Smart Industry 1/2018

Netherlands
The Netherlands does not have the advanced manufacturing
heft of Germany but it does have some unique characteristics
that make it an ideal environment for IoT innovation, testing,
and incubation, says Jeff Bonnell, VP of industry solutions at
Coresystems. This is especially true for transport, infrastructure,
utilities, water management, and energy related IoT startups.
The Netherlands has a small geographic footprint, a dense
urbanized population, excellent and highly connected nextgeneration
(digital) infrastructure, a highly educated population,
and a culture of exporting its innovations throughout the world.
In particular, the Netherlands is considered one of the best
locations for testing of autonomous personal transport and
delivery vehicles. National support programs are focused on
deployment, not just R&D. This opens greater opportunities for
startups to bring their innovations to the market more quickly.
Nordics
The Nordics have many of the
characteristics of the Netherlands
that make their cities (especially
Copenhagen, Denmark) attractive for
IoT startups. However, the relatively
smaller size and heavier regulatory
frameworks in some areas should
be understood before investing.
Estonia, in particular, although
not specifically an IoT leader, has
promising characteristics reflected in
a recently announced international
recognition. The Boston Global
Forum at Harvard University has
honored former Estonian president
Toomas Hendrik Ilves with the World
Leader in Cybersecurity Award for the
nation’s contribution to artificial
intelligence and international
cybersecurity. Earlier in 2017, the
Reinhard Mohn Prize, called Smart
Country: Connected. Intelligent.
Digital, was also presented to Ilves
because of his pioneering work in
the promotion of digitalization in
government, education, and public
services. During his ten-year term of
office up to 2016, he made digital
transformation a top priority. Estonia
is now considered an exemplary
digital nation.
France
France stood with Germany as one
of the highest ranked countries in
terms of IoT tech-related funding
activity in 2015 and early 2016,
according to a 2016 report from
TechEU, The State of the European
& Israeli IoT Industry. Investments
spanned network solutions, smart
home, automotive, health solutions,
and developer tools. According to
Peter Wilmar Christensen, general
manager for EMEA and co-founder
of Greenwave Systems, a global IoT
software and managed services
company based in California
and Denmark, automation and
improvement of product quality are
seen as being just as important as
cost reduction when it comes to
implementing IoT in France.
Germany
The clear leader in industrial IoT is
Germany with its strong engineering
base and government support as
well as outside investment, says Ian
Hughes, senior analyst for the Internet
of Things at 451 Research in the UK.
He explains that companies such as
Siemens and Bosch are well placed
to help drive industrial change and
IBM has put its global IoT home base
in Munich to partner with the German
advances. On the related subject of
augmented reality, “the user interface
for IoT,” Hughes points out that Munich
recently held the Augmented World
Expo (AWE) 2017, the other AWE
being in Silicon Valley. “Nearly all the
companies and demonstrations in this
innovative field were enterprise and
industrial related,” he observes.
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