying tribute to the brand’s timekeeping heritage, the new models also introduce a TAG Heuer stopwatch application that can be operated with the pushers and boasts to-the-millisecond precision, as well as a timer, an alarm and a bespoke settings interface.

Joining the best-in-class golf app launched in 2019, these TAG Heuer Connected watch and mobile applications were designed and developed entirely in-house, offering a unique luxury digital experience, in which every detail has been crafted to faithfully express the brand’s values and aesthetic.

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With speeds from 1Gbps and above, the new fibre connectivity service offers increased bandwidth and reduced latency to enable retailers to improve operational efficiency of e-payment and point-of sales as well as Internet Things devices being used inside their  stores.

For retailers with higher requirements, ME service offers dedicated point-to-point bandwidth connection, providing a highly secure and reliable network to support their business needs.

The enhanced fibre-to-the-shop connectivity is expected to reach MTR retailers along the Island Line and the Tsuen Wan Line within the coming one month, and fibre access will be extended in phases to MTR retailers along other commuter lines in Hong Kong.

"We are happy to help retailers in MTR stations leverage business efficiency through our high-speed fibre network and our portfolio of flexible and secure retail solutions," said Billy Yeung, co-owner and CEO, HKBNES and JOS Group.

As an incentive, HKBNES is offering MTR retailers - who register for the new service from now until June 30, 2020 - free fibre broadband service for three months plus a waiver on the installation charge.

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Called “EasyPlug”, the LoRa-based sensor is developed using Semtech’s LoRa devices and LoRaWan protocol to enable simple deployment and real-time data monitoring of usage status of appliances.

“Smart IoT applications leveraging LoRa devices provide customers with accessible and actionable data enabling them to reduce energy waste and monthly bills,” said Marc Pegulu, vice president of IoT in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol allow the simple deployment of flexible solutions to efficiently and reliably monitor power consumption as well as provide new operational efficiencies.”

The EasyPlug LoRa-based sensor is deployed  to the power supply cord of appliances in about 10 minutes and immediately begins collecting data on the appliance’s energy usage, on/off status and location data in real time. The appliance could be a coffee machine, printer, LCD screen, refrigerator, vending machine, ATM, server, security camera or any other electrical equipment inside your offices.

EasyReach’s web-based platform creates reports on the collected data for user trend analysis, providing insight into the energy efficiency of their applications. Additionally, automated alerts generated by the system notify managers of changes in equipment use to prevent theft, overuse or abnormalities.

Return on Investment (ROI) begins upon deployment, with applications monitoring energy consumption and reducing associated bills. EasyPlug has enabled a number of successful applications to date, including retail refrigerators, hospital X-ray machines, security cameras, computers, digital signage, and office equipment.

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According to the latest report by Frost & Sullivan entitled “Growth Opportunities in the Global 5G Chipset (ICs) and Devices Market, Forecast to 2025”, 5G chipset suppliers will leverage growth from verticals such as automotive, healthcare, industrial IoT and retail to grow the market to US$27.8 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of nearly 60%. Currently, the 5G chipset market recorded a total revenue of US$1.6 billion in 2019.

According to market research firm, smartphones are a major revenue contributor for 5G chipsets, accounting for a 35.4% share of the total 5G chipset market in 2019, with an estimated revenue of US$595 million. The vertical is expected to grow significantly toward the end of 2020 and early 2021. Revenues from 5G smartphones have been forecast to reach $18.6 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 77.5% from 2019.

"5G smartphone shipments are expected to begin with high-end devices, as announced by leading OEMs. However, volume shipments will gain momentum only from 2021, when mid- and low-end smartphones enter the market," said Prabhu Karunakaran, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

He pointed out that 5G chipset growth will be driven by smartphones and network infrastructure in the first wave of commercialisation.

“However, the market's future growth will expand beyond the traditional markets, as the successful trials in retail, industrial and automotive verticals suggest,” said Karunakaran.

Frost & Sullivan's latest research aims to uncover the potential of 5G-enabling chipsets by providing a thorough understanding of the 5G chipset market.

The research analyses all related market verticals and provides detailed shipment and revenue forecasts through the year 2025 for every segment. The report also identifies the key growth opportunities in the segment and provides strategic recommendations to leverage them.

5G chipset and device manufacturers can also explore the opportunities in:

• Providing a cost-effective solution for the deployment of a high-speed, low-latency network for industrial use.
• Developing automotive-grade reliable devices and networks for autonomous vehicles.
• Focusing on cost-optimized solutions that can process large volumes of data and communicate quickly.
• Improving the AI and ML capabilities in system on chip (SoC) applications.
• Developing power-efficient devices to enable high-volume data processing in real time.

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The deployment of these cameras is part of the company’s Project Sunflower scheme, which prevents underage access and use of e-cigarettes by minors. Under the scheme, customers undergo another layer of automated verification to ensure a match between them and the ID presented when making a purchase.

Project Sunflower is already being implemented nationwide, with RELX aiming to install the system in 100 stores within the next three months and across all RELX stores within seven months. Under an unwavering penalty system, any retailers caught selling products to minors are set to be fined RMB 200,000 for first-strike offences, with the possibility of total suspension of business in the event of future strikes.

“The flagship store demonstrates Project Sunflower’s central role in RELX’s retail division,” said Jiang Long, co-founder and head of sales. “As a visionary company, RELX is prepared to shoulder the responsibility of blazing the trail in tech-enabled social responsibility.”

Founded in January 2018, RELX is Asia's leading e-cigarette company geared towards empowering adult smokers through technology and design, ethically. RELX develops its cutting-edge e-cigarette products at its R&D centre in Shenzhen, China.

Immersive shopping experience

The newly opened flagship store occupies 140 sqm space in Shanghai’s bustling central business district. It features a brand experience area, a consumer education area, an interactive zone, and device engraving services.

“Consumers nowadays prefer immersive shopping experiences, and we want to make this flagship a place where we can not only better communicate with them about our product and values but also better understand their needs. We’re always on the lookout for ways to better serve our consumers,” said Wang Tao, head of RELX’s new retail business. “

He added that RELX will launch stores in areas of interest in various cities, such as Beijing’s 798 art hub and Shenzhen’s Haigangcheng, to provide avant-garde experiences to consumers.

RELX only ventured into the retail business in January last year and now operates over 1,400 RELX stores across 300 cities in China.

With the opening of its new flagship store in  Shanghai, the company also announced its intention to invest RMB 500 million in establishing 10,000 stores globally over the next three years.

As China’s biggest e-cigarette brand holding a market share above 60%, the company is poised to strengthen its lead by accelerating its retail business.

“RELX is investing heavily in breakthrough technologies to enhance franchisees’ profit margins and increase consumer loyalty during the course of its brick-and-mortar expansion,” Long said. “As always, our focus will remain on preventing minors from using e-cigarette products and leading the path of innovation for the entire industry by developing advanced retail technology.”

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"Indonesia is a strategic market for Tuya's global expansion as an IoT platform, and is a gateway to the entire Southeast Asian region," said Tuya chief marketing officer Eva Na. "Through this joint effort, we're aiming to have the SmartKlic application be the smart home controller of choice for many Indonesian consumers."

The SmartKlic app uses a home's network Wi-Fi to easily control and manage various smart home appliances, such as lighting arrangements, televisions, air conditioners, and other electronic devices. The first product that can be connected to SmartKlic is the KRISBOW Smart LED, an energy-saving lamp with a variety of functions, including timer and dimming settings.

According to the Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers (APJII), 64.8% of the Indonesian population uses the internet as of this year.

"The launch of SmartKlic is an ACE effort to provide the best service for consumers through innovative product solutions based on IoT (internet of things), said Nana Puspa Dewi, marketing director of the Kawan Lama Group, owners of ACE Hardware Indonesia. "This application will automatically provide convenience, comfort, safety, security and energy savings for our customers."

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"We aim to be the fastest player to deploy these self-service machines in Asia," said Sir Eldee Tang, CEO of NVGI.

Called V-MORE Xpress, the smart IoT-enabled barista coffee machine is aimed at bridging the mass adoption of users and merchants for V-MORE e-commerce platform.

NVGI has teamed up with Barista Uno to offer barista-styled coffee from the IoT-enabled barista machines. Barista Uno offers roasted coffee sourced from Java, supplying quality whole beans to the barista and specialty coffee shops. V-MORE Xpress, through its IoT monitoring infrastructure, will be able to monitor the consumption of each machine to ensure operating uptime.

V-MORE Xpress delivers an effortless payment through major cashless e-Wallet providers to facilitate and simplify the public users' experience in making transactions; enabling coffee drinkers to purchase a vast selection of high-quality products and services through the digital payment within their e-Wallet. By adopting digital payments in sync with the IoT-enabled barista machines, it not only provides a hassle-free payment but also creates better customer experience.

One of the key breakthroughs offered by NVGI's IoT ecosystem is the ability to bridge the gap between online and offline commerce with its unique real-time analytic data collection through its IoT platform.

The IoT-enabled barista machines not only offer barista quality coffee to users, but also connect online users to the machines; accessing the benefits of an O2O (offline to online) platform via V-MORE Xpress.

Rapid development

NVGI has been developing its own ecosystem from e-commerce to IoT infrastructure, while tapping on its internal resources and capital. It has recently raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding, which it will  invest to expedite installation of smart IoT-enabled barista machines in the next 18 months across Southeast Asia.

“We are targeting to get listed to the mainboard in the US near the end of 2020. We intend to further strengthen the mix of the management team in preparation for the future prospect ahead,” Tang said.

NVGI's bold venture into the self-service IoT-enabled barista machines also provides valuable analytic information that helps in understanding the patterns of both online and offline consumer behaviour. Bridging offline and online redefines the retail experience, bringing even the unbanked consumers closer to digital space.

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The new standards, which comes out after a 12-month consultation with drone professionals, academics, businesses and the general public, are set to have a massive impact on the future growth of the drone industry throughout the world.

““Drones are a transformative global phenomenon, offering an unprecedented economic opportunity for those businesses and countries with the foresight to embrace this technology,” said Robert Garbett, convenor of the ISO Working Group responsible for global air drone operational Standards.

Garbett is also chairman of the BSI Committee for UK Drone Standards and founder of Drone Major Group, the world’s first global drone consultancy.

“My own conversations with Government, businesses and other stakeholders have shown that the new standards will be enthusiastically welcomed and will empower organisations to discover how they can use drone technology to enhance their competitive position, adding value and creating growth and jobs,” he said.

The approval of the  ISO standards for air drones came after four years of collaboration involving ISO, BSI and other national standards bodies from all over the world, reinforced through expert input from a wide range of industry and public sector stakeholders.

It represents enormous progress in the standardisation of the global drone industry and is of particular significance in addressing the operational requirements of the more recognised and prevalent air drones, also known as UAS.

The new standards include protocols on Quality, Safety, Security and overall “etiquette” for the operation of commercial air drones, which will help shape future regulation and legislation. It is the first in a series of emerging standards for air drones, with others due to address General Specifications, Product Manufacture and Maintenance, Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) and Testing Procedures. The Product Manufacture standards for UAS, which are due to be published next year, will combine with the operational standards already published to establish a full-airworthiness suite of standards for UAS.

“The standards will deliver a new confidence among investors in the safety, security and compliance of commercial drone operations, which together with the Product Manufacture and Maintenance Standards, is expected in turn to facilitate a massive expansion in the availability and use of drone technology in the years to come,” said Garbett.

Drone industry gears up for massive growth

A number of recent reports have attempted to forecast the economic impact of air drones globally.

For instance, in its report Drones Reporting for Work, Goldman Sachs has estimated that the size of the global drone industry will reach US$100 billion by 2020. Most recently, analysts at Barclays estimate that the global commercial drone market will grow tenfold from US$4bn in 2018 to US$40bn in five years. They believe the use of drones will result in cost savings of some US$100bn.

These predictions relate solely to air drones, demonstrating that the economic benefits offered by drone technology are vast, with growth set to accelerate across surface, underwater, air & space, as well as emerging hybrid drone applications.

Already, air drones are  beginning to provide solutions to some of the most pressing economic, transport, security, environmental and productivity challenges faced by governments and industry throughout the world, reducing road traffic, easing congestion, saving lives through a reduction in accidents and reducing pollution in our cities.  As well as speeding up the delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects, drones are expected to reduce the need for some expensive new major transport infrastructure altogether.

The approval of the new standards is an important first step – a part of a wider deliverable by ISO, which is expected to trigger rapid acceleration in the use of air drones by organisations keen to reap the rewards of this transformative technology, against a background of reassurance on safety and security within a new framework of approved regulatory compliance.

Indeed, new exciting applications for air drones are being developed daily.

Revolutionary approaches are emerging for freight and passenger transportation, with drones providing a cost-effective and environmentally responsible alternative to traditional methods, relieving the burden on our already stretched urban road networks.

Further applications in the agricultural, maritime, construction and energy sectors among others, are already transforming businesses, with virtually all industries and business sectors set to benefit from the Standard-led adoption of rapidly evolving drone technology.

Eye on air safety

A key attribute of the ISO standards for air drones is their focus on air safety, which is at the forefront of public attention in connection with airports and other sensitive locations.

The new standards promotes an “etiquette” for drone use that reinforces compliance towards no-fly zones, local regulation, flight log protocols, maintenance, training and flight planning documentation.

Social responsibility is also at the heart of the standards, which strengthens the responsible use of a technology that aims to improve and not disrupt everyday life.

The effectiveness of the standards in improving air safety will be further strengthened by the continuing rapid development of geo-fencing and counter-drone technology, providing frontline protection against rogue drone operators.

Privacy and data protection

The new standards also seek to address public concerns surrounding privacy and data protection, demanding that operators must have appropriate systems to handle data alongside communications and control planning when flying.

The hardware and software of all related operating equipment must also be kept up to date. Significantly, the fail-safe of human intervention is required for all drone flights, including autonomous operations, ensuring that drone operators are held accountable.

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Smart card manufacturers and payment solution providers will benefit from a family architecture based on the de-facto industry standard ARM, contactless excellence from Infineon as well as innovative logistic concepts.

Smart card solutions for payment, identification and other applications are increasingly transitioning to contactless, multifunctional technologies. They often also incorporate new biometric features for user identification. However, making a more convenient user experience with these new features and capabilities involve multiple stakeholders, adding implementation complexity and security challenges to the designs. As market leader in security solutions, Infineon enables its customers to better address these challenges and to better respond to new market trends.

Delivering payment solutions in new form factors

Infineon's SLC3x series of security controllers support the full application spectrum, from low-cost contact-based pre-paid and loyalty cards through standard dual-interface payment and identity cards to biometric system-on-card solutions and wearable devices - all compliant with the latest EMVCo specifications.

Transaction speed and robust packaging are key success factors for contactless applications such as identification and transport ticketing, delivered through form factors such as wearables like key fobs and rings or through cards with biometric user authentication.

With the SLC3x product family, Infineon said it enables contactless payment transaction times below 200 milliseconds even in scenarios with low reader field strengths or in combination with small antenna designs. In addition, highly robust and easy-to-integrate contactless or dual-interface packages such as Coil on Module support fast transition from contact-based to dual-interface solutions, while the performance and reliability of the final product is further improved.

Innovative ready-to-use delivery forms such as small SPA modules with integrated ISO- and EMV-compliant antenna enable designers to deliver payment solutions in new form factors while reducing production timelines to a few weeks. The new platform also offers innovative logistic concepts to further shorten time-to-market.

SLC3x products are based on a high-performance, powerful and energy-efficient 32-bit ARM SecurCore SC300 dual-interface security cryptocontroller. This is enhanced by Infineon's digital security technology as well as third-generation SOLID FLASH technology. Infineon said that combining these technologies with full coverage of contactless protocols, makes this family unique in the market.

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Optimised for mobile browsing, it takes the pain away from inventory and bulk order management.

In addition, the company announced its partnership with AI-driver e-commerce platform OnlineSales.ai, which allows companies in Asia Pacific  to now use latest AI advancements to promote their businesses online. The platform can reach over 1.2m shoppers every month and supports merchants through cross-channel marketing across Google, Facebook and Affiliate Marketing by allowing businesses to pre-determine a specified daily budget to run efficient digital marketing campaigns for their individual brands. The tool is simple to use and puts the control in the hands of the merchant whilst keeping the cost transparent.

"We are driven with the vision to enable the online and offline success of our merchants. We are excited to announce launch of Shopmatic POS and our partnership with OnlineSales.ai,” said Anurag Avula, co-founder and CEO at Shopmatic,  The partnership has been built on a strong foundation of our shared passion towards enabling better prospects for our customers in the e-commerce & retail landscape".

Determined to enable online & offline success for small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs, Shopmatic has always focused on helping small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs on its platform drive visibility and growth.

The successful launch of Shopmatic World, a disruptive discovery platform that curates the stories of its various merchant products continues to drive online shoppers to their individual web stores, the partnership with OnlineSales.ai now allows merchants to take ownership of their own advertising.

Commenting about their recent partnership, Ashish Mehta, CEO at OnlineSales.ai said: "The world of online commerce could be overwhelming for small-scale businesses, lacking the required funds or technical knowledge. To the same end, Shopmatic has certainly changed the status quo and has been levelling the playing field for aspiring businesses. At OnlineSales.ai, we find it as an incredible opportunity to join forces with Shopmatic and utilise our tech expertise in enabling the online success of small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs at the platform."

Till date, Shopmatic has enabled the online success of over 300,000 businesses. It has constantly persevered to bring the latest tech advancements on its platform, determined to enable the online success of small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

The company plans to continue launching new features to enable the success of merchants on its platform. It had recently acquired CombineSell and Octopus Retail Management to help merchants promote their products across marketplaces and offline retail spaces.

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“The launch of our 5G-powered smart logistics park in Beijing – the first of its kind – is an exciting step in the realisation of IIoT at scale,” said Wenming Zhe, chief architect of logistics R&D, head of 5G-powered smart logistics park projects at JD Logistics.

Zhe added: “The low latency, high speed and ability to support a broad spectrum of simultaneous connections provided by 5G networks creates an unprecedented level of real-time connectivity, significantly improving the efficiency of JD’s fulfilment operations, which is key to providing the best customer service in the business.”

The new warehousing facility has a monitoring system that tracks the location and route of forklifts and pallets, and it triggers real-time alerts when any problems are detected in real-time.

The automated pallet monitoring is expected to significantly increase efficiency when compared with the traditional manual monitoring that had been done in the past.

“Furthermore, through smart parking, incoming vehicles are guided to the most appropriate parking space or docking bay. And the digital docking bay enables real-time monitoring when goods are being loaded onto the trucks,” the company said.

These innovations are just  the first steps of JD.com’s plans for 5G-powered IIoT. Now on the drawing board are a range of other applications geared towards various aspects  of the company’s logistics operations.

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“The Nokia WING service will help us unlock the potential of IoT for our enterprise customers,” said

Danny Buldansyah, vice president and director, Hutchison 3 Indonesia, said. “Indonesia has ambitions to be the economic powerhouse of Southeast Asia and our ability to provide IoT to a broad range of key sectors means businesses across the country can compete on the global stage.”

Enterprise customers will be able to manage their IoT devices real-time, using the cloudified IoT core network, a single global connectivity management platform and 24/7 IoT command center capabilities. This will enable agile and secure operations, comprehensive service level agreements, whilst providing real-time insights, allowing enterprise customers to manage and adjust the connectivity according to their specific needs.

Helping Indonesia achieve Industry 4.0

The contract between Nokia and 3ID follows the Indonesian government setting out its vision to become a regional technology hub in Southeast Asia by 2020.

The country’s “Making Industry 4.0” provides a roadmap for major innovations in the digital technology economy, aiming to increase the global competitiveness and productivity of Indonesian businesses. The Nokia deal will enable 3ID to play a key role in this process, whilst also building up a substantial enterprise business as a new revenue stream.

3ID will be able to leverage new business models to address opportunities in various industries - with pre-packaged offer solutions available for agriculture, livestock management, asset management and logistics. 3ID will also be able to cooperate with other WING operators around the world to better provide the delivery of IoT services for global enterprises in Indonesia, as well as benefitting from IoT services originating from other WING operators and carried on the 3ID network.

“As more operators realise the unique opportunity IoT brings to win new enterprise customers, Nokia WING continues to advance their prospects,” said Ankur Bhan, head of Nokia WING.

He added: “Hutchison 3 Indonesia will now be equipped to provide end-to-end solutions for its enterprise customers and solve their IoT related needs with faster time to market. Ultimately, WING is unlocking new enterprise partners and revenue streams for Hutchison 3 Indonesia and we look forward to supporting them on this exciting journey.”

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The drone delivery was conducted by Wing Aviation, in collaboration with FedEx Express, as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program (IPP).

“Innovation has been part of the FedEx DNA since day one, and we are always looking for new and better ways to deliver the world to our customers’ doorsteps,” said Don Colleran, president and CEO of FedEx Express. “For our customers in Christiansburg, this collaboration will test the latest innovation in the last mile of a residential package delivery.”

Last week’s delivery of a FedEx Express package marks the launch of the first scheduled, commercial residential drone delivery service and the first scheduled e-commerce delivery via drone delivery trial in the United States.

For the duration of the trial, Wing drones will transport select FedEx packages to qualifying homes in Christiansburg, demonstrating the benefits of drone delivery for last-mile delivery service. Wing has received the first authorisation from the FAA to conduct scheduled, commercial drone package delivery to residences.

“We hope that this latest addition to our delivery options will enhance the last mile service for urgent same-day deliveries, customers in rural or semi-rural areas, and other exceptional delivery needs,” Colleran said.

Customers of FedEx who live within designated delivery zones in Christiansburg, Virginia, and who opt-in to the Wing delivery service, will be able to receive eligible packages via drone  during the trial program, provided certain operating conditions are met. Wing’s pilot program also includes a collaboration with Walgreens, allowing program participants to order health and wellness products through Wing’s delivery app.

FedEx is also participating in the U.S. DOT’s Unmanned Aircraft System IPP in conjunction with the Memphis Shelby-County Airport Authority, conducting drone operations on airport property to generate data to help inform future UAS policymaking.

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According to Ronald Wong, general manager for Hong Kong and Macau at Lenovo, enterprise customers in the city are still in the consultative phase about new projects involving new technologies such as IoT. However, Lenovo is keen to have a sit at the table in this early stage to get a foothold into the market.

“Companies are still looking into which specific area is ready to pilot the technology,” Wong said. “However,  I think it is the right time for us to talk to them in order to understand their pain points and their readiness. We can then put together our understanding on the coming market trends with their understanding on their particular industry. We can start to work on what could be some of the potential IoT scenarios that they can work on and we can agree with the customers to prioritise.”

Working on the three vertical sectors

Lenovo sees three vertical sectors in Hong Kong that show huge potential for wide IoT adoption. First among these is in the smart workplace environment where companies can use IoT to determine the number of desks it needs support employees in the office.

“From industry analysis, we know that one desk can cost US$200-US$250 per month to manage. If I’m running an office of 100 employees and if I have to spend $250 per month per desk, is there a way I can optimise the usage of the desk?” said Vinay Solanki, head of IoT business for APAC at Lenovo.

By adopting smart workplace approaches such as hot desking or what they call a flexi-working arrangement, companies can actually plan for an 80-seat office to accommodate 100 to 120 employees.

“The reason is because we know that everyday occupancy will never reach 100%,” Solanki said. “Some of the employees will be salespeople; some people will be working from home; some people will be on vacation; which means I don’t need 100 spaces in the office to accommodate 100 employees. That’s where the usage of smart office comes into play. There are a few other used cases like allowing you to book a meeting room on demand and so on.”

For smart retail, Lenovo hopes to help companies use IoT to help improve their customer experience with several in-store solutions such as self-checkout, mobile payment, backend inventory management system as well as facial recognition  system – all of which can generate data that help retailers predicts and anticipate customer needs/

For smart transportation, Lenovo hopes to work with transport operators on solutions that would help monitor drivers’ behaviour in real-time. And the technology vendor also hopes to work with other transport-related areas such as monitoring traffic jams across the city.

Being at the heart of the IoT hardware lifecycle management

According to Solanki, Lenovo is positioning itself to be at the centre of the hardware management lifecycle of the IoT ecosystem.

“The one of the biggest challenges right now is how to  manage an IoT solution landscape -which means which do you understand how to manage the complete hardware lifecycle? We call that the hardware lifecycle management under IoT, which means starting from sourcing the hardware to supplying it to the customers, maintaining it and managing it in the customers’ premises throughout the lifecycle of the solution of IoT, not the product,” Solanki said.

“While we are still working on it, I think the key of value that we are looking at to offer to the market is on the capability that we already have explored and has matured over past many years as part of our heritage,” he added.

Also, Wong pointed out that the company has invested in new technologies such as IoT in the past two to three years. In fact, its newly launched ThinkCentre  IoT devices are now being used to help some local startups build their IoT solutions.

Besides innovating on smart IoT devices, Wong said Lenovo is keen to work with other technology partners in providing different parts of the IoT ecosystem – particularly where smart infrastructure is concerned.

“Whenever we have the hardware devices, it will be for Lenovo to work with the ecosystem partners or specifically targeting in some enterprises on smart cities’ solutions,” Wong said. “In the smart infrastructure areas, combining all of the PCs, servers, storage and together with the new VR, AR technologies, we’ll be providing an ecosystem. Then, we’ll urge to work with the solution partners, making Lenovo readier to provide the total solution to the market.”

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As a result, the total 5G market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow to approximately US$279 billion in 2026. The seven major industries that will contribute to this outcome, include government, manufacturing, transportation, finance, retail, agriculture, and media and entertainment. The key drivers of implementing 5G within these industries are the potential revenue growth opportunities for mobile operators and new business models.

Evolving business models

Entitled "Key Verticals to be Transformed by 5G in Asia-Pacific, 2018-2026", the report predicts that the transformation of these seven verticals will facilitate the evolution of business models and is expected to create economic value.

In order to transform industry applications and business models, the integration of 5G with other technologies is highly recommended. Network slicing is a significant feature in 5G, enables connectivity and data processors to be tailored to specific requirements and provide end-to-end virtual systems for the industry.

It is predicted that the region would see more edge computing utilization within 5G networks. Manufacturing, government, and the transportation industry will be among the initial few industries to experience the impact of 5G. The current increasing demand for video content indicates that 5G will bring a new dimension to the media and entertainment industry in Asia-Pacific.

IoT’s big role

5G technologies, such as artificial intelligence, edge computing, and automated control, will especially enhance the Internet of Things (IoT) use cases and create 5G-enabled revenue growth opportunities for mobile operators, the report revealed.

Demand is building for small-scale private networks and 5G-ready networks within Industrial IoT (IoT). The government sector, in particular, is expected to contribute the largest revenue component among key verticals as a result of the adoption of automation technologies and smart city applications.

Security is a critical success factor, as 5G will enable Massive Internet of Things (MIoT) applications, such as traffic sensors and Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) services. It is critical that hackers do not get access to sensitive data, hijack IoT devices, or disrupt the 5G services. In view of this, security has been a top priority in most industries, particularly in healthcare and finance.

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In the latest Warehousing Vision Study, 73% of decision makers in the APAC region said that they are  planning to make the investment in the next three years.

This is one of the key messages in the global study that included 1,403 (of which 352 were from APAC) IT and operational decision makers in the manufacturing, transportation & logistics, retail, post and parcel delivery and wholesale distribution markets in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe who were interviewed by Qualtrics, on behalf of Zebra Technologies.  The study hoped to get insights into for the respondents’ current and planned strategies to modernise their warehouses, distribution centres and fulfilment centres.

Another key finding for the region is that 87% of respondents plan to implement a mobile execution system to better manage workers on the warehouse floor by 2024.

“Warehouse leaders today are turning to technology to address business critical challenges resulting from this global phenomenon, by adopting advanced technology and empowering their workers with a performance edge,” said Aik Jin Tan, APAC vertical solutions lead for manufacturing and transportation & logistics at Zebra Technologies. Zebra Technologies delivers industry-tailored solutions to elevate shopping experience, track and manage inventory as well as improve supply chain efficiency and patient care.

Meanwhile, Tan pointed out that expanding space, implementing new processes and enhancing workflows are only part of the equation.

“By 2024, warehouse leaders will be shifting their focus to the integration of more holistic solutions to build data-powered environments that balance labour and automation in the warehouse, ultimately empowering front-line workers with a performance edge to lead the way,” Tan said.

He added: “To match up to the on-demand mentality of consumers, decision makers will need to quickly train their front-line workers to fill orders more efficiently. Outdated Windows devices running green-screen applications are not designed to match the speed and volume of today’s on-demand economy.

“Conversely, modern Zebra Android touch-screen devices like the MC9300, MC3330R and MC3390R are designed for faster, more flexible operation that improves warehouse performance to meet the expectations of demanding consumers today.”

Key focus on automation and worker augmentation

The study revealed that both automation and worker augmentation solutions will be a key focus for decision makers’ plans over the next five years.

More than three-quarters (81%) of respondents agree that augmenting workers with technology is the best way to introduce automation in the warehouse, but only 34% have a clear understanding of where to start automating.

Currently, up to 88% of decision makers are either in the process of or are planning to expand the size of their warehouses by 2024. Meanwhile, up to 85% anticipate an increase in the number of warehouses during this timeframe.

“The on-demand economy has fuelled that "want-it-now" mentality of consumers today, who are on the hunt for products almost 24/7. These demands have disrupted the supply chain, impacting manufacturers, retailers and the warehousing operations that serve their need,” said Fang-How Lim, regional director for Southeast Asia, Zebra Technologies.

He added: “Our study further revealed that 49% of the surveyed business leaders reported an increase in consumer demand as a top driver for growth, with almost 40% of respondents stating that shorter order lead times are fuelling their expansion plans and causing them to reanalyse their strategies.”

Below are some the key survey findings:

By 2024, automation will enhance worker performance rather than replace workers.

• 57% of decision makers plan to enable partial automation or labour augmentation with technology in the warehouse.
• 70% of respondents believe human interaction is part of their optimal balance in warehousing, with 43% citing partial automation (some human involvement) and 27% citing augmentation (equipping workers with devices) as their preference.
• Decision makers anticipate using robotics for inbound inventory management (27%), packing (24%) and goods in/receiving (21%) by 2024.

Rethinking fulfilment strategies and operations to meet emerging challenges across the warehouse remains a top priority.

• 68% of respondents cited capacity utilization as one of their top expected challenges over the next five years.
• 68% of organizations cited labour recruitment and/or labour efficiency and productivity among their top challenges, with 62% of respondents wanting to improve individual worker or team productivity today while also achieving workflow conformity.
• IT/technology utilization was identified both as the biggest operational challenge (68%) within the next five years and a desired long-term outcome for increased asset visibility, real-time guidance and data-driven performance.
• As warehouses expand, so will the volume of stock keeping units (SKUs) and the speed items need to be shipped. Decision makers will seek increased visibility and productivity by implementing more robust returns management operations (85%), task interleaving (85%), value-added services (84%) and third-party logistics (88%).

The investment and implementation of new technologies is critical for remaining competitive in the on-demand economy.

• Almost half (48%) of surveyed respondents cited faster delivery to end-customers as the primary factor driving their warehouse growth plans.
• Three-quarters (75%) of decision makers agree that they need to modernize warehouse operations to remain competitive in the on-demand economy but are admittedly slow to implement new mobile devices and technology.
• 73% of companies are currently modernizing their warehouses by equipping workers with mobile devices. By 2024, modernization will be driven by Android-based mobile computing solutions (90%), real-time location systems (RTLS) (60%) and full-featured warehouse management systems (WMS) (55%).
• 66% of respondents cited mobile barcode label or thermal printers as a key area of investment as part of their plans to add, expand or upgrade devices in the next three years.

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The company has chosen an RFID  solution that includes the M700 endpoint IC family by leading RAIN RFID technology provider Impinj. The M700 IC enables wireless connectivity for individual items in Lawson stores.

“We are working on digitalisation of our retail locations to create the convenience store of the future,” said Kunitsugu Makino, deputy senior vice president, Lawson.

“Once RAIN RFID technology is implemented throughout our entire supply chain and in all the products in our stores, the increased functionality enabled by the Impinj M700 ICs will give us better item-level inventory visibility, while also allowing us to deliver frictionless consumer self-checkout and loss prevention,” he added.

Lawsons has a network of nearly 14,700 stores across the island country. It is one of the five top convenience stores involved in Japan’s RFID project launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The project aims to introduce electronic tags for all products sold in their convenience stores by 2025, which is estimated to be 100 billion products annually. Other convenience store chains involved in the project include Seven-Eleven Japan, FamilyMart, Ministop and New Days. The project was conceived to partly address the labour shortage in the industry.

RIFD uses electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags attached to objects automatically. RFID is superior to barcode, because it does not require the tag to be within the line of sight of the scanner.

Latest RFID innovation

“The quality, performance, and features provided by Impinj ICs ensure that we can consistently exceed our customers’ expectations, as the leading RAIN RFID tag manufacturer in Japan,” said Taiho Nakamura, Naxis COO. “We are very excited about the new innovations in the Impinj M700 IC family. The better performance and new functionalities will allow us to deliver the tags that our customers need today and into the future.”

The Impinj M700 family of endpoint ICs delivers two key features that significant improved connectivity for an estimated 100 billion items per year in Japan:

• Smaller, higher-performing endpoint ICs enable smaller, higher-performing RAIN inlays that can be embedded into product packaging.
• Shrinking and enhancing the endpoint IC logic enables frictionless point-of-sale and RAIN-based loss prevention while optimizing efficiencies and costs

According to Chris Diorio, Impinj founder and CEO, the company’s  new family of M700 IC shows the path to embedding billions of  RAIN RFID ICs into everyday items.

“We are excited to deliver products that expand the Internet of Things to encompass every item in convenience stores and drugstores,” Diorio said. “Impinj’s vision to connect every item in our everyday world to the cloud is fully aligned with Japan’s convenience store and drugstore initiatives.”

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But in reality, 5G will only be one component of the enterprise vertical technology stack, said ABI Research in its new whitepaper entitled The Five Myths of 5G.

“The telco industry has somewhat designed 5G as a technology that will complement, or even replace, several other competing communication technologies. This is, in fact, built into the standard: 5G includes eMBB, Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) use cases. The first use case on this list, eMBB, builds on previous cellular generations, while URLLC can enable Time Sensitive Networks (TSNs), and can replace proprietary protocols and even Industrial Ethernet,” said Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer at ABI Research.

The mMTC is positioned to unify cellular IoT technologies into one system and introduce connectivity for millions of different types of IoT devices. In theory and according to its specification, 5G will enable connectivity that ranges from low power, low data rates, to ultra-high bandwidth and low latency, all under one system.

“From a pragmatic viewpoint, 5G will be another component in a patchwork of communication technologies and will certainly add unique value. However, it will not be the ‘network of networks’ the telco industry is currently discussing,” said Carlaw.

5G might miss the boat of the enterprise digitisation wave

Enterprise verticals—just like the telco industry—have their own established supply chains and families of communication technologies.

“Enterprise vertical end users prefer “function over form,” focusing on practical requirements, rather than insisting on standardised technologies. It is true that 5G can introduce a more cost-effective base (especially for chipsets and devices), but this will only materialise when enterprise verticals establish a critical mass for 5G and, in turn, economies of scale,” Carlow said.

ABI Research sees this may not happen, especially in the first 5 years of 5G, when the telco supply chain adapts to the requirements of enterprise verticals. This may also mean that 5G will miss the enterprise digitisation wave that is currently sweeping many markets, especially if the telco community does not act immediately. Telco operators and the infrastructure supply chain must build enterprise vertical expertise and partner with specialists when it is not necessary to organically grow this expertise internally.

“5G will only be one component of the enterprise vertical technology stack, and larger than connectivity only if the telco value chain builds expertise for each vertical separately,” Carlaw said.

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“Between 2017 and 2018, Hong Kong ranked sixth in the corporations’ mind about where we were from a smart perspective. We were behind other cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. Now we only lag behind Tokyo and Singapore.” said Leonie Valentine, managing director for sales and operations at Google Hong Kong.

“In the business world, 44% of corporations and 39% of small-and medium business (SMBs) now consider Hong Kong to be a smart city – an increase of more than 15% and 12% from 2018. Yes, the relative positioning of Hong Kong against other cities is stilled ranked fourth – there is no change but the perception of Hong Kong to be a smarter city has actually improved,” said Valentine during a press briefing held in the city.

The poll was conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Google Hong Kong for the latter’s Smarter Digital City (SDC) Whitepaper, the third and final edition of which was released last Monday. The SDC Whitepaper tracked the progress of digitisation in Hong Kong across four key business verticals – travel, retail, finance and living.

According to Google Hong Kong, this is the first time over the whitepaper series where noticeable improvements in digital adoption were observed across all four key sectors of the local economy.

“This final research report shows that Hong Kong’s digitalisation is progressing well over the past three years,” said Valentine. “However, more effort is needed to communicate the value of digital applications and how digitalisation can improve overall quality of life for Hongkongers. It is also important for all stakeholders – policymakers, corporates, SMBs and consumers – to bring an open mindset and actively collaborate to drive innovations that will be beneficial for all.”

Valentine further pointed out the need to bridge the gap between perception and reality about the city’s smart city standing in people’s minds.

“Promoting the awareness and tangible benefits of technology applications and initiatives in people’s everyday life can help build a receptive community that is eager to adopt new technology,” she said.

Business sector stepping up the smart city plate

The business sector, however, are not blind to the growing digital adoption in the city. The SDC whitepaper said 89% of corporates in Hong Kong will increase digitalization investments over the next two years. Of these companies, 30% are considering to implement initiatives related to machine learning and AI, a jump of over 14% compared to last year.

And SMBs in the city have fence-sitting and are now playing catch-up, according to Valentine.

“There are more ways for SMBs to be digital in Hong Kong. We actually see an increase in POS terminals, accepting contactless payments and mobile payments. We see more competition in the payment industry,” she said. “Twelve months ago, I couldn’t pay for a taxi with a credit card in Hong Kong. Today, I can use the HK taxi app. So, we are being exposed to these everyday useful things and that also increased the perception of our SMB clients.

Talent shortage a major barrier

The SDC whitepaper showed that lack of skilled workforce continues to be a major barrier to the city’s smart city and digital transformation, with 64% of corporates finding it difficult to employ talents with STEM expertise.

However, Valentine believes that the shortage in digital talent is also a matter of perception.

“The perception is Hong Kong does not produce graduates in STEM. Actually, this perception is not fact,” she said. “If have a look at Hong Kong Census data, the number of undergraduate students is somewhere around 22,000 a year through the university grant scheme, roughly 23% to 24% of all HK graduates are STEM students.”

“We are actually producing a lot of kids who have the ability to learn digital. They have the foundational skills – the conceptual stuff that actually matters. So, we do have a ready pool of kids coming through university, who could be trained and retrained to acquire digital skillsets. They are much closer to that than thinking about how we actually have to train for AI and ML (machine learning) from the very young age. They might be tricky to find because they are introverted, but they are really doing cool stuff in Hong Kong.” Valentine said.

Furthermore, the silver lining on the horizon is that 81% of Hong Kong residents are willing to learn and acquire new digital skills for the smart future. App development (41%), machine learning and AI (40%) and data analytics (37%) remains to be the top three digital initiatives that Hongkongers want to learn.

Meanwhile, Google Hong Kong has been doing its share in helping build a smart workforce. To date, over 1,000 primary and secondary school students have participated in Google’s fundamental coding program called CS First. The company also has been promoting ML and AI applications in Hong Kong through its advanced education program such as Google Cloud Certified Program and Explore ML program. It has also brought in its digital marketing curriculum called Digital Garage to Hong Kong, which has trained 20,000 people in the last two years.

“The appetite for learning is there. We only need to connect that desire to opportunities to learn those skills. And they create a much healthier ecosystem where we have the jobs here for Hongkongers. Because that is where we can see relative improvements in terms of the standard of living and relative improvements in terms of liveability of the city as well,” Valentine said.

Providing on-the-job training

She added that organisations must also do their part in providing on-the-job training for new recruits who may not have the full digital capabilities needed for their position.

“Companies should be able to say – ‘we will hire you for your innate ability and your potential. We don’t mind that you don’t have the exactly the right discipline for that job. We will train you’. We need more of that mindset in Hong Kong of looking at raw talent and potential regardless of which institution you came from,” Valentine said.

“We want smarts. We want kids who can really change things. There is an onus on organisations to invest in training their employees and make sure they reach their full potential.”

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Retailers everywhere face intense pressure to provide differentiated and engaging in-store shopping experiences to their customers in the face of growing e-commerce and same-day delivery offerings. Physical retail establishments still account for 85% of retail transactions in the US, and these businesses must decide how to leverage mobile and digital solutions such as self-scanning and self-service technology in order to stay competitive.

Figure 1: handheld self-scanning solutions transforming efficiency in retail

Source: VDC Research 2019

The grocery segment is currently leading self-scanning solution investments as grocers look to improve the shopping experience. To that end, retailers are beginning to deploy more sophisticated features such as shopper analytics, context- and location-aware promotions, and mapping services.

Many ISV’s and SI’s offer data collection and analysis services to retail clients using data from multiple touchpoints such as the POS and self-scanning devices. Retailers can bring these actionable insights into the physical store when making decisions.

According to VDC Research, Europe is currently the largest market by far for handheld self-scanning devices, although the market in the Americas will also grow at a significant rate through 2023.

“The deployment of Amazon Go was a catalyst for handheld self-scanning adoption in American markets,” said Spencer Gisser, research analyst at VDC. “Grocery stores in America saw customer preferences and expectations shift towards easy, technology-enabled self-checkout and rushed to implement new solutions,” Gisser explained.

To avoid investing in costly dedicated handheld self-scanning hardware, many retail organizations in the Americas are pursing apps that run on shoppers’ smartphones rather than dedicated devices. The large number of devices in EMEA will account for a significant replacement rate over the coming years whereas growth in the Americas will primarily stem from greenfield opportunities.

Self-scanning and self-service technology is part of a broader transformation among shopping experiences. “The most profound effects will take place once these solutions are integrated with other systems and processes involving locationing, customer information, and security,” Gisser said.

However, the market is struggling to understand how to deploy these solutions effectively. “Although many retailers are concerned that introducing these systems will increase theft, we have seen innovative strategies that have actually improved security and customer satisfaction.”

The post Handheld self-scanning to transform retail experience: VDC Research appeared first on FutureIoT.

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are the next evolution of AGVs designed to be more independent than AGVs. AMRs can optimize their paths and processes on the factory floor, react to unexpected situations, and navigate around obstacles. To coordinate factory activities and avoid collisions between AMRs, AGVs, and people, a system which can pinpoint the location of every robot in real-time must be in place.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is one such enabling technology. It allows a device to map its environment while positioning itself in it. SLAM will enable the transition from AGVs to AMRs in industrial applications.

“In these first years of the Industry 4.0, few factories will have a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) established, making it essential that AMRs can dynamically map their immediate environment using SLAM,” explains Andrew Zignani, principal analyst for Location Technologies at ABI Research. “Still, factories which already have a RTLS system deployed can use RTLS and SLAM together to provide valuable IoT data to a digital platform that can be used to optimize processes and make factories even leaner, thereby driving much faster ROI.”

Deploying robots on the factory floor will allow business owners to save substantial amounts of money in manpower and insurance, as well as increase productivity. For that, intelligent and easily reprogrammable robots will be necessary. Such need will be addressed by AMRs, which are predicted by ABI Research to comprise 80% of all commercial robot shipments by 2027.

All AMRs must possess mapping and localization capabilities to react to the fast-changing environment inside factories to avoid collisions with other machines and humans. Therefore, most industrial robots are expected to have SLAM capabilities in the next decade. Data generated by these robots’ SLAM capabilities can also be integrated into a centralized digital factory platform to be analysed for KPIs.

SLAM relies on sophisticated algorithms to work smoothly and accurately. Furthermore, the large amount of data generated by the various sensors on AMRs require efficient and low-latency processing. As a result, some software companies like Intermodalics, Kudan, and Accuware have identified the market opportunity that lies in developing SLAM algorithms and are partnering up with AMR integrators to deploy their software solutions.

“The 2020s are going to kick off with drastic changes in industrial environments. AI, IoT, RTLS, and connectivity technologies such as 5G will interact and improve each other in complex ways, and not all levels of the robotics value chain are ready for it. There are great opportunities in software development yet to be explored, SLAM being a big part of it,” Zignani concludes.

ABI Research predicts that by 2030, the installed base of SLAM-enabled Autonomous Mobile Robots will exceed 15 million.

The post SLAM to power autonomous factory robots appeared first on FutureIoT.

The phrase is even more noteworthy today in the era of big data, small data and analytics. As one finance manager participating at a CXOCIETY-hosted roundtable recently attested to "we have so much data coming in, it is hard work sifting through to glean any insight, let alone figure out what is real and what isn't."

His predicament stems from the realization that as a business they have multiple sources of data: warehousing and inventory control, finance, sales and marketing, supply chain, product development, etc. And yet each department sees the company based on the data it holds and calls it's the correct version of the truth.

So as the company moves to become more data-driven, how does one reconcile the different sources [and interpretation] of data and get to the one true version of the truth?

What Master means

Gartner defines Master Data Management (MDM) as a technology-enabled discipline in which business and IT work together to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship, semantic consistency and accountability of the enterprise's official shared master data assets.

Master data is the consistent and uniform set of identifiers and extended attributes that describes the core entities of the enterprise including customers, prospects, citizens, suppliers, sites, hierarchies and chart of accounts.

But the description is laced with technical jargon that businesses will instantly ignore if left untethered to a business outcome.

Pierre Bonnet, vice president of Product and Engineering at TIBCO Software believes that MDM should be a business-led programme that is essentially the clearinghouse to guarantee that the most important data is clean and of the highest quality. An essential attribute of this function is the ability to share the data across the organisation.

Clearinghouse

Bonnet likens MDM to a clearinghouse for data.

As companies deal with an increasing number of data sources and fragmented information from social media, mobile devices, and the cloud, MDM allows organisations to control and manage key master data entities scattered across different applications and databases. This improves visibility and control over the business activities and optimises various business operations such as the supply chain, inventory management, forecasting, and customer service.

"In a fast-growing business market with high expectations of deep digitalisation, a company without such a "data clearinghouse" could lose control of its data quality and data governance, leading to the delivery of poor quality business processes to its market. Such an MDM system is the spine of the deep-digitalisation process a company must follow to reinforce its market sustainability," he explained.

When consolidated and matched accurately, data can reveal opportunities, risks, and areas where the business can be improved.

Got MDM, will DX

While often not discussed, MDM may play an important role in organisations undertaking a digital transformation (DX) initiative. Why? At the core of many DX journeys is data – arguably the least understood, much abused and overhyped, and still relatively untapped for many organisations.

Can a business successfully achieve transformation without the need for a clearinghouse for data?

Bonnet cautions that there are two levels to consider when discussing digitalisation.

The first is the external-facing part of digitalisation as represented by API and websites. This part has a limited impact on the organisation's internal workings.

The second level called deep-digitalisation is where a company rethinks its internal IT systems to create a portfolio of autonomous and reusable coarse-grained components that can be exposed to the market via smarter APIs.

Bonnet explained that to make this deep-digitalisation happen at the right scale with the right quality, the governance of the data must cover all the information system layers, not only revealing certain important data in a fairly rough manner.

"To get this agility and depth of data governance, a high-end MDM system is mandatory. This system will be connected into all the information silos and layers within the silos, also with new systems. It is not a surface MDM system, but a deep MDM system with a strong data storage layer, rich governance features, and a very fast, agile process of delivery for the management of changes," he elaborated.

Secret to making it work

To achieve success at large scale, Bonnet says a company's MDM system must allow for an agile delivery process.

"It is almost impossible to be sure about the data structure, semantics, and governance process a company needs to start, and the prediction for the future is so hard to establish, even impossible," he laments.

The inability to know the future is the key reason for the agility mindset. This is a vital awareness.

"If the MDM system is not agile enough, then all the existing systems running in a company could be slowed in their ability to change. There is also a potential for poor integrating with the MDM system which will not improve the data quality, and may have the opposite effect," he continues.

He suggests that checking two points: first, the MDM system must be agile, without a rigid engineering process that could delay the delivery of the existing systems.

This is what is called a "model-driven MDM" for which the data semantics will drive a big part of the expected delivery in an automatic process.

The second point is the need for a methodology framework to set up a business glossary, model the data per domain at the semantic level, design the data policy with the workflow, and appoint the right roles for the data governance, etc.

"Today, after a couple of years of implementing such an MDM system, it is clear that the "model-driven" approach is mature when applying it to the most important data, and the methodology framework relies on rich lessons learnt and best practices ready to share," he concludes.

Focus on what is important

Bonnet warns not to get hung up on sexy terms like AI, big data, and data lakes. These are just tools. The real challenge is making sure the data is clean.

"Often, big data and data lake projects rely too much on some ‘magic' algorithms that should compute the vision for improving the future. But the business prediction will not be any good if the underlying data is wrong," he pointed out.

He suggests subjecting the data to clear governance. This is arguably where MDM shines.

"The MDM system is the masterpiece of the whole data enterprise governance solution. Once the data is aligned with the quality insurance process, then a company can start getting good results with data analytics and AI," said Bonnet.

"By closing the loop between the operating system and data analytics results, the MDM is used as the bi-directional bridge to convey good data from the operating system to data analytics and from the results of data analytics back to the operating system. The two worlds are then connected under the governance enforced by the MDM system," he concluded.

Tying it to IoT

The Forrester Wave: Master Data Management Q1 2019 report notes that MDM is moving into its third generation, with the Internet of Things (IoT), and its massive stores of data, driving to the development of systems of automation and systems of design, and with it the introduction of new MDM usage scenarios to support co-design and the exchange of information on customers, products, and assets within ecosystems.

Industries like consumer products goods and retail will likely find MDM the centrepiece of flexibility. Forrester says “MDM within ecosystems, connecting to product information management (PIM) systems, is becoming a key success factor for such strategic MDM implementations.”

Minimising risks

Deploying technology is often a complicated solution to a complex problem, with risks escalating as you add more departments into the mix. Data, which cuts across everyone within the company, is no exemption.

Bonnet is not perturbed. He noted that solutions, as TIBCO EBX, can be used to quickly comply with evolving data quality, management, and governance requirements, while automating current manual business processes around the management of master data.

TIBCO EBX comes with out-of-the-box functionalities specifically designed for multi-party, multi-tier collaboration in the creation, management, and synchronisation of master data. Implementation is quicker as well, which allows businesses to quickly achieve business value and return on investment. Solutions also need to be scalable to meet future needs.

First published on FutureCIO

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The latter is probably more truth in the current wave of fintech-led disruption in the financial services community. But even in the more traditional industries such as manufacturing and logistics, we are seeing innovation come up driven in part by developments in the area of Internet of Things (IoT).

Some of the earliest applications of IoT are around wearable technologies that collect information about a user’s habits such as ManulifeMOVE in Hong Kong, and the environment around us like the AirCasting Platform and TZOA. Industrial applications include waste management, smart street lamps by Hello Lamp Post,

Governments themselves are not necessarily holding back their own investments in IoT. Rapid urbanisation is forcing governments to look at technology to solve the problems of accelerating population densities in the urban areas. This is even more imperative in countries with small landmass such as Singapore, which has ambitions to become the first smart nation.

All these developments are happening despite a lack of consistent strategy by industry and regulation by the government to control the use of IoT technologies.

Speaking to FutureIoT, Anne Petterd, principal Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, commented that “it's often said that that the law is not keeping up with technology. To some extent, there's truth in that. But it doesn't stop businesses from operating. If we all wait for the law to catch up we'd never get anything done.”

So rather than sitting around and mulling what regulation will likely come into play in a not so distant future, she suggests areas organisations can look into proactively so businesses can continue to innovate while recognising legitimate concerns of consumers and regulators.

RELATED: IoT innovation outpaces regulation for now

She calls for prudent thinking on the part of businesses and developers.

“A business that is more proactive with being transparent, thinking through even though I could make that use of data should I? And how do I communicate with people on that? These strategies will probably put themselves in a better position if regulations come and intervene in that space,” she concluded.

But not everyone thinks strategically.

She believes that businesses need to study, as part of their IoT strategy, how data is being used with the IoT solutions.

“A lot of the IoT devices, particularly in the consumer space, are making a lot of use of personal data and data about people, collecting details about where people go, and what their preferences are. A lot of the time businesses don't spend enough planning time at the beginning of their IoT strategy development how [yet to be defined] privacy laws might influence product development,” she commented.

Another area that's also forgotten is when third-party IoT solutions are brought in as part of the solution. “An example might be a manufacturer who wants to bring in IoT technology to use in its manufacturing plant. The company needs to think through how is that data collected being used? Is it being used just to optimize its own business or is the solution provider using that data to provide services to its entire user base which might include some important corporate information?” suggested Petterd.

IoT and IoT data present significant opportunities for businesses and public sector organisations to enhance how products are developed or services delivered. And despite the early stages of development [and regulation] of the technology, there is amply ways for which organisations can innovate using the technology without being crippled by yet to be defined regulation.

The key is thinking ahead of the possibilities, listening to what customers or users of the technology are saying, what regulators may be concerned about and taking prudent steps to incorporate this intelligence into their IoT strategy.

As someone once quoted: “forewarned is forearmed”. There is a competitive advantage in advance warning.

The post The data conundrum in IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

FutureIoT spoke to Tim Sherwood, vice president – Business Development, Mobility & IoT Solutions, at Tata Communications to understand the technical and operational hurdles that CSPs must overcome as they grapple with the business [aka revenue] potential of IoT with the launch of commercial 5G services.

What is the connection between Internet of Things and 5G? Is IoT’s future success tied to the success and growth of 5G?

Ovum has identified 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) as the two trends in Asia to watch out for in 2019. These technologies are increasingly proving to be the key pillars that will drive operational and cost efficiencies through enterprise digitisation.

While the development of 5G for IoT is still in the nascent stages, there is a huge potential for IoT to scale even ahead of that. This is the phase where a shift is being seen from exploring PoCs to active commercialisation of IoT projects. Use cases across verticals that are resulting in significant RoI for the customers are drawing more customers and IoT players in the game.

Bain & Company predicts the IoT market will more than double to $520 billion by 2021, and the majority of these associated IoT deployments will be done on networks in place today such that IoT growth can be achieved ahead of 5G network build-outs and roaming agreements.

However, 5G will enable further expansion of IoT adoption, namely around managing heterogeneous access network capabilities, enabling higher bandwidth consumption use cases like V2X and Augmented Reality (AR) and turning connected devices from “data collectors” to intelligent edge actors.

As billions of smart devices go online over the next several years, 5G networks will become instrumental in transmitting massive amounts of new data. 5G will provide faster speed, lower latency, improved bandwidth and more flexibility as it has the capacity to support a wider range of devices, sensors, and wearables than any previous generation.

This enables 5G, unlike 4G, to expand beyond desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets to encompass the revolution of sensors, low-cost transmitters and cloud-based IoT. Along with artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, 5G wireless technology will be at the heart of augmenting the IoT revolution.

It will play a major role in the development of Industry 4.0 i.e. smart city applications, smart industrial software, powering connected cars, smart homes and buildings. Seamless mobility, improved bandwidth, negligible latency, and reliability of mobile broadband will help 5G in making revolutionary IoT projects implementable with ease.

NB-IoT is already deployed in some applications, can it co-exist with non-cellular IoT (LoRa, Sigfox)?

The rapidly growing IoT market has enough opportunities for all forms of cellular (NB-IoT, LTE-M, future 5G networks) and non-cellular networks (LoRa and Sigfox) to coexist. Both the networks need to amalgamate in order to have an interoperable platform, which is critical to realise the true potential of IoT. This allows enterprises to choose from any number of connectivity options as per their project requirements.

There are advantages and disadvantages for each – while non-cellular IoT offers good value for private, low power, low bandwidth and low-cost solutions, cellular IoT provides scale and greater reach through roaming agreements enabling multinational and multi-operator deployments.

In either case, the key to success for IoT solution providers is to remove the challenges associated with different connectivity technologies and network options in order to provide a common overlay platform to manage IoT connected devices. This will then serve as a foundation for the IoT service provider to move up the value chain and offer vertical solutions.

For 2019, what do you see will be emerging drivers of IoT?

Asia has undoubtedly been the world’s largest manufacturing hub and now with the influx of advanced technologies like IoT, the manufacturing landscape in the region is changing.

With connected sensors increasingly finding applicability across industries, especially manufacturing in the automotive industry and consumer and industrial appliances, the Asia Pacific region is scaling up its IoT adoption to fortify its strength in this space. This paradigm shift in the manufacturing sector, with the help of IoT, is fuelling the rapid progress of Industry 4.0 in the region.

Over and above the private players, Asia-Pacific governments are also extending support to promote the adoption of IoT across major use case areas such as smart manufacturing, smart cities, transportation, and retail, amongst others. As per the latest forecast from IDC, the IoT spending in Asia-Pacific is expected to reach USD 398.6 billion by 2023, setting the path for Asia Pacific to become the leading market in the IoT landscape.

Other critical emerging drivers impacting IoT will indisputably be 5G and AI. Although niche and in the early stages, newer technologies like edge computing and blockchain will also be key in driving IoT adoption.

The enhanced speed and flexible connectivity of 5G networks will drive fundamental change and create entirely new approaches to businesses and business models.

While 4G revolutionised the smartphone experience, 5G will have an even bigger impact on other smart consumer commodities – such as autonomous vehicles and its impact on our lifestyle.

As IoT technology is becoming more prevalent, the challenge of protecting sensitive customer data has become increasingly complex. A recent Gartner report indicates that worldwide IoT security spending will more than double to $3.1 billion by 2021.

With the IoT’s rapid expansion, social, legal and ethical issues come to the limelight and will have to be addressed. The introduction of new data regulations, such as the EU’s GDPR will have a significant impact in 2019.

The responsibility will lie on businesses to control and monitor the data their devices generate and to eliminate any vulnerabilities that may lead to data leakage. Government and regulatory agencies will establish stringent rules on data creation, collection, storage, transfer, use and deletion of information related to IoT projects.

Beyond purely sensors and devices, what major areas of innovation can we expect in 2019 that will accelerate or impact the direction of IoT adoption in Asia?

Findings from a recent survey by Zebra Technologies revealed that the entire Asia-Pacific region was identified as the world leader in IoT adoption, as 22% of the companies were recognised as ‘intelligent enterprises’ – up from a mere 2% in 2017.

Asia-Pacific is also best positioned to create a cost-effective technology infrastructure to support industrial and consumer IoT deployments as it has access to abundant cost-efficient software and hardware sourced locally or from neighbouring countries like China and India.

5G networks, with their high speed, improved bandwidths and negligible latency properties will also aim to provide the necessary infrastructure for IoT to scale.

The post Monetizing the IoT-5G opportunities in 2019 appeared first on FutureIoT.

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) claims that 16 countries around the world account for 90% of industrial robot usage. The IFR claims that China, along, accounts for 39% of all industrial robots as of 2018. That figure will balloon to 45% by 2021. The next company to use robots, arguably started it ahead of China early on, is Japan with 11%. The US falls even further behind at 7%.

Developing markets like Brazil, India, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, collectively account for just 5%.

So, what’s holding up factories from making use of robots?

You’d think its concern about the cost of these machines hitting the factory. Yes, arguably this could be a factor, but other reasons are more human in nature – people are concerned about losing changes. For factory operators, a lack of experience and expertise in designing, integrating machines on the production floor raise the spectre of failed deployments.

Ready or not?

FutureIoT spoke to Singapore startup, Botsync to find out why Emerging Asia’s factories just aren’t as gung ho into the factory robot/automation as we’d like to think.

The startup’s co-founder, Rahul Nambiar, says labour costs – salaries and benefits aren’t as expensive [to business owners] as we thought they’d. He argues that salaries or wages in Emerging Asia aren’t sufficiently high enough today. He is certain, however, that would change in the future. He just isn’t sure how soon that will come.

Deploying robots

“What companies are doing is deploying robotic solutions in phases – an approach he recommends as it will help factory owners and operators appreciate the benefits of automatons while giving time for factory employees to be retrained for other higher-value operations,” he adds.

Nambiar suggests six months to one year as the sweet spot in trialling the technology on the factory floor. “It's far easier to introduce robots when people are accustomed to their presence on the floor,” he concludes.

The promise

Robots have been used in things like welding, painting, as well as assembly, packaging and labelling, palletizing, product inspection and testing.

Most of us are aware that robots are used in automotive assembly plants for brands like General Motors and Toyota. But the auto industry doesn’t hold the exclusive in the use of robots. Footwear and apparel brand Adidas built “Speedfactory” – its robotic manufacturing plant in Germany purpose-built to eliminate the six-week shipping time for products made in Asia and destined for Europe.

Popular consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, uses Chloe, a vending machine that takes in orders from the store front and delivers the desired product to the customer on the shop floor in 30 seconds or less.

Botsync’s Nambiar talks about robots as used in material handling.

The future of robots

What differentiates the new generation of robotics today is its smarts. “The early application of robotics made use of rule-based algorithms to define a task,” said Nambiar. He conceded that this approach means very limited use for the robots.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning give robots the ability to adapt to changes in the condition, making autonomous decisions. “Depending on the design or application, robots will certainly improve operational efficiency, and with use of technologies like sensors and IoT, reduce machine downtime and wastage,” concludes Nambiar.

The post Making the case for robots in the factory appeared first on FutureIoT.

The good news is that consumers are already showing the path of least resistance through social media and smart devices. But not everyone will find the path to the customer’s wallet that easy. In fact, rising customer expectations are moving the tipping of return on customer experience.

Figure 1: What people value most in their customer experience

Source: Future of Customer Experience, PwC 2019

The solution may come in different sizes, shapes and formats but share a common persona.

Forrester says customer expectations for high-quality touches are expanding beyond the mobile and web realms. “Internet-of-things (IoT) technology offers new capabilities to sense and control physical products and real-world experiences. So, CIOs and customer experience (CX) pros need each other's help to weave relevant context and control available from IoT sources into customer journeys,” said the analyst.

Through 2028, Gartner expects a steady increase in the embedding of sensors, storage, compute and advanced AI capabilities in edge (or smart) devices. In general, intelligence will move toward the edge in a variety of endpoint devices, from industrial devices to screens to smartphones to automobile power generators.

Uli Braun, chief technology officer at Atos, says IoT enables digital transformation but not in the conventional method typically associated with traditional technologies such as computing devices or enterprise software.

“It is close to what the business outcome is going to be. It is not a backend system. It is more at the front end of what a customer, an industry or a business is doing. It has a direct impact on the product is making or to the consumer who is coming it,” said Braun.

Watch the full video to understand how IoT is impacting IT operations, and what the CIO and/or CTO needs to do to take advantage of the technology.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The post How IoT powers digital transformation appeared first on FutureIoT.

In the movie, Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard, internet-based terrorist and former U.S. Department of Defense, decides to take down America by crippling its commercial and industrial infrastructure hacking into the very computers that manage these systems.

The tools used for the hacking in the movie are NMAP or Network Mapper, a network port scanner and service detector offering stealth SYN scan, ping sweep, FTP bounce, UDP scan, operating system discovery. It also happens to be a free and open-source utility.

While some argue that the hacking, in the movie, was too easy, the scenario is still plausible and we hear of this often enough as in the case of Triton or Trisis which targeted older versions of Schneider Electric’s Triconex Safety Instrumented System (SIS) controllers.

FutureIoT spoke to Chakradhar Jonagam, Head Software Architect, Biqmind, to discuss among other things how organisations continue to struggle with security industrial infrastructure.

As operators and governments push the 5G story out, it remains just a matter of time before we see more cyberattacks against state and industrial infrastructure. The question is – what should enterprises and regulators be doing today?

RELATED: 5G is gonna wreck your security setup with IoT

What are the business applications of industrial IoT in Asia-Pacific?

Chakradhar Jonagam: With 85% of Asia Pacific organisations still in the early stages of cloud maturity, many have yet to unlock the real business value of cloud computing. Industrial IoT will find plenty of applications in bridging legacy technology onto the cloud, which still forms the backbone for many global MNCs across APAC.

This is where the adoption of a single framework by different industry stakeholders will ease their integration into the common cloud ecosystem regardless of markets or locations, without the need to rebuild all of their existing infrastructures.

Another common business application for industrial IoT is the ability to not just help organisations scale their operations across geography, but also by solutions – both hardware and software. Operating from a single framework also means that the adopted solutions must have a uniformed approach to dealing with data, especially when collecting from a variety of data sources like sensors, equipment or machines.

Edge computing again becomes a critical piece to the puzzle, in which data is collected across different sources, sites and devices must be interpreted similarly by different parties on the cloud. Along with other internal business and operational data, organisations can also potentially establish predictive models that will enable them to identify issues even before they arise by running remote diagnostics.

How will 5G impact IoT rollouts?

Chakradhar Jonagam: 5G data speed can operate 20 times faster and connect 1,000 times more devices than its 4G counterparts. This enables more devices to interact more efficiently with IoT networks. In addition to enhancing the mobile experience for consumers such as virtual reality content-streaming services, this increased speed and capacity is also a boon for a variety of industrial applications that require constant connectivity with no downtime.

For instance, in the context of the oil and gas industry, the harsh operating environments of oil rigs result in inconsistent connectivity to operational touchpoints. As such, the process in which operators collect data on output is often done so manually through every sensor scattered across the oil rigs.

With 5G networks, oil rig operators can leverage edge computing for visibility on its output, automating the collection of data in real-time to a centralised database where data can be processed, analysed and leveraged for more informed business actions. In the event of critical errors at the edge like gas leaks, seamless IoT connectivity is crucial for quick problem identification so more time can be allocated to addressing the issue.

A combination of edge and IoT will also bring automation that can improve working conditions in hazardous environments by providing better visibility of the environment.

What is the current state of security for IoT [or lack of it]?

Chakradhar Jonagam: Cybersecurity used to be an afterthought with the assumption that all devices are isolated, and therefore, not connected to the internet. However, as the number of IoT-connected devices is estimated to reach over 75 billion by 2025, they are starting to garner widespread attention from cybercriminals and law enforcers alike. Consumers and businesses are becoming more susceptible to security breaches than ever before, potentially giving hackers access to security cameras, factory operations and even medical devices.

Moving forward, we expect to see a lot more focus on addressing IoT vulnerabilities, as many of these devices are directly used by end-users in one way or another. Some common measures that will be enforced further include mandatory password changes as well as mutually authenticated protocols across multiple devices.

How do you effectively measure the impact of industrial IoT?

Chakradhar Jonagam: With multiple data points and systems, it is easy for organisations to get caught up in an ‘analysis paralysis’.

Whether it is to deliver top-line objectives or reduce bottom-line costs, there are three key pillars that organisations should consider. Firstly, measuring traditional time to production against accelerated time to value is a good gauge to how much more quickly organisations are able to perform a task with the deployment of cloud-native solutions.

The second measure is the cost savings generated from using fewer resources, time and infrastructure. Lastly, measuring productivity by determining the amount of repetitive work that has been automated, allows organisations to focus more on enterprise efforts.

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Granted, in areas like IT (internet technology) and OT (operational technology), where standard groups have long operated, standards are well developed and adopted, but at the same time, the standards and frameworks for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and IoT are still being worked on.

Ongoing challenges

Huei Sin Ee, Vice President And General Manager of General Electronics Measurement Solutions at Keysight Technologies noted that one of the biggest challenges of developing IIoT standards is ensuring the interoperability of different IoT devices across a diverse set of applications and different kinds of communication networks.

She added that another for implementation is integrating legacy devices and applications with new devices and technologies since older systems weren’t originally designed to communicate with other applications or systems.

Despite these challenges, many industrial customers are still keen to implement the IIoT since the potential benefits of this technology—such as automation and actionable business intelligence for the factory floor—is evident.

Standard bodies like Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), Object Management Group (OMG), and OneM2M are working together to set the standards and frameworks for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and IoT.

There have even been discussions about making the IoT standard an open standard, to expand the innovation, leverage from existing skillsets and integrate with new technology on the manufacturing floor.

“Whether or not that happens in the future, the real challenge for modern manufacturers will remain on how to connect existing systems to the IoT while also preparing for future expansions,” Ee commented.

Impact of 5G on IoT

These days there’s a great deal of hype around 5G. While it certainly can’t be everything to everyone, there are a few distinct capabilities it offers, not the least of which is massive IoT for billions of devices and ultra-low latency and increased reliability for mission-critical IoT applications.

“These capabilities make it ideal for everything from industrial automation and smart grids to Healthcare IoT. But the impact of 5G on IoT goes beyond just connecting devices to the IoT. Thanks to 5G’s high density, low cost and long-range, it will also expand the scope of IoT devices, improve their ability to operate efficiently, and accelerate their adoption,” added Keysight’s Ee.

Additionally, 5G represents a fundamental shift in communication network architectures. And as such, it will expand the already pivotal role of cellular connectivity in the deployment of IoT applications.

According to Ee: “There are various ways in which a 5G mobile network can support the deployment of advanced IoT applications. With a high network speed of about 10-20 Gbps, for example, 5G enables fast transmission of massive amounts of data between connected IoT devices and allows for new capabilities and features that make use of that data."

Business applications of Industrial IoT in Asia-Pacific

While many around the world are still assessing how best to implement the IIoT in the most effective, reliable and secure manner possible, several countries in Asia-Pacific are leading the way, having already developed and built out their IIoT capability.

She cited the example of China with the rapid development of its manufacturing sector. “With so much competition, some players have pursued the IIoT as a means to gain much-needed efficiency and a leg up on competitors. The increasing sophistication of China’s manufacturing sector has led to the need for more technologically astute logistics providers and will eventually lead to the rise in its e-commerce industry. Several key players have already implemented a fully automated warehouse that ensures products are shipped from warehouse to recipient with a high level of efficiency,” said Keysight’s Ee.

Singapore is another country in Asia-Pacific that is embracing digital and IIoT technologies as a means of improving the lives of its citizens. Named the “Smart City of 2018” at last year’s Smart City Expo World Congress, Singapore is widely recognized for its projects in urban innovation and transformation industry. The government has played a vital role in developing solutions, from dynamic public bus routing algorithms to predictive analytics for water pipe leaks.

The IoT and IIoT promise incredible improvements in everything from enterprise productivity to increased wellbeing of populations in smart cities. Yet, despite its potential, the adoption rate is still slow for many countries in Asia-Pacific and around the world.

Ee concluded that while plenty of organizations acknowledge and appreciate the potential benefits of the IIoT, many are still in the midst of assessing how best to implement it in the most effective and secure manner.

“Others are waiting for full 5G deployment and standards to ensure they can leverage the IIoT to its fullest potential and with the least amount of risk.”

The post The long road to unified IoT standards appeared first on FutureIoT.

On July 1, 2019, it introduced an internet of things (IoT) personalized skinscare system that offers to match individual users daily skin conditions and living environments to a skincare regimen.

The subscription service called Optune has a dedicated app that uses an original algorithm to analyze skin condition and environmental data such as temperature, humidity, as well as sleep data. 

These are sent to a dedicated machine which recommends a personalized skincare pattern suitable for the users’ skin condition in real time.

Shiseido said in the news release that an increasing number of women do not have enough time for daily skincare. However, skin conditions can vary each day due to external factors such as weather and fine particulates in the air, as well as internal factors including sleep, stress/mood, and even menstrual cycle.

Optune then “leverages skin data collected for many years and research results of aroma and product usability and combines IoT-based digital technology.”

Shiseido claims that Optune can provide 80,000 patterns of skincare to users. In Japan, the cost of the subscription is 10,000 yen (approximately US$9.7).

The Shiseido Group, which has over 38,000 employees all over the world and has reported consolidated net sales of 1,094.8 billion yen in fiscal year 2018.  

Founded in 1872, it is among the oldest cosmetic companies globally and offers products and services related to skin care, hair care, cosmetics and fragrance.

In 2019, the company has adapted a new corporate mission centered on innovations that it says could lead to new lifestyles. Hence, it is actively promoting collaboration with partners in different research areas and industry sectors.

Orbis Research estimates the global cosmetic products market to be valued at US$532.43 billion in 2017, and is expected to reach a market value of USD$805.61 billion by 2023, or a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.14% over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

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Collaborative robots or cobots are smaller, more dexterous industrial robotic arms that open the possibility between human and machine collaboration without the need for complex programming or external safety infrastructure.

ABI Research says collaborative systems are not a revolution in robotics but are instead a parallel technology that has some advantages over traditional industrial arms, and some disadvantages.

ABI Research projects that collaborative robot arms to reach US$5.8 billion in annual revenue by 2027, with US$2 billion of that dedicated to the automotive and automotive components manufacturing space. There are additional sources of revenue related to software and End of Arm Tooling (EOAT), and ABI Research also notes that collaborative systems will increasingly become indistinguishable from conventional industrial robotic arms, potentially opening the market to a much higher valuation.

ABI Research suggests not to think of collaborative robotics as a replacement for industrial robots, but as a parallel technology development that will eventually converge. Innovations like advanced machine vision, improved localization, haptic sensors, and superior mechatronics are all allowing cobots to become faster without neglecting safety. Strategic advances in 5G, cloud robotics, and edge-enabled AI will make the performance of multiple collaborative systems superior. “This will gradually allow for the development of cobots that have the advantages of industrial robotic arms, while retaining the benefits of current collaborative systems, including ease of use, ROI, re-programmability, low footprint, and flexibility,” Rian Whitton, Senior Analyst at ABI Research concludes.

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By enabling massive telemetry and individual addressing of "things," the IoT offers three prominent benefits: spatial and temporal traceability of individual real-world objects for thief prevention, counterfeit product detection and food safety via accessing their pedigree; enabling ambient data collection and analytics for optimizing crop planning, enabling telemedicine and assisted living; and supporting real-time reactive systems such as smart building, automatic logistics and self-driving, networked cars.

Realizing these benefits requires the ability to discover and resolve queries for contents in the IoT.

In this video, Nguyen Khoi Tran discusses "Internet of Things Search Engine," a Review Article in the July 2019 Communications of the ACM.

The post The what, why and how of IoT search engine appeared first on FutureIoT.

Previously, he served as Chief Architect and Director at Nokia, led a recently acquired start-up to develop the IoT IMPACT platform which received the "Best IoT Innovation for Mobile Networks" award at the 2017 Mobile World Congress.

At Alcatel-Lucent, he and his team collaborated with three start-ups, based in India, Israel, and Silicon Valley, in creating a highly scalable video optimization and analytics platform that served tens of millions of mobile subscribers worldwide. Finally at Lucent, he launched the first packet-based cellular small cell solution with a start-up in Boston.

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In response, many manufacturers are choosing digital transformation. However, as their peers in other industries are finding out, the journey is fraught with challenges and pitfalls.

According to a recent IDC survey, some of the key concerns in the manufacturing industry have been around increased competition, rising internal costs and increased cybersecurity threats. To mitigate these challenges, organizations have been looking at integrating technologies, such as internet of things (IoT), cloud, and blockchains, that can increase visibility, credibility, and transparency across the value chain, in essence, launching digital transformation drives across the complete value chain.

In the Cxociety C-Suite roundtable discussion titled Mastering Digital Disruption: The Supply Chain Opportunity, sponsored by Epicor, we asked leading manufacturers and supply chain players in Singapore their experience, insights and challenges in mastering disruption.

B2C vs. B2B

It is called the Amazon effect. It is a catch-all phrase for digital platform players disrupting logistics, it highlights the impact of digital platforms in shaping business-to-consumer (B2C) processes and meeting the needs created by consumerization. It aims to give manufacturers direct access to consumers, simplify their supply chains for cost efficiency and agility, help them to reach new markets faster and lower industry barriers for competition.

Digital transformation of the business-to-business (B2B) market, in comparison, remains slow. “There is one big difference between B2C and B2B. In B2C, you are selling to the consumer; in B2B, your end customer is a function in another company,” said Vincent Tang, Vice President, Sales, Asia, Epicor.

For example, Supreme Components International is transforming for better logistics. “Our transformation is driven by the logistics of electronics components. Digital transformation gives us a massive opportunity to drive better user experience and B2B conversation,” said Piyush Aggarwala, the company’s Director.

One delegate to the roundtable noted that better management of spare part inventories is a huge motivator for their organisation, allowing employees to track and retrieve information about the spare parts” from the cloud, allowing the company to plan better for future needs.

Automation is another reason many manufacturers are embracing digital transformation. Amy Chung, Chief Executive Officer, Container Printers noted that as manufacturers move automation and real-time processes, “digitalization will become a huge driver.”

“To me, whatever that helps the company to grow its revenues and profits should always take priority,” said Sian Chin Phua, Chief Financial Officer, TEHO International Inc, who added speed and agility are now becoming vital differentiators in the manufacturing industry.

Brandon Lee, Chair, Smart Automation Industry Group, Singapore Manufacturing Federation sees three phases of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. "Phase one begins with digitization, which allows you to monitor the manufacturing better. The next phase is to explore how to do things right, so you have to leverage data intelligence for business efficiency...then the last phase is to move from a human-based approach to a systematic one."

Transformation Struggles

Having the needs clear, the tools available, the framework developed and funding support available does not mean digital transformation is any less painful.

Singapore Manufacturing Federation’s Lee noted, “We can come up with a feasible plan to transform the industry, but implementing it is never going to be easy.”

One challenge is identifying the benefits. While digital transformation offers general benefits for all industries, there are not many use cases for Singapore-based manufacturers.

It is one of the reasons why many balk at adopting new software and solutions, said TEHO International’s Phua. Without a clear idea of the benefits, it then becomes difficult to gauge the value in investing in the solution.

“The moment you mention the cost, everyone sits back. Companies lose out not because they have a bad solution but because their initial investment was too high. Businessmen can’t see past the initial investment,” he said.

However, Phua admitted that part of the problem is also complacency. “[Manufacturers in Singapore] are so comfortable. But every industry is like that until something disrupts them and then the industry wakes up,” he added, pointing to how Uber and Grab impacted the taxi industry.

Market size is another challenge, said Kim Poh Ng, Director, Sunjet Aluminium International, which is creating a common data platform to link up its manufacturing plants and outsource some of their processes to third-party players.

“Singapore is too small to focus all your manufacturing resources. So, for a [Singapore] manufacturing company to survive, it needs to have enough of a market. Besides, a lot of [multinational corporations] move to where the market is,” Ng added.

Irene Hwa, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific, Epicor Software noted that the challenges are similar to other industries. "The ultimate objectives of digital transformation remains the same across all industries. So, everyone wants to have real-time access to what is happening in their business because that allows them to be more efficient and drive real-time decision making, which also allows you to make quick adjustments to individual customers' [needs] at any one time."

Hwa sees new advances in the internet of things (IoT) analytics and sensors helping manufacturers to drive digital transformation. But she also warned that digital transformation is a journey and software is only a tool. "It is no replacement for good strategy."

Singapore Manufacturing Federation’s Lee observed that any digital transformation effort needs should also create an ecosystem and deep skills within the industry. “Why do [Singapore manufacturers struggle when multinational corporations leave Singapore every few years? It is because we do not have the ecosystem and deep skills. In short, we do not have a unique competitive advantage.”

Lee noted that the Singapore government agency is already looking to address these issues through the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) program.

"LEAD is trying to use collaboration to upgrade the industry capabilities and promote deep skills," he added.

Beyond IT

Participants agreed that a successful digital transformation journey is not just a sum of the digital solutions and processes. It also requires a strong implementation partner.

“The biggest pain point is execution. The product can be fantastic, but if the [vendor] team is not as smart or do not tell you what to do, it takes away time that I could have used for other tasks,” said Supreme Components International’s Aggarwala.

This raises the importance of references for most organisations. The challenge, however, is that there are not many industry references in Singapore.

TEHO International Inc.'s Phua and Sunjet Aluminium International's Ng observed that industry experience should not be limited to the software knowledge but should also include the vendor's understanding of the industry and its best practices. While such an investigation could take time, "it is necessary," said Phua.

Epicor’s Tang saw the relationships between customers and vendors as a two-way street. His company often vets potential customers for product fit.

“A lot of people buy the brand, but do not realize whether the product matches their needs. Then you end up using [the product] less or customizing a lot. This is why we first find out whether our product can meet the customers’ needs,” he said.

Tang also noted that top management commitment is vital. "When there are problems among departments, you need someone at the top to make a decision. It is something ERP vendors cannot do."

In the IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Manufacturing 2019 Predictions, Reid Paquin, research director, IT Priorities and Strategies, IDC Manufacturing Insights, noted that the manufacturing industry continues to evolve. Digital transformation is a discussion that has touched every part of the value chain.

"No matter if you work in design, the supply chain, operations, or service, the adoption of digital capabilities to create business value has become critical to success. Our predictions create a framework for IT and line-of-business executives to plan and execute technology-related initiatives in the years ahead," he concluded.

At the conclusion of the Cxociety C-Suite roundtable discussion on Mastering Digital Disruption: The Supply Chain Opportunity, delegates agreed that digital-led business transformation will continue to evolve in response to changing economic, environmental, and socio-political conditions. These businesses will also need to keep a pulse on changing customer-consumer preferences if they want to remain relevant in a constantly evolving marketplace.

The post Transforming Manufacturing: The Singapore Experience appeared first on FutureIoT.

The world’s largest retailer said that it expects to scale the coverage by another 100 product lines by the end of the year to include more than 10 product categories including fresh meat product, rice, mushrooms, cooking oil, etc.

“The system is expected to see traceable fresh meat account for 50% of the total sales of packaged fresh meat, traceable vegetables will account for 40% of the total sales of packaged vegetables,  traceable seafood will account for 12.5% of the total sales of seafood by the end of 2020,” it said in a news release.

According to Walmart and its partners, “by scanning the desired products, customers can acquire detailed information, including the source of the scanned products and geographic location received by Walmart, logistics process, product inspection report, and many more data points.”

“Data collection and data availability are to be continually added to the scale of the platform and its use of blockchain technology,” it added.

Built on the VeChainThor Blockchain, the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform was launched at the 2019 China Products Safety Publicity Week Traceability System Construction Seminar in Beijing on June 25.

Its partners include China Chain-Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), PwC, Inner Mongolia Kerchin Co. Ltd. and VeChain.

Kevin Feng, Chief Operating Officer of VeChain, said in a media statement that the launch of the platform of is of great significance to the commercial application of blockchain technology. 

“VeChain will work with Walmart China to actively take heed of the call of the government, by utilizing technology to promote the traceability of fresh food, and to provide innovative solutions for the traceability platform through digital technology, so as to generate more transparent and reassuring consumption experience,” he said.

Food safety is a key health issue around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 600 million fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year.

“Food safety, nutrition and food security are inextricably linked. Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, particularly affecting infants, young children, elderly and the sick,” it said in a report.

“In the face of food safety, how to build consumer trust is a problem that PwC, our clients and partners have been trying to solve,” said Elton Yeung, Strategy and Innovation Leader, PwC Mainland China and Hong Kong.

“We believe that Walmart’s Blockchain Traceability System will be an excellent example of blockchain technology applied in the retail industry, helping to improve food safety and quality management, and providing a strong guarantee for building consumer trust,” he said.

VeChain said that in China, domestic customers are proposing higher demands on food safety, digitalization of food traceability will help suppliers to increase their brand value and win their consumers’ trust. 

The partners expect the use of the platform to continue to grow in scope, accounted scales, and geographic implementation.  

Walmart entered the Chinese market and opened its first hypermarket and Sam’s Club in Shenzhen in 1996, according to its website.

It currently operates in the country three business formats — Walmart hypermarkets, Sam’s Club, and Walmart supermarkets — and claims to be a proponent of local sourcing, saying that over 95% of the merchandise in its China stores is sourced locally.

In December 2018, it introduced what it calls the “next generation” store in Chengdu, which is 50% smaller than regular hypermarkets but with a leasing area that is about 4,000 square meters “to accommodate changing customer preferences.”

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The service will launch on July 4 and run for around three months, according to a company news release.

Its partner, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, said it is going to be the first commercial drone delivery service to a remote island designed for general users in Japan.

Sarushima is the only uninhabited island in Tokyo Bay and is a popular sightseeing destination that receives 200,000 visitors yearly, according to Rakuten.

To avail of the drone service, visitors to Sarushima need to download the Rakuten Drone app so they can start placing orders for about 400 products on offer at the Seiyu LIVIN Yokosuka Store located on the shore of opposite the island. 

The product list includes food such as fresh produce for barbecues, beverages and first-aid products.  

“Deliveries will be made by Rakuten Drone delivery drones at designated times to a drone landing port built on Sarushima,” Rakuten said.

 "With this service, we aim to offer customers an innovative, advanced shopping experience in which products they order will be delivered by drone. Based on this initiative, we will accelerate innovation so that more people can experience the convenience of drone delivery," said Koji Ando, ​​Managing Executive Officer of Rakuten, in a media statement.

Rakuten’s Drone service was launched in 2016 when demonstration experiments and trial services conducted were first conducted in cooperation with companies and local governments. 

According to Rakuten,  the service delivered products using drones for about half a year in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture in 2017. 

“In 2018 we conducted the first delivery experiment combining drones and UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles) in line with our near-future goal of creating unmanned delivery solutions in Japan and successful practical services,” it said.

Tamae Takeda, Executive Senior Vice President of Seiyu's EC Division, said Seiyu has also been looking into drone deliveries for its online supermarket.

“In the future, through Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper, which we jointly operate with Rakuten, we want to contribute to enriching the lives of more customers by delivering high-quality products at low prices to everyone, including those who have difficulty shopping at stores," he said.

In March this year, Rakuten has also partnered with Chinese retailer JD.com to develop unmanned delivery solutions in Japan.

Under the agreement, JD.com said the two companies will combine its expertise in developing drones and autonomous delivery robots with Rakuten’s drone delivery service operations.

The announcement barely a month after successfully piloting Indonesia’s first government-approved drone flight.

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In June of the same year, Shanghai played host to CES Asia – the region’s version of the popular American event. According to the organisers, a total of 20 product categories were featured in Shanghai, including the Internet of Things (IoT). A total of 29 exhibitors showcased their IoT offerings at the event this year.

Ben Arnold, Senior Director of Innovation and Trends with the Consumer Technology Association, organiser of the CSA series, noted that there is a lot of innovation going on in the home with respect to consumers bringing in new connected devices.

On the topic of 5G, Arnold observed believed that as the service gets rolled in the region, it will bring with it the emergence of more services-centric innovation – as opposed to just another physical product coming out to market.

“I think 5G unlocks the potential for smart cities, including smart grids, to operate more efficiently. I think those are some of the key use cases for IOT particularly in Asia. A lot of that is being coloured by the anticipation for 5G,” commented Arnold.

He cautioned the potential for a fragmentation of platforms, and the need for interoperability between systems and platforms.

Watch the video as he offers his take on some of the key trends and considerations that will impact the rollout of IoT and 5G in the region.

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Carrie MacGillivray, group vice president, Internet of Things, 5G, and Mobility at IDC, says finding solutions to help manage, process and analyse the data generated from IoT as the next big challenge for organisations.

$726 billion industry – so what?!?

The three commercial industries that will spend the most on IoT solutions throughout the forecast are

IoT spending in the discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and transportation sectors, will account for a third of worldwide spend total in 2023. Manufacturers will use IoT mostly to improve or enhance operations whereas those in the transportation industry are looking at freight monitoring.

Smart home and connected vehicle use cases are the primary focus for those in the consumer sector – the second largest group of IoT spending. With a CAGR of 16.8%, the consumer market is poised to overtake discrete manufacturing in terms of IoT spending by 2023.

While it is understood that the cloud is direction where most IoT application and data will reside, the real excitement will be in the IoT platform software – middleware that provides the device management, connectivity management, data management, visualization, and applications enablement for connecting IoT endpoints. Budgets will go toward software packages that integrate and support devices, applications, data schemas, and standards of a single industry.

"The new Deployment Type segmentation in the IoT Spending Guide draws sharp lines that identify opportunities for software growth via public cloud services. Segmented at the deepest level, clients can now prioritize strategy planning at the region/country, industry, and use case levels," said Marcus Torchia, research director, Customer Insights & Analysis.

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Outside of the glitz and glamour that come with the transformation, however, is another form of metamorphosis behind the scenes. One of the biggest changes to retailing in the past couple of decades has been the emphasis on volume and the lost of the engagement that was part of the neighbourhood store.

Hopes are that this lost art of engagement can be rekindled through technology. And retailers are right to be hopeful.

FutureIoT spoke to Professor Reetika Gupta, Associate Professor, Marketing Department, Global BBA Associate Academic Director, ESSEC Business School Asia Pacific, to talk among other things how technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) is making it possible to rekindle the neighbour shopping experience.

What key trends are impacting the adoption of IoT in the Retail industry in Singapore?

Reetika Gupta: The first would be the significant manpower crunch. Singapore, in particular, is emphasising productivity gains and is looking to reduce the flow of lower-skilled, foreign workers. Because of this, we anticipate that automation in retailing will continue to be a key trend, for example, automated checkout counters.

Another key trend is the rate at which online retail is being adopted. The e-commerce market in Singapore has been expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%, according to WorldPay’s 2018 Global Payments Report, and big operators such as Lazada/Redmart and Qoo10 are gaining traction. For success, IoT has to provide visitors to physical stores with greater personalized shopping experiences, similar to what online retailers are achieving.

How will regulation (or lack of it) drive adoption of IoT?

Reetika Gupta: Data protection and privacy, including the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) regulation, will influence IoT practices. PDPA in Singapore requires organizations collecting personal data (such as biometrics or fingerprint scanning, or facial profiles collected by cameras) to first gain explicit consent from consumers. 

Accordingly, adoption of technology must be accompanied with relevant business processes to ensure that such consent is collected. Moreover, PDPA requires organizations to ensure appropriate protection and care for such data – through the use of appropriate security technologies (such as access control and encryption).

As IoT becomes deeply embedded in retail stores, store operators will thus also have to implement technologies and best-practices to protect the data, such as having the additional infrastructure to anonymize it, establish policies to regularly delete data, and enabling options to opt-out.

Cite any common misconception of the IoT as it relates to the retail industry?

Reetika Gupta: There is the misconception that ‘mobile marketing’ solely implies the use of mobile applications, such as via social media, to deliver ads and promotions to consumers. However, there is so much more that one can do with mobile devices.

We have early examples such as location-aware alerts within stores and customizing the content of public digital displays based on proximity sensing of mobile devices as seen at Changi Airport. IoT will be the key to deeper personalisation, one example being delivering promotions based on real-time user behaviour in stores. Without such personalization, it will be difficult for physical retail to survive.

Cite one best practice around the use or deployment of the IoT in the retail industry?

Reetika Gupta: A great example of IoT in practice, is Changi Airport’s use of beacon technology. The key idea behind this is how beacons are deployed not just in retail, but also at check-in counters and other places around the airport. They give proximity-based notifications of things such as products (in stores), food offerings (in food courts) and alerts (based on plane schedules).

We’re also seeing growing attention around the use of video analytics and AI in stores, or automated item recognition and no checkout-required shopping. This has gained a lot of attention in the United States with the launch of Amazon Go’s cashierless convenience stores in Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, and most recently in New York City.

In 2019, how do you see this IoT being used in the retail industry?

In 2019, proximity-based in-store advertising/notifications will be a big global trend. The use of push notifications to alert consumers about relevant nearby products will gain traction as retailers have developed more sophisticated backend Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, and so are better able to track and build profiles of consumers based on their past online/offline purchases. Retailers are also now rapidly building mobile-first apps to engage directly with their customers. In addition, the “beacon market” in APAC is also taking off and is expected to grow rapidly.

Another use of IoT will be in creating greater ‘experiential stores’, where stores are not just about shopping, but about delivering experiences using Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). For example, Sephora’s connected store concept uses iPads or connected mirrors to visually project the items’ looks onto customers’ own faces. This is a great way to enrich the in-store customer experience enabling the customer to have more fulfilling store visits where they can make more informed and immediate purchases.

IoT has been around since the term was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, said to be following his “witnessing of the challenges of inventory, logistics and supply chain management challenges in retail.”

Will IoT change the game for retailers at the GSS: Experience Singapore event? Only time will tell.

The post Transforming the Singapore retail Experience appeared first on FutureIoT.

This is exactly what Paul G., owner and operator of 12 McDonalds franchises did. He deployed technology from SwiftSensors to enable him to spot things that happen in real-time in the kitchen, in the store room, electrical closets, even the cash safe.

Click here to download this case study to know more.

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Professor Wei Xiang is the Founding Professor and Head of Discipline of Internet of Things (IoT) Engineering at James Cook University and an elected Fellow of the IET and Engineers Australia. He is a well-recognised international leader in IoT and has been awarded several prestigious awards and fellowship titles.

The post The current and future state of IoT appeared first on FutureIoT.

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A Gartner supply chain technology survey of user wants and needs found that only 19% of respondents ranked blockchain as a very important technology for their business, and only 9% have invested in it. This is mainly because supply chain blockchain projects are very limited and do not match the initial enthusiasm for the technology’s application in supply chain management.

“Supply chain blockchain projects have mostly focused on verifying authenticity, improving traceability and visibility, and improving transactional trust,” said Alex Pradhan, senior principal research analyst at Gartner.

“However, most have remained pilot projects due to a combination of technology immaturity, lack of standards, overly ambitious scope and a misunderstanding of how blockchain could, or should, actually help the supply chain. Inevitably, this is causing the market to experience blockchain fatigue.”

The budding nature of blockchain makes it almost impossible for organizations to identify and target specific high-value use cases. Instead, companies are forced to run multiple development pilots using trial and error to find ones that might provide value.

In addition, the vendor ecosystem has not fully formed and is struggling to establish market dominance. Another challenge is that supply chain organizations cannot buy an off-the-shelf, complete, packaged blockchain solution.

“Without a vibrant market for commercial blockchain applications, the majority of companies do not know how to evaluate, assess and benchmark solutions, especially as the market landscape rapidly evolves,” said Pradhan.

She also added that current creations offered by solution providers are complicated hybrids of conventional blockchain technologies. This adds more complexity and confusion, making it that much harder for companies to identify appropriate supply chain use cases.

As blockchain continues to develop in supply chains, Gartner recommends that organizations remain cautious about early adoption and not to rush into making blockchain work in their supply chain until there is a clear distinction between hype and the core capability of blockchain.

“The emphasis should be on proof of concept, experimentation and limited-scope initiatives that deliver lessons, rather than high-cost, high-risk, strategic business value,” said Pradhan.

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Gartner predicts that by 2025 20% of the top 10 global grocers by revenue will be using blockchain for food safety and traceability to create visibility to production, quality and freshness.

“Blockchain can help deliver confidence to grocer’s customers, and build and retain trust and loyalty,” said Joanne Joliet, senior research director at Gartner. “Grocery retailers are trialing and looking to adopt blockchain technology to provide transparency for their products. Additionally, understanding and pinpointing the product source quickly may be used internally, for example to identify products included in a recall.”

Blockchain appears as an ideal technology to foster transparency and visibility along the food supply chain. Encryption capabilities on the food source, quality, transit temperature and freshness can be used to ensure that the data is accurate and will give confidence to both consumers and retailers.

Some grocers have already been experimenting with blockchain and are developing best practices. For example, Walmart is now requiring suppliers of leafy greens to implement a farm-to-store tracking system based on blockchain. Other grocers, such as Unilever and Nestlé, are also using blockchain to trace food contamination.

Joliet noted that as grocers are being held to higher standards of visibility and traceability they will lead the way with the development of blockchain, but we expect it will extend to all areas of retail. “Similar to how the financial services industry has used blockchain, grocers will evolve best practices as they apply blockchain capabilities to their ecosystem. Grocers also have the opportunity to be part of the advancement of blockchain as they develop new use cases for important causes for health, safety and sustainability,” she added.

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Watch a short demo to see how TIBCO Data Science and TIBCO Flogo can be used together to solve the most challenging of IoT use cases.

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Mike Hanharan, CEO of Intelligent Retail Lab (IRL), said in a corporate video that the cameras and sensors “compiles 4.6 TB of data, which is equivalent to three years worth of music.”

But the store isn't just a shiny new object, equipped with tech for the sake of tech, according to a company blog post written by Martin Smith.

"It’s a unique real-world shopping environment designed to explore the possibilities that artificial intelligence can contribute to the store experience," he said.

Hanharan affirmed that the cameras pointing at the shelves  allow Walmart to see “if they need to bring meat out from the backroom refrigerator” or “if meat has been sitting too long in that shelf.”

“The point of having AI in the retail environment is to really understand what we can do for our customers and associates — better inventory, having the best products on the shelves, having cleaner and safer stores,” said the IRL chief.

The company blog post reveals that the store in Levitton has 50,000 square feet of retail space and contains 30,000 items, connected by hardware and software that focuses on product inventory and availability.  

“Technology enables us to understand so much more – in real time – about our business,” Hanharan confirmed.

Juniper Research estimates that annual retail spend on technology, particularly enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions will reach over $13 billion by 2023. It also anticipates that the push for efficiency will drive the total number of IoT platform-connected assets to almost 25 billion units by 2023.

In its 2019 Annual Report, Walmart disclosed that it increased total revenue by 3 percent to $514.4 billion in the last fiscal year.

For a global retail chain that serves nearly 275 million customers in more 11,300 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 58 banners in 27 countries, it is impossible to separate technology from the operations.

“We’re putting technology to work with an autonomous scanner that checks our side counters to help us improve in-stock levels, and an autonomous floor cleaner that carries a camera to gather data on our product features to share with a FAST Unloader system in the back room that prioritizes items for restocking,” wrote Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in his letter to shareholders.

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“These technologies are those that supply chain leaders simply cannot ignore,” said Christian Titze, research vice president at Gartner. “Within the next five years, if half of large global companies are using some of these technologies in their supply chain operations, it’s safe to say that the technologies will disrupt people, business objectives and IT systems.”

The top 8 supply chain technology trends in 2019 are:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI technology in supply chain seeks to augment human performance. Through self-learning and natural language, AI capabilities can help automate various supply chain processes such as demand forecasting, production planning or predictive maintenance.

“AI supports the shift to broader supply chain automation that many organizations are seeking,” said Titze. “For example, AI can enhance risk mitigation by analyzing large sets of data, continuously identifying evolving patterns, and predicting disruptive events along with potential resolutions.”

Advanced Analytics

Advanced analytics span predictive analytics — those that identify data patterns and anticipate future scenarios — as well as prescriptive analytics — a set of capabilities that finds a course of action to meet a predefined objective. The increased availability of Internet of Things (IoT) data and extended external data sources such as weather or traffic conditions allow organizations to anticipate future scenarios and make better recommendations in areas such as supply chain planning, sourcing and transportation.

“Advanced analytics are not new, but their impact on today’s supply chains are significant,” said Titze. “They will help organizations become more proactive and actionable in managing their supply chains, both in taking advantage of future opportunities and avoiding potential future disruptions.”

IoT

The IoT is the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to interact with their internal states or the external environment. “We are seeing more supply chain practitioners exploring the potential of IoT,” said Titze. “Areas that IoT might have a profound impact on are enhanced logistics management, improved customer service and improved supply availability.”

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA tools operate by mapping a process in the tool language for the software “robot” to follow. They cut costs and eliminate keying errors. “We are seeing a significant reduction in process lead times RPA technology is used to automate the creation of purchase and sales orders or shipments, for instance,” said Titze. “RPA technology reduces human intervention and improves consistency across manual data sources within manufacturing.”

Autonomous Things

Autonomous things use AI to automate functions previously performed by humans, such as autonomous vehicles and drones. They exploit AI to deliver advanced behaviors that interact more naturally with their surroundings and with people.

“The rapid explosion in the number of connected, intelligent things has given this trend a huge push,” said Titze. “The once distant thought of reducing time for inventory checks by using drones’ cameras to take inventory images, for instance, is here.”

Digital Supply Chain Twin

A digital supply chain twin is a digital representation of the relationships between all physical entities of end-to-end supply chain processes — products, customers, markets, distribution centers/warehouses, plants, finance, attributes and weather. They are linked to their real-world counterparts and are used to understand the state of the thing or system in order to optimize operations and respond efficiently to changes.

“Digital supply chain twins are inevitable as the digital world and physical world continue to merge,” said Titze.

Immersive Experience

Immersive experiences such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and conversational systems are changing the way people interact with the digital world. “In supply chain, organizations might use AR along with quick response (QR) codes and mobile technology to speed up equipment changeovers in factories,” said Titze. “Immersive user experiences will enable digital business opportunities that have not yet been fully realized within global supply chains.”

Blockchain in Supply Chain

Although supply-chain-related blockchain initiatives are nascent, blockchain has potential to fulfill long-standing challenges presented across complex global supply chains. Current capabilities offered by blockchain solutions for supply chain include traceability, automation, and security.

“Organizations might use blockchain to track global shipments with tamper-evident labels, allowing a reduction in the time needed to send paperwork back and forth with port authorities and improved counterfeit identification,” said Titze.

Gartner clients can learn more in “The 2019 Top Supply Chain Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore,” which provides an outlook into other emerging trends that might disrupt supply chain operations in the upcoming years, such as 5G and edge computing.

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The new IDC China Robotics Market Forecast, 2018−2022 report reveals that the robotics market in China is expected to grow at a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.9% from 2017 to 2022, or 38.3% of the world's total spend in robotics, by 2022.

"With experience and knowledge accumulated over the past few years, end users of robotics in China are becoming more sophisticated and demanding," says Dr. Jing Bing Zhang, Research Director for Worldwide Robotics and Asia/Pacific Manufacturing Insights at IDC.

"This presents both opportunities and challenges to robot vendors as well as solution providers. Taking a customer-centric approach, investing to understand end users' true needs and pain points, and delivering maximum business values will prove to be key to success in the China market," adds Zhang.

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By combining JDA's SaaS software portfolio in supply chain management with Panasonic's sensing technologies and edge devices, the partners said they will be creating new technologies for businesses.

Alex Price, Group Vice President, JDA, said in a video interview at the sidelines of the NRF Big Show in the United States in January 2019, that the companies have started developing and integrating solutions such as visual sort assist, flowline analytics, and facial recognition.

Visual sort assist, he said, is about being able to calculate “in the warehouse where we are in our sorting, picking, and fulfilment plans for our customers.”

Don Guelich, Director of Planning, Innovation Center, Panasonic Corporation, explained in the same video that the companies have started integrating JDA's Luminate Warehousing Management System with Panasonic Visual Sort Assist.

“Panasonic is very strong with video analytics and using object recognition to detect those packages in combination with our project mapping technologies, we're able to project that decision information directly onto the packages as they're moving down the conveyor belt,” he said.

Another technology that the partners have been working on is adding a layer of facial recognition in the warehouse.

“And so now we can really start to understand what the proper mix is for proper operations of the warehouse between forklift vehicles and employees, for example,” Price said.

The new company headquartered in Tokyo will commence operations in October 2019 subject to regulatory approval.

“The autonomous supply chain transformation is just beginning and it will be built on correlating edge technologies with enterprise supply chain software,” said Girish Rishi, chief executive officer (CEO), JDA. “The JDA partnership with Panasonic to co-innovate and deliver solutions to our customers is a major step in that direction.”   

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Wing Aviation Pty Ltd., a licensed and certified drone operator, will get to deliver “small ‘just-in-time’ supplies” within about 10 kilometers from the base station.

These supplies may include food, medicines, or even small items of hardware, according to CASA. Flying hours will also limited to from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays, according to CASA.

The Australian regulator said “the system is automated, however, a licensed drone pilot is always at the helm.”

“Over the past 18 months, Wing has delivered food, small household items and over the counter chemist products more than 3000 times. They have satisfied us that their operation meets an acceptable level of safety,” CASA said.

On April 8, Wing announced in a blog post that it has commenced the delivery service in the suburbs of Crace, Palmerston, and Franklin.

“Our service allows customers to order a range of items such as fresh food, hot coffee or over-the-counter chemist items on our mobile app, and have them delivered directly to their homes by drone in minutes,” Wing explained.

Initially, it said its partners include Kickstart Expresso, Capital Chemist, Pure Gelato, Jasper + Myrtle, Bakers Delight, Guzman Y Gomez, and Drummond Golf.

An initiative of Alphabet, Wing’s operations started in 2012, but the company has been testing drone delivery in Australia since 2014.

“Over the past 18 months, Wing has delivered food, small household items and over the counter chemist products more than 3,000 times to Australian homes in Fernleigh Park, Royalla and Bonython communities.” the company said.

Moving forward, Wing said it will continue to work with the local community to improve and expand the service.  

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“We created Thingstream with the aim of simplifying the complex world of IoT for different industries. Industry needs IoT solutions that tackle global coverage, security, and cost and we solve all of those.” said Neil Hamilton, VP Business Development, Thingstream. “Our technology tackles these issues head-on, creating an unrivaled opportunity for companies to take advantage of the huge opportunities IoT offers.”

In this video, Thingstream CTO Bruce Jackson describes how his company is using TIBCO Messaging for its global, secure, low-power, bi-directional, low-cost subscription-based IoT communications network.

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Pooley Wines’ General Manager Tim Hodgekinson talks about the importance of collecting data at all aspects of the wine growing business from planting the seed, harvesting the grapes, all the way to distribution.

Lucy Gybbins, a Senior Consultant, with KPMG Agribusiness and Food, describe the various technology and consultancy practices that are brought to bear to help Pooley Wines, and others like them, improve production as well as customer experience. This includes assessing the food production supply chain, mapping data collection, linking this to business needs, and determining ways to automate or digitize that process.

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Gartner predicts there will be more than 20 billion connected devices by 2020 and more than 65% of enterprises will adopt IoT products.

In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Internet of Things Business Index 2017, 825 senior business leaders from around the world weighed in on the impact of IoT ontheir companies and industries. Executives surveyed report that IoT will be a “driver of the digital transformation that will enable businesses to reinvent products, services, internal operations and business models,” and that “following an IoT technology path is crucial to their long-term success.”

Figure 1: Internet of Things Business Index

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit 2017

One-fifth of the survey respondents have already seen a major impact from IoT on their industries, and an additional 32% are convinced that significant impacts are just around the corner.

Monetizing puzzle

Frank Wammes, CTO, Application Services – Continental Europe at Capgemini, says the real question is monetizing outcome. He postulates that if the ability exists to place sensors on products and have the capability to know from customers when they bought a product, how it was purchased and consumed, then it presents an opportunity for the business to extend the experience, or potentially influence the replacement of those kind of products.

“That's really where the true value is. It extends the focus on the customer not only from a 25% capturing of the interaction with the customers that we had through CRM, but actually to get a 100% focus on how they actually start using the products,” he postulated.

Wammes noted that some clients have already embedded sensors on their machines. “The question is what do they do with the data of that machine? Is it only to track the performance of that single data? Can the data that's coming from a machine which sensors say something on what will happen in the rest of the supply chain?”

He cites the example of a fluctuation in the production of a machine spotted using analytics, and determining the impact on delivery time at the end of the supply chain. By identifying such trends and notifying customers on the potential impact to delivery, the manufacturer is able to create new experiences that previously was never possible with conventional technology and processes.

“It is in the capturing the data from the sensors over the supply chain optimizing it and then using that to really create new experiences and optimizing the process that's where the true value of the Internet of Things really is all about,” concludes Wammes.

IoT payment protection problem

The proliferation of interconnected IoT devices offers exciting new opportunities to develop payment applications – in the home, on the move and across a wide range of retail, automotive and industrial environments. But a lack of standardization, slow adoption in the financial sector, and a complex technology ecosystem presents considerable challenges that threaten to stifle innovation and market evolution. SPA investigates.

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Ken Munro is a specialist in ethical hacking. He is able to hack everything – from hotel keycards, to a range of IoT devices, from wearable tech to children’s toys and smart home control systems.

Ken is a respected speaker and pulls no punches during his annual Tech Talk presentations at Infosecurity Europe, where he can also be found performing practical hack attacks on the company stand. He is a regular speaker at events held by industry bodies and associations and has spoken at the ISSA Dragon’s Den, (ISC)2 Chapter events and CREST (Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers) events, where he sits on the board, helping to establish standards in both member organisations and among individual penetration testers. He’s also an Executive Member of the “Internet of Things Security Forum”, a body that aims to promote best security practice and the application of controls in smart device manufacturing, and spoke out on IoT security design flaws at the forum’s inaugural event. He’s also not averse to getting deeply techie, regularly participating in hacking challenges and demos at 44CON, DefCon and Bsides.

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