Smart Industry No.1 2022

smart 

powered by 

industry 

The IoT Business Magazine 

7.50 EUR No. 01.2022 

THE FUTURE 

OF IOT 

KEEP ON 

TRUCKIN’ 

Fixing the Logistics 

Bottleneck 

CURRENT 

TRENDS 

EV Charging 

Means Business 

Internet 

of Trees 

A Better Way 

to Fight Forest Fires 

The Age of the Digital Human 

THE MAN MACHINE

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Editorial 

Creating 

the Future 

Tim Cole 

is editor-in-chief of 

Smart Industry – 

the IoT Business Magazine. 

Smart homes and factories, smart clothing 

(so-called “wearables”), autonomous 

cars, trucks and drones and other 

stuff from the world of science fiction 

have become everyday phenomena that introduced 

the world to IoT technology and its 

giant potential. The continued growth of this 

technology and its use has created a global IoT 

market of $389 billion, which is forecasted to 

reach $1 trillion in 2030 (according to Statista). 

IoT allows the physical world to be integrated 

into computer-based systems, which, in turn, 

helps to improve the efficiency of the systems 

and reduces human intervention. So we’ve 

come a log way, right? 

And it’s everywhere, effecting industries from 

transportation (shipment & tracking), retail 

(inventory management) hospitality (voice 

assistants) to healthcare (health & wellness 

monitoring). 

Let’s take a closer look at some of them. 

In retail, the global market for IoT is expected 

to reach $182.04 billion by 2028 according to a 

report by Grand View Research. Much of this 

growth will be due to advances and reduced 

cost for IoT hardware and sensors, etc., but improvements 

in customer experience through 

much increased customer tracking and personalization 

are expected to be the real drivers. 

Using beacons, brands or retail stores can 

attract passersby to visit their stores by sending 

IoT-enabled notifications to their smartphones. 

The Internet of Things connecting 

everything to everything also means connecting 

to everyone. 

Supply chain optimization will not only unlock 

the bottleneck for stuff that has stifled both retails 

waiting for shipments from Asia but manufacturers 

of cars and sophisticated electronic 

systems desperate for chips. IoT sensors do not 

just track location, but also humidity, temperature, 

tilt, shock, speed and driving behaviors, 

meaning that logistics teams can determine if 

their stuffs safe, on time and has been transported 

under the right conditions, thus avoiding 

loss and spoilage. 

In Smart Factories, or as the Europeans prefer 

to call it, Industry 4.0 machines, will take over 

mundane and repetitive tasks on the assembly 

line, freeing qualified workers for more 

demanding tasks where lack of talent is being 

felt around the world. Using powerful AI tools 

such as image recognition and analysis, manufactures 

will dramatically raise quality with 

hope of achieving the golden grail of making 

stuff – zero-reject production. 

The hospitality business rocked by lack of people 

willing to work for sweatshop wages will 

have to invest heavily in automation provided 

by IoT in everything from “connected rooms” 

where everything from temperature control to 

room service to lowering the blinds and turning 

on the TV will be guided by Alexa-style 

gadgets and smartphone that enhance the 

guest experience. And in maintenance where 

hotels spend a lot, IoT sensors can help to reduce 

this expenditure by detect problem and 

notify staff, for instance about faulty lighting 

and other fixes. 

The Internet of Things brings numerous opportunities 

for any business to transform itself. 

Companies like our sponsor Avnet Silica 

and many others will be happy to point out 

ways in which, you, too, can reap the benefits 

of IoT a myriad of practical use cases and applications. 

In you aren’t there yet, setting out 

on your journey to the connected future has 

never been easier. Bon voyage! 

3

contents Imprint 

CONTENTs 

03 Editorial 

04 Contents/Imprint 

06 Smart People 

24 

Welcome to the Metaverse 

Online communities have existed since at least the mid-1980s, but the metaverse could represent 

a whole new dimension. Imagine it as an online virtual world which incorporates augmented 

reality, virtual reality, 3D holographic avatars, video and other means of communication. As 

the metaverse expands, it will offer a hyper-real alternative world for you to coexist in. 

Smart Business 

12 The Man Machine: Building a Better Brain 

24 The Metaverse: No Time for Fun & Games 

29 Avnet Column: Gilles Beltran 

30 The Future of IoT 

34 Interview: Lou Lutostanski 

38 Why IoT Projects Fail 

42 IIoT: How to Eat an Elephant 

Smart Communications 

46 Keep on Trucking 

52 Taking Security to the Edge 

58 EV Charging: Current Trends 

58 

Current Trends 

The electric vehicle industry is on its way to market maturity but there are still twists in the road 

for stakeholders and customers. From accessibility and standardization issues to a lack of convenient 

and secure payment methods at charging stations, unresolved issues could still throw a 

spoke in the wheel of electric vehicles, leaving full adoption out of reach. 

Smart Lifestyle 

62 The Smartest City 

66 Internet of Trees: Fighting Forest Fires with IoT 

72 Taking 5G to the Max 

76 Interview: The World is Shrinking 

Smart Solutions 

78 Old Data for Sale 

82 Lidar 

86 Bernd Schöne: Liquid Software 

88 Smart Sensors: Smart Eyes for IoT 

90 Smart Companies 

92 One More Thing 

62 

The Smartest City 

Poblenau, formerly a run-down suburb of Barcelona, has reinvented itself as a neighbourhood 

buzzing with innovative startups, research centres and international businesses. 

Today, it is regularly touted as a template for urban, economic and social renewal, as well as 

a hotbed of IT innovation. 

98 Gerd Leonhard: The Future Looks Great! 

4

12 

The Man Machine 

The idea of linking the human brain to machines and 

to each other is intriguing and far from new. But now 

the dream of countless Sci-Fi readers may be coming 

true at last. Will we soon be able to control our smart 

machines simply through thought? Maybe it’s time to 

rethink our relationship with technology. 

IMPrint 

Publisher 

Avnet Silica (Avnet EMG GmbH), Gruberstrasse 60d, 

85586 Poing, Germany 

Production and Project Management 

RSP Management GmbH, Hohenbrunner Weg 41B, 

82024 Taufkirchen, rspitz@rsp-publishing.de 

Square Publishing GmbH, 

Bretonischer Ring 10, 85630 Grasbrunn 

Project manager Richard Spitz 

Editor-in-chief Tim Cole 

Text editor Eric Doyle 

Art director Sara D’Auria, www.inframedesign.de, 

Harald Sayffaerth, www.01graphics.de 

Contributors Göran Appelquist, Gilles Beltran, 

Rainer Claaßen, Marc McCoy, Sebastian Ganschow, 

Alan Earls, Gordon Feller, John Koon, Greg Langley, 

Tom Leddo, Gerd Leonhard, Michael Moorfield, 

Stian Overdahl, Bernd Schöne 

Pictures Shutterstock, Fotolia 

Production manager Stephan Quinkertz 

Printing Westermann 

Managing director Richard Spitz, Stephan Quinkertz 

© 2022 RSP Management GmbH and 

Square Publishing GmbH 

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Smart People Behind the scenes 

Behind the Scenes 

Smart people 

All over the world, brilliant individuals are hard at work creating the technologies and 

solutions that will one day make the Internet of Things come alive. We visited a few 

of them and listened to their fascinating stories. 

Stockholm University 

Artificial Intelligence 

for the Planet 

Swedish resilience researcher 

Victor Galaz believes that artificial 

intelligence should follow the 

dictates of sustainability in the 

context of the environment and 

climate change. “Like many other 

technologies, artificial intelligence 

offers a mixture of opportunities 

and risks with regard to climate 

change,” he says. 

Crunching the 

Climate Numbers 

While AI offers more 

postive than negative 

impacts on the climate, 

more work still 

needs to be done to 

extract correlations 

from the mountains 

of data available. 

As associate professor in political 

science and deputy director of 

the Stockholm Resilience Centre 

at Stockholm University, Galaz recently 

gave a much-discussed lecture 

on Planetary Responsible AI at 

the Complexity Science Hub Vienna 

(CSH), where he focused on the 

ethical perspective of AI which he 

maintains must always be included 

in the design and use of AI systems 

– whether to design them according 

to principles of inclusion and diversity, 

or to reflect on the dilemmas of 

self-driving cars which one day may 

have to decide on the life and death 

of road-using humans. 

That AI offers numerous opportunities 

to halt or even reverse climate 

change is obvious: relevant patterns, 

changes or correlations can 

be extracted automatically from the 

growing mountains of data resulting 

from the monitoring of our environment. 

Galaz emphasises that the predictive 

power of artificial intelligence offers 

a major advantage. He believes 

A Positive impacts of Al: 79 % (71 %) B Negative impacts of Al: 35 % (23 %) 

source ©: Springer Nature Limited 

17 

12 

13 

9 

15 

8 

1 

100% 

100% 

14 

(100%) 75% 

(88%) (69%) 3 

90% 

69% 

(90%) 

(69%) 

80% 

100% 4 

(70%) 

(93%) 

26% 

56% 

(15%) 

(44%) 

82% 

100% 

(59%) 

(100%) 

90% 

100% 

(75%) 

(100%) 

10 100% 

100% 

(91%) 92% 58% (90%) 

7 

(77%) (52%) 

Enviroment: 93% (85%) 

Economy: 70% (55%) 

16 

2 

11 

6 

5 

Society: 82% (77%) 

17 

12 

13 

9 

15 

8 

1 

86% 

33% (43%) 25% 

(8%) 

3 

14 

30% 

(13%) 8% 

(13%) 

(8%) 

20% 

70% 4 

(20%) 

(60%) 

11% 

33% 

(5%) 

(31%) 

27% 

63% 

(16%) 

(28%) 

70% 

40% 

(55%) 

(40%) 

10 50% 

20% 

(34%) 33% 25% (10%) 

7 

(25%) (15%) 

Enviroment: 30% (12%) 

Economy: 33% (23%) 

16 

2 

11 

6 

5 

Society: 38% (25%) 

1 No Poverty 

2 Zero Hunger 

3 Good Health and Well-Being 

4 Quality Education 

5 Gender Equality 

6 Clean Water and Sanitation 

7 Affordable and Clean Energy 

8 Decent Work and Economic Growth 

9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure 

10 Reduced Inequalities 

11 Sustainable Cities and Communities 

12 Responsible Consumption and Production 

13 Climate Action 

14 Life Below Water 

15 Life on Land 

16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 

17 Partnerships 

6

that, with improved data availability, 

predictive modeling of climate data 

will make it possible to estimate developments 

ever more accurately 

and locally. AI already plays a role in 

the optimisation of existing systems 

– for example, in the more efficient 

use of renewable energies. 

High benefits also require the responsible 

use of the systems and 

Galaz's central question is: “How do 

we ensure that AI does not intensify 

environmental degradation, misinformation 

and social inequality?” 

Artificial intelligence is already being 

used in many variations in the 

field of smart farming worldwide, 

for example, using satellite data to 

optimise irrigation, pesticide use 

and harvesting times. To Galaz, it is 

unclear what ecological effects such 

digital agriculture, forestry and water 

management will have and this 

AI offers a mix 

of opportunities 

and risks. 

Victor Galaz 

Associate professor in 

political science and deputy 

director of the Stockholm Resilience 

Centre at Stockholm 

University 

raises a social question. Galaz asks: 

"Will the advantages resulting from 

automation be evenly distributed or, 

for example, will it have a negative 

impact on small farmers in African or 

Asian countries?” 

source ©: Goethe-Institut 

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source ©: LinkedIn Corporation 

source ©: Davey Bickford Enaex source ©: Aspermont Media Ltd 

Davey Bickford Enaex 

Having a Blast and 

Still Staying Safe 

The most dangerous moment in 

mining is when someone lights 

the fuse and everybody starts 

running. Aymeric Denuelle, a 

researcher and group product 

marketing manager at mining 

How to Achieve a 

Better Blast 

IoT enhanced 

detonators provide 

a higher level of accuracy 

and reliability, 

improving blast performance 

while offering 

a user friendly 

human machine 

interface allowing 

fast programming. 

Time is money 

in the mining 

industry. 

Aymeric Denuelle 

Researcher and group 

product marketing manager 

at mining services company 

Davey Bickford Enaex 

services company Davey Bickford 

Enaex, wants to defuse the situation 

with its DaveyTronic Edge 

remote control electronic detonator. 

The system uses a common 

IoT radio frequency protocol to 

communicate with up to thousands 

of detonators before triggering 

each explosive device. 

Electronic detonators have been 

around since the 90s but, Denuelle 

says, they had an Achilles heel 

because the complex fixed-wire 

networks connecting the detonators 

to the blasting machines 

were prone to electrical leakage. 

Early wireless detonators were 

unidirectional – in other words, 

signals could be sent to a detonator, 

but no response could be 

received. DaveyTronic Edge not 

only does away with the need 

for surface wiring but also controls 

multiple electronic detonators 

from a single, safe location, 

thereby making the blasting 

process less risky and more efficient. 

Until now, mining workers were 

forced to manually check conditions 

before pressing the button 

– a process known as ‘priming 

the blast’. This is costly and 

time consuming, as well as risky 

in the event of human error, 

but the main worry was finding 

detonators that failed to go off, 

which meant searching for hours 

through huge piles of debris. 

The new system has been successfully 

tested in a large mine in 

Chile, where it proved capable of 

operating safely over a distance 

of several kilometres. As Denuelle 

says, “Our goal is to always 

provide safer solutions so that 

our customers can trigger larger 

blasts from a remote firing point. 

Time is money in this industry and 

mining companies need to spend 

more time collecting the ore than 

organising the blast." 

8

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Omni:us 

Taking a Flyer 

on Insurance AI 

"I like to take risks. That's how I was 

brought up", says Sofie Quidenus- 

Wahlforss, founder and CEO of 

Omni:us, based in Berlin. The serial 

entrepreneur founded her first 

company in Vienna while still attending 

high school. Now, with 

Omni:us, her fourth company, 

she is using artificial intelligence 

to disrupt the insurance industry. 

Following the company’s launch 

Quidenus-Wahlforss made the 

Forbes list of Europe's Top 50 Women 

in Tech. 

"When I was a little kid, I used to 

climb to the top of the tallest trees," 

she recalls, adding that it was always 

important to her parents that 

she gained as much experience as 

possible. "When I fell from the tree, 

that was also an experience and it 

showed that I was brave." 

Omni:us uses artificial intelligence 

to digitally capture documents, 

including handwritten ones, to 

automatically evaluate them and 

understand what they are about. 

As a kid, I used 

to climb to the 

top of the tallest 

trees. 

Sofie 

Quidenus-Wahlforss 

Founder and CEO 

of Omni:us, based in Berlin 

Omni:us Classifies 

Documents 

into predefined 

categories based 

on visual and 

textual information 

and retrieves data 

using end2end information 

extraction 

techniques. 

The system learns as it goes and 

its analytical skills get increasingly 

better. Omni:us is focusing on the 

insurance industry. "That's where 

we see the greatest potential because 

everyone deals with insurances," 

Quidenus-Wahlforss maintains. 

The startup earns money by 

selling licenses for its software. 

As an entrepreneur, she has learned 

to deal with setbacks. "I can only 

do this if I believe in it," she says. 

Quidenus-Wahlforss is firmly convinced 

that artificial intelligence is 

source ©: omni:us / Qidenus Group GmbH 

capable of taking the paperwork 

away from an insurance company's 

clerks so that they have more time 

for their customers’ needs. "It's not 

about replacing the employee but 

enabling them to focus on what 

they can do; namely, empathic 

behaviour," she explains. "No one 

wants a machine to end up making 

decisions." 

International investors have apparently 

been won over by this 

idea, investing a total of around 

€20 million in Omni:us. Many large 

insurance companies are already 

working with Omni:us, currently 

one of the largest German insurers 

Wüstenrot is running a proof-ofconcept 

test project. 

Omni:us is part of the Qidenus 

Group, which may look like a misspelling. 

In fact, Quidenus-Wahlforss 

had the “u” removed deliberately 

– something her parents 

and her grandmother, in particular, 

remain irritated about. "I kind of 

thought it was cooler without the 

‘u’," Sofie explains. "Qi is the Chinese 

word for energy and if you flip 

the letters around it's IQ. Both just 

fit well." 

source ©: omni:us / Qidenus Group GmbH 

10

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Smart Business Title Story: Augmented Humanity 

Augmented Humanity 

THE 

MAN MACHINE 

Psychokinesis, or mind over matter, is a popular dream 

of sci-fi and horror story writers. In the digital world, dreams often come 

true and there are signs that soon we may be able to complete tasks 

without moving off our sofas. Remote control is changing 

to cerebral control – if you think it, you can do it. 

n By Alan R. Earls 

The idea of linking humans 

with the machines we have 

created and to each other is 

intriguing and far from new. 

Today, many people carry a multitude 

of electronic signatures and 

interfaces. The smartphone is the 

most obvious and most capable, 

but credit cards also carry chips 

with personal information and, with 

the pandemic ongoing, the idea of 

chipping vaccinated people is not 

out of the realm of possibility – and 

let’s not forget our biometric signatures. 

Despite their usefulness, all 

of these require manual manipulation. 

Maybe it’s time to rethink the 

processes by just thinking about the 

process. 

Science fiction has ridden the concept 

of controlling things with the 

power of the mind for years, notably 

Firefox, a Clint Eastwood thriller involving 

a thought-controlled fighter 

jet. The reality of this has been 

getting closer of late. 

Facebook shared ideas about 

thought-to-text capabilities in 2017, 

shortly after entrepreneur Elon 

Musk announced his plans to build 

Neuralink, a firm promising to `wire’ 

brains in the future. Startups and 

research projects are now emerging 

across the globe and the key 

to much of this future is the `brain 

computer interface’ (BCI). 

Alexandre Gonfalonieri, an AI consultant 

based in Switzerland and 

head of innovation at DNA 

12

13


source ©: Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG 

To Think it is to 

Do it 

Wacker Neuson 

challenged visitors 

to Ars Electronica in 

Linz to operate its 

heavy construction 

equipment entirely 

by eye movement 

and thought control. 

Your BCI could 

detect that your 

attention level is 

too low or adapt 

the lighting 

based on how 

stressed you are. 

Alexandre Gonfalonieri 

DNA Global Analytics 

nual expo in Linz, Austria, that celebrates 

advances in digitalisation, 

Wacker Neuson, a British manufacturer 

of heavy construction equipment, 

challenged visitors to steer a 

15-ton backhoe excavator entirely 

by eye movement and brain power. 

The company envisages applications 

for this new technology in controlling 

heavy machinery in tight or 

hazardous environments where human 

operators would be in danger. 

Release the Beast 

A lot comes down to definitions, 

says Evan Coopersmith, executive 

VP of data science at AE Studio, a 

source ©: Medium 

Global Analytics, recently wrote in 

the Harvard Business Review, “The 

development of BCI technology 

was initially focused on helping paralysed 

people control assistive devices 

using their thoughts, but new 

use cases are being identified all the 

time. For example, BCIs can now be 

used as a neuro-feedback training 

tool to improve cognitive performance. 

I expect to see a growing 

number of professionals leveraging 

BCI tools to improve their performance 

at work. For example, your 

BCI could detect that your attention 

level is too low, compared with the 

importance of a given meeting or 

task, and trigger an alert. It could 

also adapt the lighting of your office 

based on how stressed you are or 

prevent you from using your company 

car if drowsiness is detected.” 

Imagine, Gonfalonieri says, if your 

manager could know whether you 

actually paid attention in your last 

Zoom meeting. Imagine if you could 

prepare your next presentation using 

only your thoughts. Scenarios 

like this might soon become a reality 

thanks to developments in the field. 

BCIs may even find their way into 

such mundane tasks as steering an 

excavator. At Ars Electronica, an ansoftware 

development and data 

science venture studio that conducts 

projects for clients and also 

funds its own BCI research. “Right 

now, we think of BCI in terms of 

something internal to a person 

manifesting as external action,” 

he says. Is a cochlear implant BCI? 

Yes, says Coopersmith, though he 

admits that others might disagree 

with that assessment. A BCI could 

also be a device that notifies the 

brain of an oncoming seizure. “I 

would say anything that is a neurological 

interface that connects the 

brain to the outside world, in either 

direction, is BCI and I think those 

boundaries will increasingly blur,” 

he explains. 

The work AE Studio is pursuing 

is leading edge but without any 

literal cutting edge involved. Coopersmith 

says implanting devices 

in someone’s skull is not the name 

of the game. Rather, he sees an 

opportunity to make better use of 

what can be learned from brain activity 

to get to a much more powerful 

kind of interface than is available 

today. 

“Our expertise is in software development 

and machine learning, 

and in understanding data,” 

14

Invasive IoT 

The Internet of Bodies 

IoB Examples 

source ©: RAND Corporation 

Cochlear 

implant 

Electronic 

tattoo 

Self-lacing 

shoes 

Bluetoothconnected 

diaper 

Wearable baby 

monitor 

Depression headset 

Augmented reality 

contact lens 

Wearable UV monitor 

Pacemaker 

Microchip implant 

Smartphone with 

health apps 

Prosthetic 

Temperature-sensing pacifier 

Antidrowning monitor 

Sleep-tracking onesie 

Brain interfaces may be a future goal 

but, here and now, WiFi devices are 

increasingly becoming integral to 

the delivery of quality healthcare. 

Common devices such as sleep 

trackers and heart monitors are a 

reality but researchers at The Rand 

Corporation, a think-tank, want to 

take the link between humans and 

machines a step further – literally. 

Swallow and Collect 

They imagine an era of the Internet 

of Bodies: a range of devices that 

can be implanted, swallowed or 

worn in order to collect and transmit 

data about our physical states 

over the internet. The result will be a 

huge amount of health-related data 

that could improve human wellbeing 

and prove crucial in fighting the 

Covid-19 pandemic. 

VivaLNK, a startup based in Silicon 

Valley, for instance, has developed 

smart thermometers marketed under 

the brand name Fever Scout. 

Unlike traditional thermometers, 

which usually involve long tubes, 

Intraocular lens 

with camera 

Internet-connected 

glasses 

Tooth-mounted 

sensor 

Electronic pill 

Clothing with 

temperature monitoring 

Fertility measurement 

device 


scale 


toilet 

VivaLNK has created peel-and-stick 

thermopatches that connect via a 

smartphone app and have already 

received Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) clearance in the US. 

The company believes its product 

is especially suitable for monitoring 

child patients. 

For health professionals, the Internet 

of Bodies opens the gate to a 

new era of effective monitoring and 

treatment. In 2017, the US Federal 

Drug Administration approved the 

first use of digital pills in the United 

States. Digital pills contain tiny, ingestible 

sensors as well as medicine. 

Once swallowed, the sensor is activated 

in the patient’s stomach and 

transmits data to a smartphone or 

other devices. 

Meditation headset 

Bluetooth-connected 

hearing aid 

Smart watch/ 

fitness tracker 

Temperature bracelet 

Artificial pancreas 

Electronic health 

records (EHRs) 

Sleep-sensing 

mattress 

Not Just a Patch-over 

VivaLnk, a Santa Clara-based 

connected health startup, has 

received FDA clearance for its 

first device, a peel-and-stick 

patch thermometer for children 

called Fever Scout. 

IoT Gets Physical 

From AR contact lenses to artificial 

pancreas and Bluetooth 

connected diapers: No part of 

the human body will remain 

untouches by IoB technology, 

says RAND. 

Virtual Rehab 

In 2018, Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare 

provider in California, started a 

virtual rehab programme for patients 

recovering from heart attacks. 

The patients shared their data with 

their care providers through a smartwatch, 

allowing for better monitoring 

and a closer, more continuous 

relationship between patient and 

doctor. Thanks to this innovation, 

the completion rate of the rehab 

programme rose from less than 50 

percent to 87 percent, accompanied 

by a fall in the re-admission rate and 

programme cost. 

Scientists at The Rand Corporation 

are studying the rapid growth of 

this technology, as well as the broad 

privacy and policy issues these developments 

raise. In particular, they 

are trying to assess the benefits and 

risks, the regulatory picture, and 

how best to balance risks and rewards 

going forward. 

source ©: Wareable Ltd 

15


Silent Speech 

Close, but not Close 

Enough (Yet) 

source ©: Facebook 

Giving AR and VR 

a Hand 

Sean Keller, Meta's 

head of research, 

is inventing soft, 

lightweight haptic 

gloves that can bring 

full hand presence 

into AR and VR. 

Housed in its top-secret Skunkworks 

tucked away in Building 8 on 

Meta’s campus in Menlo Park, Facebook 

Reality Labs (FRL) worked on a 

project to build a headset or headband 

to allow people to send text 

messages by thinking – tapping 

them out at 100 words per minute. 

Though last year Facebook decided 

16 

Touchie Feelie 

To deliver a realistic 

sense of touch, a haptic 

glove needs hundreds of 

actuators (tiny motors) 

all over the hand, moving 

in concert in a way that 

makes the wearer feel 

like they’re touching a 

virtual object. 

Scientists from the 

University of San 

Francisco 

working with Facebook 

have developed a wearable 

prototype that uses 

near-infrared light to measure 

blood oxygenation 

in the brain and indirectly 

measure brain activity in a 

safe, non-invasive way. 


to put this ‘silent speech’ project on 

the backburner for a while, Regina 

Dugan, who was then head of the 

Building 8 hardware division, remains 

a believer. “It sounds impossible 

but it’s closer than you realise,” 

she told Technology Review. 

It now seems it was not quite close 


enough. In a blog post last April, 

FRL research director Sean Keller 

said the team was happy to say that 

“for the first time, someone with 

severe speech loss has been able to 

type out what they wanted to say 

almost instantly, simply by attempting 

to speak”. However, he added 

that Facebook decided to transfer 

its results to the broader neuroscience 

community, effectively releasing 

it into the wild where it will 

continue its existence as an opensource 

project. 

“While we still believe in the longterm 

potential of head-mounted 

optical BCI technologies, we’ve 

decided to focus our immediate efforts 

on a different neural interface 

approach that has a nearer-term 

path to market: wrist-based devices 

powered by electromyography,” 

he explained. Electromyography 

(EMG) is a technique for analysing 

and recording the electrical activity 

produced by skeletal muscles. 

EMG can pick up and decode the 

signals for hand and finger movements 

at the wrist and translate 

them into digital commands for a 

device. In the near term, these signals 

will let people communicate 

with their devices with a degree of 

control that’s highly reliable, subtle, 

personalisable and adaptable to 

many situations. As this area of research 

evolves, EMG-based neural 

interfaces have the potential to dramatically 

expand the bandwidth 

with which we can communicate 

with our devices, opening up the 

possibility of things like high-speed 

typing.

source ©: UPMC, Pitt Health Science 

he says. No two brains are identical 

and they can produce a broad 

range of electrical responses. The 

challenge, he believes, is understanding 

how to interpret those 

responses and fit that knowledge 

into other evidence and, thereby, 

enhance our means of interacting. 

Coopersmith’s other aspiration is 

to see BCI developed by neutral 

parties rather than big, for-profit 

enterprises that may be tempted 

to use what they learn to supercharge 

their marketing. “The risk is 

both for some upstart looking to 

become the next Facebook/Meta, 

as well as Meta itself attempting to 

gain even more intimate access to 

our thought patterns,” he says. “We 

see this [approach to BCI] as aligning 

with the goals of a Web3 or Web 

3.0 that is more decentralised than 

what we have today.” 

For now, BCI is still mostly useful 

for people who have some degree 

of diminished agency, for example 

those dealing with paralysis, but 

here, too, targets are shifting. “We 

don’t know how we will define 

agency in 20 to 50 years; we went 

from a 12-second flight on a beach 

[the Wright brothers, 1903) to landing 

on the moon [1969], events 

separated by just 66 years,” Coopersmith 

notes. “It is hubristic to 

predict what BCI will do.” Nonetheless, 

it seems likely that human beings 

will increasingly interact with 

the world and each other through 

the mediation of technology. 

Pittsburgh's 

RNEL 

lab is investigating 

the feasibility 

of using 

intracortical 

microelectrode 

arrays implanted 

in motor cortex 

for providing 

high degree of 

freedom control 

of a robotic arm. 

The pandemic 

accelerated 

our plans for 

in-home testing 

but this has 

been a goal for 

a long time. 

Jennifer L. Collinger 

University of Pittsburgh 

Rehab Neural Engineering 

Labs (RNEL) 

The direction things are heading is 

obvious. In May of this year, a team 

of neural engineers at the University 

of Pittsburgh’s Rehab Neural 

Engineering Labs (RNEL) published 

a proof-of-principle for a bidirectional 

BCI – a type of BCI that enables 

not just data reading but also 

provides feedback through data 

writing abilities. 

Taking Control 

In other words, it enables patients 

with paralysis to control a rosource 

©: UPMC, Pitt Health Science 

source ©: University of Pittsburgh, Rehab Neural Engineering Labs 

17


botic arm using their thoughts and 

enables them to feel how hard the 

arm is clutching an object. Study 

participants were able to take control, 

without assistance from the researchers, 

to perform difficult tasks 

from home. 

Jennifer Collinger, the senior author 

on this report, believes this proves 

that BCI studies no longer need to 

be restricted to an on-site lab. “The 

pandemic accelerated our plans for 

in-home testing but this has been a 

goal for a long time,” she explains. 

“We need to get the technology 

into real-world environments. We 

just want study participants to be 

able to do the things they want to 

do with a BCI.” 

It’s All in Your Head 

BCI is in fact already an industry 

segment of significant size. A recent 

study, Brain Computer Interface 

source ©: Next Reality, WonderHowTo 

The new Reality 

Qualcomm's latest 

AR headset supports 

seven cameras, 

including two internal 

cameras for eye 

tracking and four external 

cameras which 

give the wearer the 

capability of spatial 

mapping. 

Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis 

Report by Grand View Research, an 

Indian consultancy, says the global 

brain-computer interface market 

size was valued at $1.2 billion in 

2019 and is anticipated to grow 

at an annual rate of 15.5 percent 

through 2027. 

According to this report, braincomputer 

interface technology is 

increasingly used in mobile and 

virtual gaming industries by integrating 

BCI within virtual reality 

(VR) headsets. Virtual gaming has 

opened a plethora of new opportunities 

for mind-controlled headsets 

and gadgets, which is further 

driving the adoption of brain-controlled 

interface technology. Manufacturers 

are increasingly focusing 

Elon Musk in his Own Words 

“A FitBit in Your Skull” 

"Think of Neuralink like a FitBit in 

your skull. Or an Apple Watch. So, 

we take out part of the skull, we replace 

that with the chip and the inductive 

charger and the Bluetooth 

antenna, and it's really quite, almost 

literally, like a FitBit in your skull." 

From an interview with Kara Swisher 

of the New York Times 

source ©: Wikipedia / Heisenberg 

“I want to be clear, the early applications 

will really just be for people 

who have a serious brain injury, like, 

where it's, like, the value of the implant 

is just enormous.” 

From Cnet 

“Neuralink will seek to solve a number 

of neurological diseases. In 

the next few years, we'll hopefully 

18

on the development of BCI-enabled 

video games. Grand View believes 

innovations such as these, are likely 

to drive the market for brain-controlled 

computer interface technology 

over the next few years. 

International Data Corporation 

(IDC) is taking a wider view of the 

market, one that includes technologies 

such as augmented and virtual 

reality (AR/VR), biometrics, exoskeletons, 

affective computing, ingestibles, 

injectables, implantables, 

wearables, and smart devices, as 

well as brain-computer interfaces. 

The research firm predicts that the 

Apple's Private Eyes 

The much-rumored Apple 

Glasses won't be on the 

market until 2023. But 

details have leaked out. A 

new Apple patent mentions 

“privacy eyewear" that aim 

to stop people snooping on 

your iPhone's display. 

source ©: Martin Hajek / iDrop News 

European segment of this augmented 

humanity (AH) market will reach 

over $50 billion by the start of 2022 

and more than $100 billion by 2025. 

Augmented humanity removes 

accessibility barriers that limit humans 

from performing their daily 

tasks, according to IDC. AH aims to 

empower people by developing 

data-driven, tech-based, innovative 

solutions to enable them to 

perform at levels they could not 

achieve before. 

IDC's The Future of Augmented Humanity 

in Europe: 2020–2025 Forecast 

estimates that investments in 

AH technologies will surge as both 

people and corporations invest 

in tech to improve their quality of 

life and achieve enhanced ways of 

working. 

Consumer needs change fast but 

streamlining and automating domestic 

and routine tasks rebe 

able to help someone who is a 

paraplegic walk again, or someone 

whose arms are paralyzed use a 

computer again. We hope to have 

our first human trials in the next six 

months or so.” 

From TechWeek Italia 

“I think you would, in principle, you 

would be able to communicate very 

quickly and with far more precision 

language, I’m not sure what would 

happen to language but in a situation 

like this though, it’d be kind of 

like the matrix. You want to speak 

a different language, no problem. 

just download the program.” 

From Designboom 

“The technology being developed 

by Neuralink will allow us to integrate 

with computers to access and 

process information just as well as 

our AI counterparts. Essentially, our 

brains will have our very own AI in 

a cloud that our brains can synthesize 

with as needed. We already 

source ©: Neuralink 

interface with our computers on a 

regular basis, so the jump from an 

external device to an internal one 

would be a natural progression.“ 

From Teslarati 

“With the direct neural interface, 

we can improve the bandwidth 

between your cortex and your digital 

tertiary layer by many orders of 

Doing by Thinking 

Thanks to its latest 

brain implant, Neuralink 

has enabled 

a monkey to play 

video games through 

thought control. 

magnitude. I'd say probably at 

least 1,000 or maybe 10,000 or 

more. And we could also spend 

a lot more time thinking about 

interesting things, as opposed to 

taking complex thought structures, 

compressing them down 

into words which will also gain 

a very low bitrate and then having 

someone else receive those 

words, decompress them and 

then send words back at you.” 

From Clubhouse 

“The output of the human brain. 

This is excruciatingly slow, compared 

to, for example, the high 

bandwidth of the visual interface 

with the brain – the eyes 

of people. In other words: data 

comes in quickly, but to talk or 

type? That process is really slow. 

His idea is to capture thoughts 

and convert them into text or 

movement. Then the humanity 

would communicate a lot more 

efficiently.“ 

From superhumantalks 

19


VR 

Allows the user 

to see and hear what 

the avatar sees 

Gloves 

with electrical contacts 

at the base of the f 

ingers and electrodes 

between fingers 

Face Projection 

Images of the face are 

important for the 

colleagues experience 

Surface EMG 

Electrodes 

For recording heart rate 

and skin moisture 

source ©: Human Fusions Institute, Case Western Reserve University 

IMUs 

Inertial measurement 

units 

embedded in the 

shirt to record 

arm movement 

Electrode 

Mesh 

This mesh will 

cover muscles of the 

arm and chest 

Network 

Mimicked 

Movement 

Positional feedback 

from the user 

Touch 

Images of the face are 

important for the 

colleagues experience 

SENSA 

The SENSA skeleton 

is based on the 

RE2 HDMS arms 

mains a priority, according to the 

report. In fact, investments in smart 

devices and wearables will remain 

high and will drive a significant 

share of the overall AH market. 

At the same time, businesses are 

searching for tech-based ways to 

drive innovation and achieve relevant 

key performance indicators 

(KPIs), such as lowered costs, increased 

productivity and improved 

safety. Integration is key and IDC 

predicts that in the future we will 

see strong investments in integrated 

technologies such as Apple's AR 

glasses set to launch in 2023. 

A Human Need 

“For as long as I can remember, I 

wanted to be in medicine. I thought 

about going into surgery, growing 

up, but I love science and math,” 

says Dustin Tyler, director of the 

Human Fusions Institute at Case 

Western Reserve University (CWRU) 

in Cleveland, Ohio. His path took an 

evolutionary twist when he was in 

high school in the early 1980s and 

purchased an Atari 800XL, one of 

the first personal computers. “That 

explains why I didn’t get married 

until I was in my 30s,” he quips. 

His love of computers, even in their 

Working Together 

By directly connecting 

the human experience to 

the Avatar's experience, 

the human and the 

robotic system become 

symbiotically linked. 

The human experiences 

the world of the robot. 

The robot becomes the 

extension of the human 

and the human intelligence. 

We can learn 

from both 

Turing and 

Minsky. 

Dustin Tyler 

Human Fusions 

Institute Case 

Western Reserve 

University 

primitive form, and trying to understand 

how to get them to do what 

he wanted reconnected him to his 

biological interests and the question 

of how our brains control our 

bodies. 

“The brain obviously is fascinating 

and the duality between brain and 

computer has been very interesting 

to me,” Tyler says. In the past, 

Alan Turing said we created computers 

to serve us but then Marvin 

Minsky came along and said that 

these machines actually do things 

like humans. That perception has 

led to some people thinking that AI 

is replacing the brain, he observes. 

source ©: Bunny Island GmbH 

“We can learn from both Turing and 

Minsky,” he concludes. 

While happy to quote theoreticians, 

Tyler is very much results-oriented. 

A project he directed allowed a 

student at CWRU to touch, feel and 

hold a banana that was 2,300 miles 

away at the University of California, 

Los Angeles (UCLA). It was more 

than just a scientific stunt because 

it demonstrated the possibility of 

placing a prosthesis somewhere 

in the world and via ‘neural reality’ 

someone can literally feel identical 

sensations remotely. Of more 

immediate consequence, his team 

provided the sensation of physical 

touch to a prosthesis so an amputee 

could safely pick up his granddaughter 

or effectively slice a tomato. 

The Human Fusions Institute team 

is also aiming to win some, or all, 

of the Avatar XPrize, a contest 

sponsored by Japan’s All Nippon 

Airways, which is focused on the 

development of an avatar system 

that will transport a human’s sense, 

actions and presence to a remote 

location in real time, leading to a 

more connected world. 

Pursuing similar goals is Raviraj 

Nataraj at the Stevens Institute of 

20

source ©: Stevens Institute of Technology 

Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

His laboratory is creating instrumented 

wearables and virtual 

reality environments to leverage 

sensory feedback and cognitive 

factors for training better movement 

functions. Clinical solutions 

are being developed for people 

with neurotraumas, including spinal 

cord injury, stroke, traumatic 

brain injury and amputation. Restorative 

devices of interest include 

sensorimotor prostheses and powered 

exoskeletons. 

Nataraj explains that the challenge 

is to command and control prosthetics 

more naturally, through biological 

signals. Until now that has 

been accomplished through muscle 

movement but it could also be 

done with the brain. “We currently 

take measurements at the brain but 

more to see how people respond to 

the training we are providing,” he 

says. That effort is especially crucial 

for people dealing with severe motor 

disabilities, for whom signaling 

through muscles is problematic. 

“The principles have been established 

but now it is about how to do 

it better so we can have an actual 

impact at the clinical level,” says Nataraj. 

Cost is also an issue, he admits 

because specialised, sophisticated 

products typically carry a high price 

tag. 

Gaming the World 

Cost associated with new, experimental 

technology has often been 

addressed by finding a larger-scale 

market to drive prices down. While 

serious and critical needs in human 

wellness and the military are top 

targets for BCI, a surprising level of 

interest has also materialised in the 

‘fun’ segments such as gaming. 

The dream here is to create total 

immersion into a game world 

by linking the gamer’s cognitive 

The principles 

have been 

established 

but now it's 

about how to 

do it better. 

Raviraj Nataraj 

Stevens Institute 

of Technology 

A Step Ahead 

Researchers have 

created a powered, 

individualized orthosis 

that can automatically 

adapt the level 

of response, but their 

goal is to eventually 

get rid of the robot and 

walk normally without 

the exoskeleton. 

perceptions directly to the virtual 

environment and allowing direct 

control through thought processes. 

This dream, at least, is now close to 

fruition. Two years ago, computer 

scientists at the Graz Technical University 

in Austria showcased versions 

of such simple, but popular, 

video console games as Pong and 

Pacman. Users could control the 

games through an array of sensors 

attached to a close-fitting cap. 

Last April, the team managed to 

implant a device containing 1,024 

electrodes directly into the motorcortex 

of a monkey’s brain – the region 

of the cerebral cortex involved 

in the planning, control and execution 

of voluntary movements. The 

animal was taught to play Pong 

with a joystick and subsequently 

learned to control the game by 

brainwaves alone. 

Gary Yamamoto, CEO of Finch 

Technologies, which focuses on 

VR and AR technologies, asks, “Today’s 

human-machine interfaces 

are woefully behind new advances 

in technology. What is the purpose 

of all these new, incredible technologies 

if there aren’t intuitive and 

natural ways for people to interact 

with them?” 

Finch is looking at how AR and VR 

applications can include all current 

human-machine interfaces (HMIs), 

including BCI, computer vision, 

voice solutions, inertial measurement 

units (IMU) for finger and 

hand tracking, eye tracking 

source ©: Stevens Institute of Technology 

21


source ©: Finch Technologies Ltd 

Pointing the Way 

The FinchRing is a new kind of wearable 

that enables hands-free gesture control 

for AV and VR mixed reality. 

source ©: Finch Technologies Ltd 

and more. Finch’s fusion integrates 

third-party technologies with its 

own products to move HMI experiences 

to the next level and accelerate 

the realisation of the Metaverse. 

“If we don’t do enough to evolve 

human-machine interfaces with 

this technology, I fear they may 

never reach their full mass-market 

potential,” Yamamoto warns. Despite 

this, he maintains the company 

believes that “sooner than 

most expect” we will see a basic 

BCI, fused with more conventional 

inputs, deliver a broader and more 

immersive sensory VR/AR user experience. 

Sooner than 

most expect, 

we will see 

a basic BCI. 

Gary Yamamoto 

Finch Technologies 

Technology 

will help 

humans 

elevate their 

skills. 

Andrea Minonne 

IDC Augmented 

Humanity Launchpad 

source ©: IDC UK Blog 

Most significantly in the case of 

Musk, the ambition comes with 

real misgivings about the growing 

power of artificial intelligence and 

machine learning and its potential 

to at least sideline, if not in fact conquer, 

humans. His Neuralink company, 

which is working to develop 

what it calls a brain-machine interface, 

is about levelling that playing 

field and giving humans abilities 

that will help them compete better 

on a planet with billions of connected 

things, a growing number 

of which are also intelligent. 

If anyone is looking for another 

reason to pay attention, they can 

adopt the IDC view, articulated by 

Andrea Minonne, senior research 

analyst and co-lead of the Augmented 

Humanity Launchpad at 

the firm’s UK offices: "Augmented 

humanity is the advocate of cultural 

change across the commercial 

and consumer segments,” he says. 

"Promoting an AH-oriented culture 

and complementing human skills 

with technology will help humans 

elevate their skills, automate business 

processes or domestic chores, 

unlock new capabilities, bring disruption, 

promote workforce transformation, 

and enable humanised 

customer experiences." 

Could much the same be said for 

BCI itself? 

Navigating the Metaverse 

Human-machine interfaces 

(HMIs) could empower users to 

compete with technology in an 

interconnected world. 

What’s the Point? 

While Finch focuses on fun and the 

researchers at CWRU and at Stevens 

Institute are keen on restoring capabilities 

to those with disabilities, 

other visionaries, such as billionaire 

Musk, are aiming even higher and 

have suggested a future in which 

our thoughts and desires are also 

communicable and actionable 

through technology. 

22

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Smart Business Metaverse 

Metaverse 

No Time for 

Fun and Games 

For years, the great virtual reality (VR) breakthrough has been expected 

but it looks as though it didn’t even happen during the pandemic – at least, 

not in the private sector. But the technology is becoming 

a great success within many industrial companies. 

n By Rainer Claaßen 

24

Whether it’s Sony PlayStation 

VR, Google Glass 

or cardboard mounts 

that can turn any 

smartphone into a virtual reality (VR) 

machine, none of these products has 

brought the promised commercial 

breakthrough. In fact, some products 

appear to have stalled completely. 

Though one might conclude from 

this that the high hopes many had 

in these technologies have been 

dashed, it isn’t necessarily so, because 

new technologies often reach 

the mainstream in unexpected ways. 

The pandemic has wrought a change 

and VR is finding new applications in 

business. No longer restricted to a 

few lighthouse projects from huge 

companies, the technology has become 

more versatile, less expensive 

and much easier to access and many 

companies have started using VR 

and will expand its uses in the years 

to come. 

In a virtual reality simulation, users 

move around in an artificial world, 

largely disconnected from reality, 

with the help of technical tools. The 

immersion is most convincing when 

VR headsets are used. They are not 

absolutely necessary, because a lot 

of content can also be played back 

on a smartphone or tablet. These 

viewers become a window into an 

artificial world. Virtual reality differs 

from augmented reality (AR) where 

additional information or media is 

blended with a real-world, camerasourced 

image. 

Artificial Worlds 

There are two basic ways in which VR 

experiences can be produced: by developing 

a virtual world in software 

from scratch or photographically. 

Programming an environment can 

be time consuming and expensive 

but taking photos and videos that 

capture an all-round view offers a 

quicker and easier solution. Cameras 

like the Ricoh Theta or the Insta 360 

are available for just a few hundred 

euros, deliver surprisingly good 

quality and are almost as easy to operate 

as conventional cameras. 

A typical application scenario is in in- 

source ©: De:central Days 

Playing it Serious 

It’s no secret that many professional soccer players 

are also keen users of game consoles. They are 

using VR technology to get better training and many 

premier league clubs are choosing tools from sports 

technology company Rezzil. 

Rezzil’s system allows professional players to hone 

different skills, especially headers. Heading a ball is 

a health risk, so it is often avoided in training. Being 

dustrial workplaces where complex 

processes need to be permanently 

in operation. Until now, they have 

usually been shut down, or run at 

reduced speed, to train new employees. 

The time spent on this familiarisation 

can be drastically reduced 

with the help of VR. 

Companies can 

now create VR 

applications very 

quickly without 

the need for 

external support. 

Sara Boss 

Head of Sales at VRdirect 

able to practice without any danger gives teams a 

big advantage on match day. 

In addition, with full-body tracking and methods to 

analyse cognitive characteristics, like scanning, decision 

making and pressure coping, the technology 

helps to improve their general gameplay. It can also 

be useful in injury rehabilitation when training on the 

field is not possible. 

Virtual Training 

VR technology can help 

professional soccer 

players hone their skills, 

for instance headers, 

without risk of injury. 

Sara Boss, head of sales at VRdirect, 

explains, "Without having to spend 

a large budget on it, companies can 

now create VR applications themselves 

very quickly and without the 

need for external support. This option 

is often used for training purposes 

in particular." 

The background for the experience 

is a video or photo shot from the 

perspective of an employee at the 

workspace. A trainee can use this to 

get an overview of the entire environment 

without having to actually 

enter the workplace. 

"The ability to give people an authentic 

impression of a workplace 

without much effort is already enormously 

helpful. This effect is further 

enhanced by the inclusion of additional 

media content," says Boss. 

VRDirect offers a platform through 

which companies can access the 

virtual infrastructure. Any file 

25 

source ©: Rezzil, Google LLC


photo ©: Amazon.com 

photo ©: BNP Paribas 

Meta What? 

It seems like everybody is 

talking about the metaverse as 

the next big thing that's going 

to revolutionise our online lives. 

But everyone seems to have 

their own idea of what the 

metaverse is. 

The term originated in the 

cyberpunk novel Snow Crash 

by Neal Stephenson in 1992. In 

it, everyone in the world shares 

an ‘imaginary place’ made 

available to the public over a 

worldwide fiber-optic network 

and projected through virtual 

reality goggles. 

Online communities have existed since at least the mid-1980s but the 

metaverse could bring a whole new dimension. Imagine it as being a 

virtual world which incorporates augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D 

holographic avatars, video and other media. As the metaverse expands, 

it will offer a hyper-real alternative world in which people coexist. 

Fans of the metaverse envision its users working, playing and staying 

connected with friends through everything from online concerts and 

conferences to virtual trips around the world. 

Interest in pure digital ownership – and the technology that proponents 

believe can ensure the security of persistent virtual experiences – has 

spiked dramatically, with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies 

making the headlines. Virtual productivity platforms are growing, 

too, with Facebook and Microsoft announcing new ways to collaborate 

online. Nike is even preparing to sell virtual sneakers and has filed 

patents to this effect. 

In a recent interview with Time magazine, John Egan, CEO of L’Atelier 

BNP Paribas, said, “This metaverse 

concept gives us the opportunity 

to create any universe 

that we’ve ever imagined.” 

For now, spending any part of 

a workday in the metaverse still 

seems like a far-off dream for 

most of the global workforce, 

with many remaining unconvinced. 

For them, the memories 

John Egan 

CEO of L’Atelier BNP Paribas of the first virtual world, Second 

Life, may still be too fresh. 

Second Life is a real-time, immersive social space for people to interact 

through anonymous avatars. Launched by Linden Labs in 1999, in its 

heyday it boasted a currency of its own, Linden Dollars, and largely 

financed itself through the sale of rentals for virtual properties and the 

income from premium memberships. In 2013, the system had around 

36 million registered user accounts but a series of scandals, including 

the rape of virtual children, caused user numbers to plummet and 

Second Life is now often derisively referred to as the "avatar graveyard”. 

26 

that can be included in a PowerPoint 

presentation can also be integrated 

into the VR environment. For example, 

graphics or videos can be used 

to clearly show the necessary work 

steps. Artificial worlds can also be 

generated by importing computeraided 

design (CAD) plans instead 

of real-world images. Rather than 

redrawing the 3D environment, the 

relevant data is often available from 

the original manufacturers and architects. 

Thanks to standardised 

interfaces, more companies are finding 

it easier to go down this route. 

Choose Your Reality 

Until recently, high-performance 

computers connected to playback 

devices were needed to display vivid 

VR experiences. Now, several manu- 

Windows to the 

Virtual World 

Several manufacturers 

offer standalone 

products through 

which VR experiences 

can be played 

back with excellent 

quality. 

facturers offer standalone products 

through which VR experiences can 

be played back with excellent quality. 

Besides the Oculus headset from 

Facebook, HTC’s Vive and Pico’s visor 

are particularly worth mentioning 

here. All of them offer technically 

mature and well-equipped devices 

for just a few hundred euros – and 

there are specially tailored packages 

for companies. 

Companies are benefiting from VR in 

a variety of ways. Automotive giant 

BMW, for example, used the technology 

to let customers participate in a 

Virtual Showrooms 

Automakers are using VR to 

allow customers to participate 

in live events without leaving 

their homes or offices. 

source ©: Actualités télécoms et high-tech, Amazon.de, Pico Interactive 

source ©: BMW AG, BMW M GmbH

joint event at the BMW i Motorsport 

Virtual Garage Experience. Regardless 

of pandemic constraints, attendance 

through the use of Pico VR 

headsets deeply impressed the virtual 

delegates. 

VR has also enabled telecom company 

Orange Polska to train over 

1,000 employees. The average learning 

time decreased from four hours 

to 45 minutes and effectiveness 

increased. Almost 70 percent of the 

trainees now think that traditional 

teaching should be replaced by VR 

training in the future. 

Shortly before Mark Zuckerberg announced 

a bright future for VR and 

renamed his company Meta, Facebook’s 

consumer-market Oculus 

headsets also expanded into the 

business arena. Its Horizon Workrooms 

app has been designed to let 

people work together in the same 

virtual room from anywhere in the 

world. 

One particularly impressive use case 

comes from BSH Hausgeräte, a joint 

home appliance and digital services 

venture between Bosch, Siemens 

and Neff, which has integrated 

We can now 

experience the 

use of tools with 

colleagues from 

different factories 

virtually. 

Juan Luis Cihuelo 

BSH coordinator 

source ©: BSH Hausgeräte GmbH 

Zuckerberg is betting big on virtual reality 

To the Metaverse 

and Beyond n By Eric Doyle 

Mark Zuckerberg plans to help 

build the ‘metaverse’, an ambitious 

three-dimensional world that will 

merge real life with a virtual reality 

existence in an unlimited universe 

of playgrounds. He predicts that the 

metaverse will supplant the internet 

with the bold promise that “you’re 

going to be able to do almost anything 

you can imagine”. 

As CEO of the company, he announced 

last October that Facebook, 

the umbrella company that includes 

the social media giant alongside 

Instagram and WhatsApp, will be 

renamed Meta to underscore the 

importance of the initiative. During 

the presentation, he outlined some 

of the experiences that users will be 

able to enjoy: competing against holograms 

of Olympic athletes or going 

to virtual concerts with your friends. 

In the business world, there will be 

mixed-reality meetings where some 

participants are physically present 

while others beam in from the metaverse 

as avatars, cartoon-like images 

of themselves. 

You're going to 

be able to do 

almost everything 

you can 

imagine. 

Mark Zuckerberg 

CEO of Meta/Facebook 

source ©: Facebook / Mark Zuckerberg 

The metaverse is no more than a 

concept at the moment and potential 

partners like Meta, Microsoft, 

Apple and Nvidia have yet to discuss 

plumbing issues, such as technical 

standards and, further down the 

line, how much compute power will 

be required and its environmental 

impact. There are also moral issues 

to be considered in the light of the 

recent Facebook Papers revelations 

about the company’s apparent reluctance 

to take action against bullying 

and misinformation on its current 

platform. 

It may be some time before the metaverse 

virtually becomes a reality. In 

the meantime, the press is likely to 

be overpopulated with articles discussing 

its possibilities and benefits, 

its limitations and negative impacts. 

That it will happen in some form or 

other is beyond question because the 

3D virtual world is too attractive and a 

future reality akin to USS Enterprise’s 

Holodeck in Star Trek is beguiling. 

27


Interview 

source ©: Advantech Service-IoT GmbH 

Intuitive Experience 

An interview with June Hsieh, senior 

B2B sales manager at HTC Vive, 

about the impact of VR in business 

environments. 

VR makes 

training larger 

groups during 

the pandemic 

much easier. 

June Hsieh 

HTC Vive 

Do you have the impression that 

VR technology in companies received 

a boost from the pandemic? 

Companies like VW have been using 

VR in training since 2016. In an 

environment where production 

processes are constantly being optimised, 

it is extremely difficult to 

teach employees new procedures 

under pandemic conditions. Training 

larger groups is, after all, hardly 

possible in the company. VR applications 

make this much easier. In 

our case, the significant increase in 

sales of the goggles already shows 

that companies are using the technology 

intensively. 

Are there any areas where VR 

works particularly well? 

Many customers use VR technology 

for training and to familiarise 

new employees – but there's also a 

lot happening in the planning area. 

Service providers such as Halocline 

make it easier for companies that 

have no previous experience in this 

area to get started. 

Isn't learning to use headsets and 

the programming process very 

time-consuming both for companies 

and employees? 

Over time, the application has become 

quite intuitive. Of course, you 

need some time to get used to the 

VR experience but those who get 

into it quickly, soon get to grips 

with it. Producing VR content has 

also become much easier lately. 

Many newcomers are surprised at 

how easy integration has become. 

virtual reality as a commonly used 

tool throughout its factories. VR has 

allowed BSH to reduce the time and 

costs for developing new production 

lines by accelerating the engineering 

processes. 

"Finding ourselves in the same virtual 

room with suppliers, colleagues 

and the production machines, we 

are able to review and release new 

designs, " explains Juan Luis Cihuelo, 

BSH coordinator in the Zaragoza 

plant in Spain. 

Staying Healthy 

During lockdown, the technology 

also helped to safeguard the health 

of staff while keeping production 

lines running. "We could experience 

the material supply and the use of 

tools with colleagues from different 

factories virtually," he adds. This 

large utilisation of VR tools required 

less effort than previous projects. 

"In the past, we were focused on 

highly sophisticated and expensive 

IT tools for digital factory planning 

and the specialists required to use 

these tools, like VR Caves,” says Ralf 

Just Another Day 

at the Office 

VR will become part 

of everyday life in the 

business environment 

much sooner than 

in private life, some 

experts predict. 

Nagel, product owner for the Industry 

4.0 digital factory at BSH. A Cave, 

which stands for a Cave Automatic 

Virtual Environment, is an immersive 

VR environment where projectors 

are directed at between three and 

six of the walls of a room-sized cube. 

“However, to be successful in digitalisation,” 

he continues, “it is necessary 

to focus on the people, the 

cultural change and the scalability 

of the solutions. For us, this means 

that every engineer worldwide can 

use VR technology for planning and 

engineering in daily work and benefit 

from its integration into our digital 

factory backbone and the global 

digital collaboration." 

There is an increasing number of 

indicators that VR technologies will 

become part of everyday life in the 

business environment more quickly 

than in private life. It makes work 

easier, saves money and creates new 

opportunities for collaboration. It 

also helps people across continents 

to work together more efficiently 

and more quickly. 

source ©: Meta 

28

E-Mobility 

think again about 

vehicle ownership 

The wholesale electrification of 

transportation systems will be a 

key element of ongoing efforts 

to reduce carbon emissions and 

tackle the climate change challenges that 

our society is now facing. It will also be 

pivotal in addressing the air pollution issues 

that are currently being experienced in densely 

populated urban areas. 

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have reached new 

heights over the course of the last 18 months, with 

EU data showing that they now represent approximately 

11% of all new car registrations. It is clear that 

the numbers are going to increase still further in the 

coming years, with the EU’s target for EVs to constitute 

well over half of vehicle registrations in member 

states by the end of this decade. Likewise, major investment 

in rail networks has resulted in a migration 

away from diesel-based trains to ones that rely on 

electrical propulsion - with clear environmental and 

public health benefits consequently being derived. 

The deployment of extensive charging stations is 

essential if continued uptake of EVs is going to be 

encouraged - and this will be an integral part of 

many of the smart city projects that are currently 

being planned across Europe. Much of the earlier 

equipment that had initially been used is now in the 

process of being replaced by higher voltage rapid 

chargers. These will offer greater convenience to 

vehicle drivers, as the recharge times supported are 

cut from several hours to less than 30 minutes, closer 

to the length of a fuel-pump visit. At the same time, 

high-power wallbox charging units are starting to 

be installed within the residential environment. 

Raising the voltage levels of EV powertrains will be 

another important step in driving more widespread 

EVs are the 

fastest growing 

subsegment in 

the automotive 

IC market. 

Gilles Beltran 

President Avnet Silica 

adoption of these vehicles. This will 

mean that efficiency figures can be 

boosted and their overall weight reduced. 

The key benefit of all this will 

be that far longer distances may be 

covered between recharges, giving the 

public greater confidence that buying an 

EV is the right decision. 

The EV era may also lead to established views 

on vehicle ownership, which have remained the 

same for over a century, being re-evaluated. Instead 

of simply buying cars, mobility-as-a-service business 

models might start to be explored. Connection of 

EVs to the electrical distribution network will also 

present homeowners with financial incentives to 

participate in grid-balancing activities. 

This large-scale transport electrification is bringing 

unprecedented demands for semiconductor components. 

EVs are the fastest growing subsegment 

in the automotive IC market, increasing by approximately 

68 percent during 2021 with a further 25 percent 

growth expected in 2022 * . EV powertrains and 

rail infrastructure will require access to advanced 

semiconductor technology, including the latest 

wide bandgap discretes. As well as state-of-the-art 

power devices, commercial fast charging stations 

will mandate next generation data connectivity and 

superior security solutions. Robust and responsive 

supply chains must therefore be in place, so as to 

ensure that shipment schedules can be maintained. 

The engineering team at Avnet Silica has a deep 

understanding of the dynamics involved in transport 

electrification and their logistical implications. 

This means that our operations are fully prepared to 

ramp up in procurement activity that is on the horizon. 

* Avnet TAM analysis 

29

Smart Business IoT & Regulation 

IoT & Regulation 

The Future of IoT 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is poised 

to disrupt and transform many 

industries. While IoT is still in its 

infancy, businesses are already 

experiencing improved operational 

efficiencies, productivity growth, 

cost reductions and new revenue 

generation opportunities. These 

gains are likely to increase and scale 

across the economy as IoT technological 

maturity and adoption increaes. 

n By Gordon Feller* 

Emerging technologies, such as 

IoT, can take ten or more years 

to reach market saturation 

from incubation. The US federal 

government stimulates this journey 

through targeted investments 

in research and development (R&D) 

and technology transfer as part of its 

Lab-to-Market process. In 2020, the 

US government invested $140 billion 

in a broad range of federally-funded 

R&D programmes, including emerging 

technologies. Approximately 

$50 billion of this total was directed 

towards nearly 300 government 

owned, government operated laboratories 

across the country. Some of 

these investments will likely yield 

extraordinary, long‐term, economic 

impacts when they are transferred 

to and used by industry. 

IoT is now ranked as strategically 

important by each of the major 

US federal agencies that focus on 

increasing competitiveness, economic 

prosperity, and national 

security. 

For IoT to realise its potential and 

achieve these benefits, a robust 

and secure technology infrastructure 

is required. This requires addressing 

two fundamental questions 

to ensure that resources are 

effectively allocated: 

• Where are the technology infrastructure 

gaps that prevent IoT 

technologies from being more 

widely adopted? 

• Where should the US federal 

government be directing resources 

and investments to 

close these gaps? 

30 

*Gordon Feller has been reporting on emerging tech trends for over 40 years. He served as Global Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution 

and founded the non-profit Meeting of the Minds. He’s been awarded several fellowships, including the Abe Fellowship.

NIST Steps Up 

The National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST) is a nonregulatory 

agency within the US 

Department of Commerce. Its role 

is to promote technology innovation, 

competitiveness and the 

commercialisation of federallysponsored 

research across all government 

agencies. NIST is central 

to the Lab-to-Market efforts, serving 

as the coordinator of the President's 

Management Agenda Cross 

Agency Priority Goal 14 (Lab-to- 

Market) and co-chairing a National 

Science and Technology Council 

(NSTC). 

"Given the strategic importance of 

IoT, and in support of the Lab-to- 

Market initiative, NIST felt that it 

needed to better understand the 

source ©: National Science Foundation 

NIST wants to 

better understand 

the current 

state of IoT 

research efforts. 

Sethuraman 

Panchanathan 

Director of National Science 

Foundation 

current state of IoT research efforts," 

says Sethuraman Panchanathan, 

Director of National Science 

Foundation and co-chair of NTSC's 

Committee on Science and Technology 

Enterprise. To answer the 

two fundamental questions, he 

says, NIST has funded a research 

grant aimed at four key goals: 

• To better understand the current 

state of IoT research efforts. 

• To assess the top technology infrastructure 

gaps. 

• To quantify the benefits of closing 

those gaps. 

• To identify where future federal 

research investments should be 

made, whether it be in targeted 

research investments, stimulating 

private sector investment 

incentives, or other methods. 

This new in-depth analysis is already 

helping NIST to address 

some of the pressing IoT-related 

challenges by becoming better 

informed about the necessary 

31

Smart Business IoT & Regulation 

steps, future programmes, and the 

smart initiatives and investments 

which can support long-term economic 

outcomes. 

A California-based company, 

Strategy of Things, was awarded 

the NIST grant to conduct this research 

study. The research team 

is examining IoT opportunities in 

ten key industries, which together 

represent a significant portion of 

the US economy: 

Agriculture 

Construction 

Energy/Utilities 

Financial Services 

Healthcare 

Manufacturing 

Retail 

Public Sector 

• Telecommunications 

Transport 

Benson Chan, a senior partner 

at Strategy of Things, serves on 

the team of experts, assisted by a 

network of partners from government 

and the private sector, to ensure 

that the research project truly 

assists key leaders. 

The government 

wants to work 

on gaps in the 

technology 

infrastructure. 

Benson Chan 

senior partner at 

Strategy of Things 

Step by Step to IoT 

Initial findings from NIST 

predict that the evolution 

of IoT will occur in 

four distinct phases, 

each building on the 

infrastructure, capabilities, 

solution maturity 

and market adoption of 

the previous one. 

Chan argues that “IoT technologies 

bring enormous disruptive 

and beneficial impacts to national 

security, economic prosperity, 

human safety and well-being. 

But a number of technology infrastructure 

barriers stand in the 

way”. Because of this, he concludes 

that “while a number of 

established and start-up companies 

are developing IoT solutions, 

the federal government 

source ©: Benson Chan / Private Photo 

wants to work on the technology 

infrastructure gaps that industry 

is looking at. These include those 

that are not yet market ready, as 

well as those that no one company 

has the interest or resources 

to develop.” 

IoT’s Development Phases 

While the research is ongoing and 

won’t be completed until early 

2022, initial findings predict that 

the evolution of IoT will occur 

in four distinct phases (see Figure 

One). Each successive stage 

builds on the infrastructure, capabilities, 

solution maturity and 

market adoption of the previous 

one. 

Today’s best-of-breed IoT applications 

are largely point solutions 

that address operational 

inefficiencies and productivity. 

As underlying technologies mature 

and as customer acceptance 

grows, future IoT applications are 

becoming increasingly more sophisticated. 

They are being tightly 

integrated with operations and 

The IoT Journey: Operational Efficiency 

Full Autonomy 

Sensorization 

Connected Devices 

Vendor Ecosystems 

Sensor / Actuator Densif ication 

Massively connected devices and system of systems 

Industry and extended ecosystems 

Analytics / Machine Learning 

Artificial Intelligence 

Ambient Intelligence 

Ubiquitous connectivity and computing 

New Business and Operation Models 

Policies and regulations 

Secure and Private 

Trusted 

Ethical 

source ©: Strategy of Things 

32

The IoT Journey: Operational Efficiency 

Full Autonomy 

Edge Devices and Gateways – Processing capability, power efficiency, power management 

Distributed architectures – edge, mobile edge, cloud; interoperable system of systems 

Artifical and ambient Intelligence – autonomous intelligence, distributed collaborative 

intelligence 

Trust Architectures and Models (security, privacy, distributed ledger technology) 

Communications and networks at scale 

(stability, availability, reliability, context and date aware, etc.) 

Data Models, Marketplaces, Ecosystems 

Ethical algorithms and governance 

Interoperability and standards 

source ©: Strategy of Things 

information technology systems, 

and with each other. In short, 

these future IoT applications will 

become part of a larger, automated 

system of systems. The 

emerging solutions are focused 

on enabling fully-automated operations 

across industry ecosystems 

and they promise to yield 

transformative benefits that can 

only be envisioned today. 

The drivers of IoT evolution do 

differ at each stage of the evolutionary 

process. For instance, today’s 

IoT applications use a small 

number of sensors. The data collected 

from these sensors is aggregated 

and analysed largely 

through machine learning. IoT 

vendors expand the functionality 

and utility of their solutions by 

building and operating their own 

ecosystems to create an end-toend 

system. 

IoT evolution is being driven by 

technological advancements, interoperability 

across industries, 

government policies and regulations, 

and scale. Ten sensors in a 

factory today will soon become 

tens or hundreds of thousands. 

In these upcoming systems of 

systems, machine learning will be 

replaced by ambient intelligence, 

where all devices can interact with 

each other autonomously and intelligently. 

With this integration, 

cybersecurity evolves to a broader 

concept of trust which encompasses 

not only the integrity of 

the data, the connections and the 

devices but also the decisions, the 

reliability and availability, and the 

equity of the outcomes. 

To facilitate the future state of IoT, 

the research has identified some 

potential areas of technological 

research investment (see Figure 

Two). These were identified based 

on a study of the IoT accelerators 

shown in Figure One. While there 

is some research on these topics 

today, it is largely done independently 

in a few areas. A broader 

and more coordinated research 

agenda is required to accelerate 

the maturity and adoption of IoT 

within the US. 

Where to Invest? 

To enable the future 

state of IoT, research 

from NIST has highlighted 

a number of 

potential key areas 

for future technology 

research investment. 

IoT is a disruptive and transformational 

emerging technology. For it to 

realise its full potential, governments 

must understand the substantial 

economic, strategic and national security 

implications of IoT better. The 

significance of IoT’s development is 

too important to be left to organic 

evolution or to chance alone. The 

US federal government, through 

its R&D investments and policy development, 

needs to play a critical 

role in accelerating the maturity and 

adoption of IoT. The wide-ranging 

study process, as convened by NIST 

and as implemented by Strategy of 

Things, is already helping to bring 

key stakeholders together. 

Next Steps 

The next stage of this effort is being 

focused on offering a portfolio 

of opportunities for action. These 

moves can not only be taken by 

any one of a myriad of government 

agencies but also by a growing 

network of committed technology 

partners: private companies, universities, 

foundations, associations. 

33

Smart Business Interview: Lou Lutostanski 

source ©: Avnet Silica 

Why should someone look to a 

distributor like Avnet for information 

about IoT? 

Throughout our history, Avnet has 

been the provider of enabling technologies 

for OEMs of electronic 

devices. Supporting the Internet 

of Things is a natural progression 

of our business, and we are positioned 

to support this transformation 

of delivering insights through 

connected devices. We recognise 

that our OEM customers who build 

“The Things” in “IoT” (the Internet 

of Things”) will face significant skill 

and resource challenges as market 

demands are requiring them to add 

cloud-based features and connected 

experiences to their traditional 

products. IoT implementations are 

complex and span many different 

disciplines that require a significant 

number of software skills that were 

not needed in the past. Recognising 

this gap, Avnet has invested 

significant resources in acquiring 

and developing IoT Software capabilities 

that can help our OEM 

customers create these connected 

experiences using the principles of 

We're trying 

to build 

security 

options into 

IoTConnect, 

so implementing 

the 

desired level 

of security is 

as easy as 

checking a 

box to order 

fries with 

your burger. 

Lou Lutostanski 

Vice President for IoT 

at Avnet 

IoT. We are prepared to support IoT, 

and over the past three years, we 

have built a solid practice and added 

over 700 IoT and Cloud software 

developers to an already significant 

number of hardware engineers. 

And we will continue to evolve so 

that we maintain our position as a 

significant technology enablement 

partner to our customers. 

Seems to me that every time 

someone does a new IoT project 

they reinvent the wheel. Is that really 

necessary? 

No, it is not. While there will always 

be some level of customisation in 

bespoke IoT applications, many 

companies continue to spend the 

majority of their time and money 

building and maintaining their 

own IoT platform using open 

source or Hyperscale Cloud IoT 

Services. This significantly extends 

their time to market and robs them 

of the resources that would be 

better spent on providing differentiated 

value in the way of their 

applications. It also creates significant 

overhead to maintain the IoT 

platform, which in the end, their 

customers will pay for. 

Other companies hire system integrators 

to build a custom IoT platform. 

Again, it delays time to market, 

incurs great expense, and locks 

them to one company (the SI) who 

they will be reliant on for the lifetime 

of the application as their IoT 

platform must be maintained into 

perpetuity. 

Spending time building or having 

someone else build an IoT platform 

for companies that create value 

through applications and IoT implementations, 

is a waste of time and 

money. And it adds zero value to 

their end customer. 

This is the number one reason why 

IoT is not scaling, and in turn, not 

reaching the forecast in connections 

predicted several years ago. 

Talking of ecosystems, you once 

criticised what you called 'ecosystem 

mass confusion'. How should 

customers go about selecting an 

ecosystem? 

Ask yourself, what would be the 

state of the mobile phone industry 

34

Interview 

Making 

‘Things’ Easier 

The world of IoT is changing fast and the number 

of vendors and solutions are legion. Finding the right 

supplier can be tricky, says Lou Lutostanski, 

vice president for the Internet of Things at Avnet. 

He was named IoT Leader of the Year at Industrial IoT 

World in 2019. Lutostanski talked with Smart Industry 

editor Tim Cole about the future of IoT. 

n By Tim Cole 

potential return on their investment. 

And in the case of IoT, the 

higher the potential ROI, the richer 

the applications, AI algorithms, and 

hardware purpose built for the solution. 

The bottom line is, customers today 

should look for an ecosystem that 

can invest the most in research and 

development and yield the optimal 

features because they integrate 

into an IoT platform that is based 

on HyperScale Cloud IoT Services 

that can be used horizontally across 

many or all IoT solutions. In this 

way, the application that they buy 

will not require them to bear a part 

of the substantial additional cost 

of maintaining the platform. That 

cost will be born by the thousands 

and tens of thousands of customers 

that buy various applications built 

on that IoT platform. Additionally, 

it will prevent lock-in of one or several 

vendors and give them the 

if there were hundreds of operating 

systems rather than the few 

available today. What would be 

the quality and usefulness of user 

applications if every manufacturer 

wrote their own operating system? 

Fortunately, this industry gravitated 

towards just two OS providers, 

which has enabled a massive 

ecosystem supporting developers 

and markets for applications. 

In comparison, ecosystems for IoT 

developers and users are not at 

this level of maturity, and there is 

a lot of confusion around identifying 

the ecosystem that is going to 

provide the solid foundation for 

this industry. 

IoT ecosystems form around IoT 

platforms. These platforms provide 

the rules and structure for the 

various partners to integrate their 

products and services in a manner 

that is compatible with all other 

partners required for a successful 

IoT implementation. 

Partners who add value within any 

ecosystem are attracted by the 

popularity of a platform. The fewer 

platforms available, the higher the 

Build & Deploy 

IoTConnect Platform is a smart 

IoT platform that 

helps boost efficiency, 

manage assets and 

adopt innovation. 

source ©: Avnet 

BACnet 

IoT Portal 

Dashboards 

Rule Engine 

Analytics on 

Gateway 

CoAP 

Command Execution 

SMS 

SDK 

MQTTS 

Protocol 

Alerts & 

Notification 

Push Notification 

HTTPS 

Email 

Data 

Engineering 

Conection 

Bridge 

SAP HANA 

WS 

SAP BI 

Machine Learning 

Data Streaming 

Data Analysis 

Salesforce 

ERP 

AMQP 

CAN bus 

35

Smart Business Interview: Lou Lutostanski 

Getting Started 

maximum number of vendor choices 

for their IoT implementation. 

Tell me more about Avnet IoTConnect 

which seems to be an interesting 

approach. 

Avnet’s IoTConnect is an IoT platform 

built on Microsoft Azure microservices. 

Our microservices architecture 

enables us to adapt to 

the evolving needs of our users and 

developers, and we view Microsoft 

as one of two hyperscale cloud providers 

who can support Avnet for 

the long term. We believe alternative 

platform architectures built on 

open-source technologies are too 

complex to maintain and become 

stagnant shortly after their release. 

But building from the established 

Microsoft Azure ecosystem has provided 

a solid foundation. 

Based on our deep and long-term 

relationships with our semiconductor 

suppliers and OEM customers 

and our growing capabilities 

in cloud, IoT, AI, security, and application 

software, we believe our 

IoTConnect Platform can serve as 

an enabler to allow for simple, fast, 

and secure IoT implementations. 

And if we are successful in getting 

IoTConnect adoption as one of the 

two or three standard Horizontal 

IoT Platforms, then the scale that 

the industry has been expecting 

and is now demanding can become 

a reality. 

It would have been much easier 

for Avnet to help our customers 

with their IoT implementations, 

It's Official! 

The W3C has declared 

the WoT Architecture 

and the WoT 

Thing Description to 

be official recommendations 

for the 

standardisation of IoT 

applications. 

if there were already one or two 

established platforms out there. 

But there were not. And as such, 

the complexity and risk associated 

with IoT discouraged our customers 

from pursuing strategies that could 

create substantial growth in device 

counts that would have in turn fueled 

growth for our business. The 

lack of an established IoT platform 

also forced us to help customers 

create hardware solutions with 

limited use as they were bespoke 

to only the IoT platform they were 

designed for. 

source ©: Avnet 

Azure Sphere 

development kits 

provide everything 

you need to begin 

prototyping and 

developing Azure 

Sphere applications. 

Sounds like IoTConnect is offering 

a type of Plug and Play for IoT. 

Plug and Play is a term that I first 

heard about in the PC industry. 

It applied to PC peripherals that 

could plug directly into a PC without 

the requirement of the user 

being forced to run software programmes 

to install drivers. 

Plug and Play in the IoT world is 

exponentially more complex. The 

number of things, software elements, 

and connectivity methods 

source ©: W3C 

36

used to create IoT solutions are infinite. 

So creating rules for how these 

things interact with each other in 

the way of the platform, and having 

the software and hardware skills 

to assist those connections, is what 

makes Avnet the ideal entity to bring 

the physical and virtual worlds, the 

OT and IT worlds, together. 

We believe that Avnet will succeed 

while other companies, some much 

bigger than Avnet, have failed because 

they did not have a deep understanding 

of all the parts of IoT. 

People with device or connectivity 

solutions did not understand the 

cloud and above. And the cloud 

people lacked the deep embedded 

device experience to create a scalable 

means for rapidly onboarding 

an infinite number of “Things”. 

source ©: Informa PLC, Jeremy Coward 

You advise bringing order to IoT. 

What do you mean by that? 

It means developing software rules 

that allow companies with many 

different types of hardware and 

software products and services to 

participate in successful IoT implementations, 

without having to 

understand the complexities of all 

the technologies required to produce 

them. IoTConnect defines 

those software rules and provides 

a mechanism to manage those 

devices, integrate third party software, 

and integrate applications 

and AI in a manner that delivers 

simple, fast, and secure IoT implementations. 

It allows OEMs to deliver 

rich features and user experiences 

around their products and the 

opportunity to create new services 

to deliver revenue beyond just the 

physical hardware. 

Are IoT solution providers really 

addressing the security problem 

in an adequate fashion? 

The majority are not. Security is extremely 

complex. And with many 

companies building their own IoT 

platforms or paying someone to 

build it for them, budgets are usually 

blown before the complexities 

of security can be addressed. 

I would make two comments about 

IoT security. 

• People who are serious about IoT 

will never deploy at scale without 

some level of security. The financial 

liabilities and the potential 

damage to their brand are just 

too significant. 

• For those that deploy without security 

by design that get hacked, 

the only fix is to start over. (Rip & 

Replace). 

Avnet has built varying levels of 

securities into IoTConnect. And we 

are working with third party security 

and identity providers to integrate 

their IP into IoTConnect to facilitate 

the deployment of security 

after the fact. So one can preclude 

security through small or test deployments 

and implement security 

at a later date. Avnet’s goal through 

IoTConnect is making adding security 

to your IoT implantation as easy 

as adding fries to your burger order. 

How do you scale IoT? 

The industry needs to limit the 

number of IoT platforms to less 

than a handful. This will attract 

partners and create a vast and vibrant 

ecosystem. Companies need 

stop building, or paying someone 

to build their own IoT platforms 

and build their applications and 

Expert Opinion 

Lou Lutostanski, Vice 

President of IoT at 

Avnet, was named 

IIoT Leader of the 

Year at Industrial IoT 

World 2019. 

product experiences around one or 

two that have wide adoption in the 

industry such as the WoT Standard 

released by the W3C. Customers 

will never accept that they will have 

to maintain an equal number of IoT 

platforms to the number of applications 

that they deploy. 

How does the COVID pandemic 

accelerate IoT? 

I think there are two answers to that 

question. One is that most people 

are working from home now and 

we're finding they appear to be 

much more efficient. As such, they 

have much more time to think long 

term regarding applying IoT technology 

in their products or services. 

The other thing is that there's a 

whole new generation of applications 

that have been spawned 

for contact tracing, prescreening, 

medical monitoring, which have an 

urgency about them coupled with 

an extreme requirement for action. 

This has created a whole new application 

category, if you will, built to 

deal with the challenges presented 

by the Covid pandemic. So, I think 

these two factors have accelerated 

the deployment of IoT implementations. 

37

Smart Business Six Hurdles 

Six Hurdles 

Why IoT 

Projects Fail 

The number of businesses aiming to leverage IoT solutions is high but so 

is the failure rate. Network giant Cisco estimates that 74 percent 

of projects fail and the probable cause is a failure to understand 

the top obstacles and challenges that often derail IoT deployments. 

n By Bryan Witkowski 

38 

038-041 Why IoT Projects Fail-JC.indd 38 26.04.22 13:10

Increased 

Complexity 

Increased 

Complexity 

The explosion in the use of 

connected devices has created 

a rising need for organisations 

to harness data 

from them, which, in turn, is driving 

businesses to ramp up their 

IoT digitisation efforts. Market and 

consumer data specialist Statista 

reckons there are approximately 

21.5 billion interconnected devices 

in the world and many businesses 

– 94 percent, according to IOT 

Signals, a report from the Hypothesis 

Group and Microsoft – see 

this growth as an opportunity to 

analyse data and generate insights 

that reduce operational costs, enable 

better decision-making and 

drive innovation. 

Here are some of the most common 

hurdles blocking the track to 

successful adoption of IoT projects. 

Increased complexity – There 

can be many challenges around 

interoperability between networks, 

gateways and devices. A 

multi-vendor environment can 

include compatibility issues between 

different vendors’ products 

and systems, especially when 

The challenges 

may seem 

overwhelming, 

but there are 

many options 

available. 

Bryan Witkowski 

Head of Strategic Planning 

and co-founder of MachineQ 

source ©: MachineQ 

39 


Smart Business Six Hurdles 

Number of Internet of Things (IoT) 

connected devices worldwide from 2019 to 2030, by use case * 

30,000 

20,000 

10,000 

7,741 

 

 

 

 

8,738.8 

Connected Vehicles 

Smart Grit 

Consumer Internet & Media Devices 

Others 

16,436.6 

14,759.9 

13,146.3 

11,570.2 

10,065.1 

18,148.9 

19,908.4 

21,721.2 

23,570 

25,444.5 

source ©: Statista 

0 

2019 2020 * 2021 * 2022 * 2023 * 2024 * 2025 * 2026 * 2027 * 2028 * 2029 * 2030 * 

Additional Information: Worldwide; 2019 to 2020 

* in millions 

some use proprietary technology 

that is not based on industry standards. 

For example, differences in 

authentication and identification 

methods may cause access issues 

and the use of different protocols 

can limit the ability of devices and 

systems to ’talk to each other’ and 

share information. There are also 

challenges related to complexity 

of deployment, especially where 

there is no access to IT support and 

the installation is typically done by 

skilled workers who are not technically 

savvy. An example of this 

would be plumbers doing a water 

meter installation. 

Limitations to Scale – As IoT 

networks grow, some of the challenges 

above become even more 

pronounced because of additional 

devices and systems. As a result, 

What are They Doing? 

The single largest use 

case in terms of number 

of Internet of Things 

(IoT) connected devices 

is consumer internet 

and media devices, 

accounting for a third 

of all devices worldwide 

in 2030. The other two 

largest use cases are 

smart grid (e.g. smart 

meters) and connected 

vehicles. 

the solutions created in one context 

may not work well in another, 

which could delay or stop an enterprise 

IoT project. 

Talent Shortages – Similar to the 

current IT talent shortage, there is 

a lack of available IoT experts to fill 

needed positions. This can affect 

a range of industries, such as food 

services and hospitality, that are 

looking to embrace IoT. According 

to research from Inmarsat, 46 

percent of organisations stated 

that skills shortages are the most 

significant barrier to their deployments. 

A lack of qualified, skilled 

talent can affect the ability to roll 

out new deployments or have the 

proper quality controls in place to 

take IoT from the proof-of-concept 

(POC) phase to full production. 

Security Vulnerabilities – While 

IoT devices are great at doing what 

they are designed and built for, 

they typically have limited computing 

resources, which means 

they often lack built-in security 

features – or they are connected 

to the internal IT infrastructure, 

which poses additional risks to security. 

The resultant expansion of the attack 

surface and opportunities for 

cybercriminals often stems from 

the fact that many organisations 

don’t see IoT devices as a highsecurity 

threat, so they are not as 

diligent with passwords or encryption. 

In addition, IoT devices often 

don’t receive security patches as 

quickly as other mainstream devices, 

such as laptops and smartphones. 

All of this can lead to more 

IoT-related cyberattacks, as in the 

40 


case of a supplier of IoT cameras 

that discovered a software vulnerability 

which exposed a range of 

industrial devices to potential cyberattack. 

Limited reach – Many industries 

that want to use IoT solutions face 

the challenges of remote sites located 

in far-reaching geographies 

and areas that are hard to reach. 

For example, an oil rig in the middle 

of the ocean or a pipeline that 

stretches for hundreds of miles 

across the countryside can make 

it difficult to get consistent, reliable 

connectivity to support the 

transfer of data from numerous 

sensors out to the cloud or to endapplications. 

Power Consumption – Using hundreds 

or thousands of sensors also 

creates a concern that can impact 

cost – battery life. It’s important to 

explore how long a battery will last 

in an IoT device because the time 

and cost of replacement might be 

just as expensive as the original 

deployment. 

As a result, this can have a significant 

impact on the total cost of 

ownership (TCO) of the project 

– sometimes sufficient to affect 

overall cost-feasibility. This TCO 

issue can leave an organisation 

stuck in the POC phase, unable to 

move on to production. 

While these challenges may seem 

overwhelming, there are many 

Challenges to using IoT more 

Still in Progress 

Complexity/Technical 

Security 


Lack of Budget/Staff 


Lack of Budget/Staff 

Lack of Knowledge 

Security 

Compliance 




Leadership/Team Challenges 

Security 

Haven’t Found Right Solution 

options available for enterprises. 

Technologies such as low-power, 

wide-area networks (LPWANs) can 

provide the simplicity, scale, reach, 

security and power needed to take 

many IoT projects from concept 

(POC) to reality (full production 

deployment). 

Still implementing our current solutions 

Too complex to implement because of technology demands 

Security risk isn’t worth it 

Want to work out challenges before adding/using IoT more 

Don't have human resources to implement & manage 

Too complex to implement because of business transformation needed 

Don't have budget 

Not enough training/guidance on how to deploy 

Concerned about consumer privacy 

Too many compliance/regulatory challenges 

Lack technical knowledge 

Too long to implement 

Don't know enough 

No buy - in from senior leadership 

Unwilling to store data on public cloud 

No solution that meets our needs 

Where IoT Breaks Down 

A third of companies are still 

implementing their current 

solution; 27 percent say the 

technological demands are 

prohibitive; and another 27 

percent feel the security risk 

simply isn’t worth it. 

Low Power 

Consumption 

One of the key competitive 

advantages of 

LoRaWan technology 

is the energy efficiency 

of the equipment. 

29% 

27% 

27% 

26% 

25% 

24% 

23% 

22% 

22% 

21% 

21% 

20% 

20% 

19% 

18% 

17% 

Vendors Share the Same 

Environment 

The LoRaWAN industry standards, 

for example, mean that different 

vendors’ products can offer compatibility 

to allow them to easily 

exist in the same environment. 

Finally, the automated nature of 

these solutions allows organisations 

to free up employees’ time to 

focus on activities that positively 

impact sales and customer service. 

By having a better awareness and 

understanding of these key challenges, 

enterprises can confidently 

take the important first step towards 

solving them and making 

large-scale IoT deployments a reality. 

source ©: Hypothesis Group, Microsoft 

LoRaWan Differentiators & Benefits 

Public and 

Private 

Deployment 

Options 

Firmware 

Updates 

Over-the-Air 

Geolocation 

Bi-Directional 

Security 

10+ Year 

Battery Life 

Coverage in 

Rural and 

Non-Cellular 

Area 

Deep 

Penetration 

(Concrete, 

Ground, Steel) 

source ©: BrightTALK 

41 


Smart Business Industrial IoT 

42

Industrial IoT 

How to Eat 

the IIoT Elephant 

Learn, through two useful examples, how to start simple and 

move to more complex Industrial IoT implementations. 

n By Göran Appelquist* 

Moving to Industrial IoT 

can be a challenge. 

Through working on 

many customer projects 

over a number of years at 

Crosser, we have learnt that a 

key success factor is to start with 

small projects that are quick and 

easy to implement before gradually 

building up to the more advanced 

and complex use cases. 

That is, always eat the elephant 

in pieces, don’t try to swallow it 

whole. 

In most cases it is possible to find 

small and simple projects that are 

good starting points requiring 

a low effort to implement while 

returning value quickly. With the 

right tools it is easy to start simple 

and then add more advanced features 

over time. 

Simple Beginnings 

Here are some simple but useful 

projects, showing how they can 

be implemented with Crosser’s 

Edge Streaming Analytics. The 

How to get There 

From Here 

Data mismatch is a 

common problem in 

IoT. Therefore, data 

transformation and 

harmonisation play a 

major role. 

Crosser system provides a large 

library of pre-made building 

blocks (modules) that implement 

common functionalities for these 

types of use cases. By using these 

modules, it is easy to get started 

by combining modules into applications 

using a graphical drag 

and drop editor. With the interactive 

debugging capabilities, each 

application can be verified before 

installing them for continuous 

operation on Crosser Nodes that 

have been installed near the 

source ©: Crosser Technologies 

*Göran Appelquist is CTO at Crosser, an IIoT specialist based in Sweden and in Munich, Germany. 

43

Smart Business Industrial IoT 

systems with which they will interact. 


System Availability 

Monitoring system availability is 

a very common requirement. This 

kind of application can be created 

by starting with a time trigger 

that will fire the application 

once every minute, or whatever 

time period makes sense. A call is 

made to the system to be monitored, 

for example a programmable 

logic controller (PLC) or a representational 

state transfer (REST) 

endpoint. If the request fails, a 

notification is sent to someone 

using a text messaging service. 

Here a Modbus PLC is being 

polled every minute and, if no 

response is detected, text messages 

will be sent to the managers’ 

mobile phones using the 

Twilio messaging service. This is, 

of course, a very basic application 

but, if failures are not expected 

too often, it could still be useful. 

The same concept can be used 

with any system that accepts an 

external request. For example, if 

an HTTP endpoint has to be monitored, 

the Modbus module can 

easily be replaced with an HTTP 

request module. 

When the monitor is up and running, 

ways to improve it can be 

considered. One obvious problem 

is that a message will be triggered 

every minute if the PLC stays in an 

unresponsive state – which could 

Always eat the 

elephant in 

pieces - don't 

try to swallow it 

whole! 

Göran Appelquist 

Crosser 

be quite annoying. It’s easily fixed 

just by adding a Report By Exception 

module so that a message is 

sent only when the PLC initially 

becomes unresponsive. 

If the PLC is a bit shaky, flipping 

back and forth between online 

and offline, the monitor may once 

again send more messages than 

necessary. Another easy fix is to 

add a Throttle module to make 

sure only one message is sent per 

hour (or whatever duration is suitable). 

Finally, it might be desirable to 

get availability statistics captured 

over a long timespan. Here, the 

Time Counter module can be 

used to take the same input as 

before to provide a summary of 

the times spent in each state over 

a specified period. The results can 

be sent as an uptime report once 

per day. 

The new generation 

integration platform 

allows you to integrate 

any device or machine 

data and any data 

source with smart 

workflows, events and 

triggers in real time. 

The project started with something 

really simple, but still 

useful, and then it was gradually 

improved to finally arrive at 

something that now has more 

functionality. The development 

team can decide how much further 

to take it and at what pace. 

Integrity Checking 

Data integrity is a broad concept 

with many possible applications, 

such as checking that values are 

within reasonable limits, counters 

are constantly incremented, or 

that data is updated at a certain 

rate. 

The latter case will be used here, 

checking that sensor data is updated 

at the expected rate. For 

this example, a subscription must 

be set up against an open platform 

communications unified 

architecture (OPC-UA) server that 


44

Guidelines 

The examples given share some characteristics 

that can serve as general 

guidelines when trying to identify other 

projects that are good starting points 

for edge analytics: 

• 

Find use cases that are add-ons 

to the existing operation, that is, 

ensure that neither the input nor the 

output systems rely on the operation 

of the business critical application 

to which they are attached. 

• 

Find uses that add value when they 

work but won’t have a major negative 

impact if they don’t. 

• 

For the first implementation, try 

to scale down the problem to an 

absolute minimum, while still adding 

value (minimum viable product). 

Then incrementally add features until 

the final goal has been reached. 

• 

Build an application that solves 

the problem when everything 

works normally, known as a ‘happy 

path’ implementation. Then add 

additional logic later to cover situations 

where things don’t work as 

expected. 

will then push back changes in 

values and these results will be 

checked every second by using a 

Timeout module. 

The Timeout module has to be 

set to check there are no changes 

within periods of 70 seconds rather 

than 60 seconds, chosen to offer 

a margin for small deviations 

in update frequency. This module 

can monitor any number of sensors 

and, as soon as one of them 

fails to deliver data in time, it will 

indicate which sensor has failed. 

In this project, the application will 

make an HTTP request when a sensor 

fails, maybe calling on the enterprise 

resource planning (ERP) or 

manufacturing execution systems 

(MES) to trigger further actions. 

With this very simple flow, thousands 

of sensors can be monitored 

as long as they have the 

same expected data rate. If the 

Getting There 

Build integration 

flows with the Flow 

Studio using a 

library of modules 

and connectors. 

Add data mapping, 

data transformation, 

triggers 

and events to your 

flows with ease. 

sensors, or groups of sensors, 

have different data rates, multiple 

Timeout modules can be added 

with differing timeout settings 

using a filter on each to allow the 

relevant sensors to be selected: 

These two simple but realistic use 

cases are good starting points for 

introducing edge streaming analytics. 

It’s possible to find many 

alternative but equally simple examples 

within any organisation. 


45

Smart Communications Trucking & IoT 

Trucking & IoT 

Delivering 

a Revolution 

Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and the Internet of Things 

are poised to spark a revolution in the automobile industry. 

Automated cars have grabbed the headlines in recent years but 

most analysts, quite reasonably, believe 

that freight trucks will be the first fully-automated 

vehicles in regular use on the roads. 

n By Tim Cole* 

46 

*Tim Cole is editor of Smart Industry.

The trucking industry, and the 

logistics that keep it running, 

has become fundamental to 

the success of supply chains, 

both nationally and internationally. 

Without those supply chains running 

smoothly, allowing for just-intime 

orders and millions of successful 

daily deliveries, industries of all 

types would grind to a halt. 

The Brexit situation, with Great 

Britain withdrawing from the European 

Union, is a perfect example 

of the kind of chaos a broken supply 

chain can create. In the fall of 

2021, cars and trucks were lining up 

in front of empty pumps at UK gas 

stations, and supermarket shelves 

remained barren, all for the lack 

of truckers. A Road Haulage Association 

(RHA) survey of its members 

estimates there is now a shortage 

of more than 100,000 qualified drivers 

in the UK. That number includes 

thousands of drivers from European 

Union (EU) member states who were 

previously living and working in the 

UK. Issues such as this highlight the 

importance of the trucking industry. 

Time is of the Essence 

Yet geopolitical issues such as this 

are far from the only challenges 

currently facing freight and haulage, 

with market demands shifting 

quickly and shipments growing accordingly. 

In America, a report by 

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA) said there 

were approximately 493,730 trucking 

companies in the US alone. Even 

today, most of the small business 

owners in the US are truckers. So, 

as this industry grows, it becomes 

necessary to track several statistics 

in real-time. Factors like the load on 

the trucks, time required for loading 

and unloading of goods, traffic 

on the travel routes, or tracking the 

vehicles in real-time are important 

to the fleet managers and truck 

owners of the businesses. 

These issues have put trucking 

front and centre in the eyes of those 

seeking industry disruption, resulting 

in seismic changes to the way 

trucking works. As with so many 

The driver 

situation is 

about as bad 

as I've ever 

seen it in my 

career. 

Help Wanted 

A Road Haulage 

Association (RHA) 

survey estimates 

there is now a 

shortage of more 

than 100,000 

qualified drivers in 

the UK alone. 

Eric Fuller 

CEO of U.S. Xpress 

other key industries in transition, it’s 

the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and 

robotics that are leading the way 

and providing truly remarkable solutions 

to ever-growing problems. 

IoT has connected sensors, electronic 

monitors, actuators, GPS receivers, 

RFID systems, beacons, and 

so on, with a network of physical 

devices, appliances, vehicles, and 

other items for data collection and 

communication. In transportation 

and trucking, it has provided several 

promising solutions to develop 

powerful new applications and systems. 

When an AI-driven, long-haul 

industry is in place, it’s not difficult 

to imagine the rest of the automotive 

industry catching up. 

IoT-based solutions are transforming 

the trucking industry in unbelievable 

ways. They assure better 

transparency, higher operational efficiency 

and enhanced security – ultimately 

increasing profit margins. 

Time taken to fill last HGV driver vacancy 

1-2 weeks 

2-4 weeks 

4-6 weeks 

6-8 weeks 

8+ weeks 

0% 10% 20% 30% 

"Not applicable" not shown 

source ©: Road Haulage Association source ©: Scenic Roots 

47


source ©: Intel Corporation 

Trucks, which have sensors connected, 

travel via different routes and, at 

various location transmission hubs, 

collect and send data to the decisionmakers 

for the insights that help in 

gaining better results. 

Here’s a closer look at ways in which 

IoT and AI technology is transforming 

the trucking industry and how 

the industry will benefit from justin-time 

trucking and logistics. 

Keeping Track of 

Truckers 

Electronic Logging 

Devices, or ELDs, are 

now mandatory for 

commercial drivers 

who are required to 

prepare hours-ofservice 

(HOS) records 

of duty status, 

further increasing 

pressure on trucking 

companies who 

need to hire more 

drivers to comply. 

Loads of Problems 

Data produced by 

hundreds of sensors 

on commercial trucks 

is fused together in 

real-time to get meaningful 

information that 

optimises safety, fuel 

economy, and maintenance 

of the vehicle. 

Intelligent Data Driving Performance 

Feb16, 2016 - Dec 18, 2017 

Phase 1 

Completed 

Dec 18, 2017 - Dec 16, 2019 

Phase 2 

After Dec 16, 2019 

Phase 3 

A Phased Approach 

As the ELD rule is implemented, 

motor carriers will be allowed 

time to transition to full 

adoption of ELDs. This table 

illustrates which recording 

methods are acceptable during 

each phase implementation. 

ever, as the robot systems become 

more skilled on their routes, a future 

of completely driverless fleets 

of trucks is easily foreseeable. 

Fuel, insurance and drivers’ wages 

are obviously the trucking industry’s 

key expenses. By tracking the 

locations, driving habits and speed 

of the trucks in a fleet, expenses can 

be managed more successfully and 

efficiently. A combination of Big 

Data, AI, and IoT devices will make 

Awareness and Transition Phase 

During this time, carriers and drivers subject to the rule could 

prepare to comply and voluntarily use ELDs. 

Carriers and drivers subject to the rule could use any of 

the following for records of duty status (RODS): 

Paper logs | Logging software | AOBRDs 

ELDs that are self-certified and registered with FMCSA 

Phased-In Compliance Phase 

The two-year period from the Compliance Date to the 

Full Compliance Phase. Carriers and drivers subject to 

the rule can use: 

AOBRDs installed and in-use prior to December 18, 2017 

ELDs that are self-certified and registered with FMCSA 

Full Compliance Phase 

All drivers and carriers subject to the rule must use 

self-certified ELDs that are registered with FMCSA. 

ELD 

AOBRD 

Logging 

Software 

Paper 

Phase 1 

Phase 2 Phase 3 

Drivers and carriers exempt from the ELD rule may continue to 

use any of these methods of record keeping to log their HOS date. 

source ©: FMCSA 

Safety First 

The best argument for introducing 

automated vehicles and AI-driven 

trucks is the fact that they are safer 

for everyone. Long-distance routes 

that demand long hours of high 

intensity focus and alertness are 

dangerous for both the truck driver 

and other travelers. Reliable and accurate 

AI systems help reduce the 

risk of accidents, while reducing the 

pressure on the drivers themselves. 

The trucking industry is in the midst 

of a hiring crisis. “The driver situation 

is about as bad as I’ve ever seen 

in my career,” Eric Fuller, the CEO of 

U.S. Xpress, told Yahoo Finance. 

It’s a hard job, and fewer people are 

attracted to it. At the same time, 

demand for haulage is growing by 

leaps and bounds. More autonomous 

trucks wouldn’t merely increase 

staff safety, they’d also help 

resolve capacity issues. Currently, 

autonomous trucks still require 

human drivers in the cockpit. Howthis 

happen more easily and accurately 

than ever before and will only 

require giving each driver an Electronic 

Logging Device (ELD) as part 

of their smartphone setup. 

In 2015, Saia LTL Freight, a reputed 

trucking company in America, installed 

sensors in their trucks for 

tracking fuel consumption, maintenance 

needs and other performance 

metrics. This raised the fuel 

efficiency of the company by 6 percent 

saving millions of dollars. 

IoT technology already plays a key 

role when it comes to overseeing 

the performance of factory equipment 

in the manufacturing industry, 

highlighting when parts need 

replacing and keeping an eye on 

the smooth running of key components. 

There’s no reason why 

the same IoT data and technology 

couldn’t be applied to the trucking 

industry by installing sensors to anticipate 

issues before they arise or 

when vehicles need servicing. 

This is a particularly attractive concept 

for trucking-business owners 

and investors. Most of these companies 

can run up mountainous annual 

repair bills, as high as $15,000 

48

per vehicle plus another $4,000 for 

tires. Many of the issues that arise 

could be spotted earlier using IoT 

technology. Cast in this light, smart 

trucks would save an immense 

amount of money while creating 

safer, more efficient fleets at the 

same time. 

This aspect of AI, called predictive 

maintenance, allows problems to 

be addressed before they become 

severe (and more expensive), generating 

both peace of mind and 

a better ROI in the process. It’s no 

wonder that the vast majority of 

trucking business owners firmly believe 

that IoT technology is fundamental 

to their future success. 

Staying Fresh 

Sensitive cargo, such as plants and 

flowers or time-sensitive perishable 

goods, have long been a source of 

headaches for the entire industry. 

IoT technology can automatically 

adjust variables like temperature 

and humidity in order to ensure 

optimal conditions for such cargo. 

Furthermore, it can help drivers 

select the best routes, taking into 

account road conditions, construction 

zones and accidents to ensure 

a timely and well-preserved delivery, 

both of which are critical for 

consistently happy customers. 

In the home package delivery industry 

(UPS and FedEx), the ability 

to track individual items has already 

led to increased customer satisfaction. 

AI and IoT advancements will 

allow this same functionality to be 

applied to commercial trucking. 

This industry, as much as any, can 

use all the trust it can find in order to 

future proof it for decades to come. 

Last-mile deliveries and just-in-time 

services are on the increase, which 

means that every second makes a 

difference in logistic success rates. 

Robots working alongside personnel 

in warehouses or working independently 

and fully automated, 

have already made significant improvements 

in efficiency and timesaving 

procedures. 

Speedier loading and unloading 

times allow trucks to complete 

more orders in a day. We’re already 

seeing the latest robotics technologies 

implemented in warehouses 

run by companies, such as FedEx, 

with impressive results. Automation 

in the warehouse is another 

way to mitigate issues caused by 

worker shortages and offers another 

key investment area that could 

save the industry millions. 

An example of IoT-based solutions 

for the trucking industry is App- 

Weigh. It is a specially designed 

mobile app which uses Bluetoothenabled 

weight sensors to measure 

the load on air suspension trucks 

and trailers throughout shipment. 

The truck weight is directly sent to 

the drivers on their smartphones 

to keep them informed and ensure 

their trucks and goods are safely 

and legally loaded to their destination. 

This app can be useful to 

individual truck owners as well as 

Weighing In 

AppWeigh is a Bluetooth 

weight sensor 

and app for air suspension 

trucks and 

trailers that displays 

truck weight on a 

smartphone to help 

truckers load safely 

and legally. 

transportation and trucking companies 

as they alert the drivers and 

managers when the weight in the 

vehicle crosses the permissible limit 

and enables them to take immediate 

action. 

Endless Potential 

There’s no questioning the fact that 

robotics, IoT and AI have already 

enabled, and will continue to facilitate, 

disruption in the trucking 

industry, helping business owners 

save time and money, while staying 

on top of a rapidly changing and 

often unpredictable sector. Datadriven 

and tech-centric developments 

have been the catalysts for 

the digital transformation currently 

underway within trucking. From all 

indications, it appears the industry 

will act as a bellwether for the 

future of automated vehicles and 

logistics. 

While many of the technological advances 

predicted for the trucking industry 

remain in their earliest stages, 

it’s clear that the business of trucking 

has responded positively and is 

quick to adopt the latest IoT developments. 

With the potential to 

source ©: SKT Technologies Inc. 

49


become a bonafide, high-tech sector, 

the trucking industry is breaking 

new technological ground. 

Drivers need to follow strict government 

regulations. To comply 

with the Electronic Logging Device 

(ELD) mandate, all trucks must be 

equipped with electric devices in 

their trucks to track their working 

hours and activities. Legally, drivers 

can’t drive for more than 10 hours 

a day, requiring them to log working 

hours. With the adoption of IoT, 

trucking companies can easily comply 

with this law. 

Is This What the Future 

Looks Like? 

Resembling the helmet of 

a Star Wars stormtrooper, 

a driverless electric truck 

recently began daily 

freight deliveries on a 

public road in Sweden, 

in what developer Einride 

and logistics customer DB 

Schenker described as a 

world first. 

troubleshooting without having 

to carry well-thumbed, dog-eared 

manuals. 

Reactions to such advances are 

mixed. While up to 65 percent of 

transport executives hail automation 

and IoT-driven trucking as 

nothing short of a renaissance for 

the industry, there are legitimate 

concerns. There is a real risk of job 

losses – a common fear whenever AI 

is mentioned. There are also security 

concerns regarding the onboard 

networks of autonomous trucks 

being hacked by cybercriminals, 

though advances in anonymity networks 

have mitigated those risks. 

Yet even staunch critics admit that 

the benefits of IoT and AI in trucking 

outweigh the mostly theoretical 

drawbacks. IoT is a secure, reliable 

and cost-effective way to boost the 

bottom line of trucking businesses. 

The revolution will roll on. 

Not a Sound 

Scientists at the University 

of Michigan 

have demonstrated 

how sound waves 

can be used to 

detect and prevent 

malicious acoustic 

interference with 

autonomous truck 

systems. 

Faster, Faster! 

IoT-linked trucks also help the drivers 

to do their jobs faster and with 

enhanced safety, thus putting 

an end to the seemingly endless 

queues at gas stations around the 

world and speeding up delivery of 

food and other essentials. IoT saves 

the drivers from paperwork by electronically 

updating the fleet managers 

about delivery timings, loading 

weights and other operational 

data. Drivers can also be informed 

in advance about diversions, offduty 

hours, traffic timings, bad 

weather and other relevant information. 

When trouble strikes, they 

can also get assistance regarding 

source ©: University of Michigan 

50

That’s why you need storage built to 

capture it right where it’s generated 

Western Digital is a leader in storage solutions designed and tested to stand up to demanding 

IoT and industrial applications. These durable storage devices in a range of capacities are built 

for extreme temperatures and environments, and make remote monitoring a breeze. 

Embedded 

Removable 

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Smart Business Network Transformation 

Network Transformation 

Taking Security 

to the Edge 

52 

The ongoing digitisation of the workplace and the rise of the distributed 

workforce is forcing companies to redefine the security of their IT infrastructure. 

Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE, is a holistic security architecture 

combining both network and security services in a software-defined cloud 

architecture which may provide the answer to these challenges. 

n By Sebastian Ganschow

for branch offices that were connected 

directly to the data center, 

where internal applications were 

hosted and Internet traffic could 

be filtered. But with working from 

home becoming an option for 

many employees, apps and data 

need to be dispersed across locations. 

IT teams face the challenge of 

providing secure, authorised access 

while maintaining quality of experience 

across any device and location. 

Network Security Meets 

Security at the Edge 

The Secure Access Service Edge, or 

SASE model is becoming increasingly 

important for many large organisations. 

Already, 24 percent of 

enterprises plan to develop strategies 

to implement the SASE approach 

outlined by Gartner, a consultancy, 

by 2024 at the latest. 

SASE is a cloud-centric architecture 

that represents a convergence 

of software-defined wide 

area networking (SD-WAN) and 

high security in a strategic edgeto-cloud 

service that adds neither 

hardware cost nor complexity. In 

other words, SASE describes an 

architecture that delivers network 

services and security functions 

as cloud services where they are 

needed: On end devices and at the 

SASE 

facilitates a 

better 

response 

to internal 

and external 

changes. 

Sebastian Ganschow 

is Director Cybersecurity 

Solutions at NTT Ltd. 

The End of Point 

Solutions 

SASE combines 

the functions of 

network and security 

point solutions in a 

unified, global cloudnative 

service, with 

a profound impact 

on several IT areas 

at once. 

edge, where a permanent connection 

to networks is not possible or 

even necessary. 

Although each company is taking 

a different path, a strategic SASE 

vision includes both a fundamental 

shift in access controls to where 

they are needed - the end user and 

the cloud edge – and the search 

for less complexity. Convergence 

of security functions in an efficient 

as-a-service model are a good way 

to achieve these goals. 

In addition, SASE can focus on 

supporting business agility to respond 

to all internal and external 

changes, while at the same time 

simplifying deployment, management, 

and enforcement of 

source ©: IDG Business Media GmbH 

SD-WAN 

Carrier 

Network Security 

Large enterprises still operate 

huge data centres. These 

contain not only local SaaS 

(Software-as-a-Service) applications, 

but also network components 

such as firewalls, load 

balancers, intrusion detection and 

prevention systems, routers and 

switches. Just a few years ago, it 

was common to design networks 

WAN 

Optimization 

Bandwidth 

Aggregation 

Networking 

Vendors 

Network as a 

Service 

Network 

CDN 

SASE 

Security 

DNS 

CASB 

Cloud SWG 

ZTNA/VPN 

WAAPaaS 

FWaaS 

RBI 

source ©: Inseya AG 

53

Smart Business Network Transformation 

a range of professionals - network 

engineers, application developers 

and security specialists. For some 

organisations, this means requiring 

a common working language between 

IT and security departments 

for the very first time. 

In addition, organisations need to 

include strategic stakeholders such 

as human resources, access mansource 

©: Musarubra US LLC 

policies across the board. SASE as 

a "secure-by-design" interface for 

network and cybersecurity aims at 

breaking down silos in order to deliver 

seamless, scalable, and secure 

Internet and cloud access anytime, 

anywhere. 

Adopting SASE requires a convergence 

of skills and capabilities and a 

new level of collaboration between 

The Quickest Route 

to SASE 

Decision makers seek a 

faster, more efficient high 

road to cloud and network 

transformation without compromising 

security. The need 

for speed and scalability is 

crucial, but corners cannot 

be cut when it comes to 

maintaining data and threat 

protection. 

Centralised Management 

with less Complexity 

Many organisations begin their 

SASE journey by introducing a centralised 

way to manage policy creation 

and monitoring. In the next 

step, they implement advanced security 

services from the data centre 

to each cloud required by the site, 

user or IoT device. By combining 

multiple security capabilities into 

a single cloud-native service, CIOs 

and CISOs can build greater centralised 

management capability with 

less complexity. Thus, SASE effects 

more than just technology conver- 

agement and compliance officers 

in the conversation. Only then can 

they define advanced policies for 

data loss prevention (DLP), cloud 

access security brokers (CASBs) and 

zero trust network access. 

A SASE approach requires the integration 

of multiple security and IT 

services from an organisation's first 

line of defense, to a DNS layer, to a 

secure web gateway for zero trust 

that enables deeper inspection, to a 

cloud firewall that protects web and 

non-web traffic. 

Expectations 

Multicloud Networking 

LEO Satellite Systems 

Software-Defined Cloud Interconnect 

Kubernetes Networking (CNI) 

AIOps Platforms 

Network Observability 

Enhanced Internet 

Wi-Fi 7 

eBPF 

Private 5G 

FACs (SmartNICs) 

SASE 

NVMe-oF 

5G 

400 Gbps Ethernet 

NaaS 

SD-Branch 

Network Automation 

Open Networking 

Service Mesh 

IPv6 

Wi-Fi 6 

SD-WAN 

Microsegmentation 

New New Path Forward 

SASE includes the ability to 

be delivered to enterprises as 

a managed cloud service, as 

well as to shift away from a 

traditional box-heavy branch 

(i.e., next-generation firewall, 

branch routers, etc.) to a thin 

branch (with SD-WAN) and a 

heavy cloud model. 

NDN 

6G 

Intent-Based Networking 

NFV 

ZTNA 

SDN 

source ©: Inseya AG 

54 

Innovation 

Trigger 

Peak of Infated 

Expectations 

Time 

Trough of 

Disillusionment 

Plateau will be reached: 10 yrs. Obsolete before plateau 

Slope of 

Enlightenment 

Plateau of 

Productivity 

As of July 2021

Traditional Hub-and-Spoke Architecture 

Services 

Apps 

Fast, but Just not 

Fast Enough 

Conventional 

hub-and-spoke 

architecture cannot 

keep pace with the 

escalating demands 

of edge-centric 

computing. 

Internet 

B r a n c h 

B r a n c h 

B r a n c h 

Headquarters 

D e d i c a t e d B r o a d b a n d 

B r a n c h 

B r a n c h 

B r a n c h 

source ©: Infoblox 

gence – it’s where business value is 

created and protected. 

Simplification and security are the 

two big drivers for network modernisation. 

One of the key benefits 

of this new approach is centralised 

network monitoring and management. 

Regardless of data centre 

or network perimeter monitoring, 

convergence lowers costs and increases 

cross-tier visibility in hybrid 

environments. 

A common framework for analysing 

users, applications, and data 

provides a comprehensive understanding 

of all issues and allows 

for faster resolution. The unified 

interface provides far more detailed 

and consistent analysis and 

reporting, ensuring more expeditious 

decision making and efficient 

performance management. 

SASE builds on the connectivity 

benefits of SD-WAN and includes 

optimised MPLS, Internet, and 

hybrid connectivity, as well as an 

integrated security system. It simplifies 

branch office networking by 

replacing the multitude of network 

devices found in many enterprises 

with a simple system that provides 

access to a wide range of services. 

This approach significantly reduces 

the time and effort required 

for configuration monitoring and 

troubleshooting of network and 

Getting the Work 

Done Faster 

Cutting the time 

needed to configure, 

monitor and troubleshoot 

network security 

functions is a great 

benefit. 

security functions. Finally, new 

applications or services can be 

deployed much faster. This is not 

just another argument for automation, 

but rather a leap forward in 

speedy, granular policy definition 

to meet rapidly changing business 

needs. 

55

Smart sensors for 

the next automation age 

The Automation age describes 

an epoch when machines 

began to perform 

complex tasks with little to 

no human interactions. Today we 

are experiencing a new type of automation 

enabled by the proliferation 

systems composed of interconnected, 

miniaturized objects and 

systems able to sense, process and 

take actions. The number of such 

devices is growing exponentially 

and with increasingly complex functionality, 

requiring more powerful 

cloud infrastructure. This creates 

a need to distribute intelligence, 

such as AI processing, throughout 

the system. This enables local smart 

controls, while helping protect user 

privacy and lowering overall system 

power consumption. 

Combining edge processing with 

cloud connectivity brings flexibility 

to system design and enables op-

Advertorial 

timal balance between offline and 

online capabilities. Advanced smart 

sensors bring intelligent processing 

to the point closest to the data 

generation by incorporating this 

processing capability into the sensor 

itself. 

One approach to achieve this is to 

equip the sensor with a Machine 

Learning Core (MLC) using a Finite 

State Machine (FSM) and advanced 

digital functions. Instead of using 

a microcontroller to process data, 

the MLC can run a decision tree, an 

inductive algorithm at a fraction of 

the power consumption. As a result, 

the system can recognize specific 

activities or events by observing 

movements or state changes and 

inferring from predefined patterns. 

This approach brings challenges 

for system design, particularly in 

terms of processing power, packaging, 

and power consumption. A 

clear challenge for sensor makers 

is to add AI processing capabilities 

without disrupting their proven solution 

for low noise, low power, and 

high accuracy - and also without 

changing the package form factor. 

Keeping the same package as existing 

sensors offers system designers 

flexibility on sensor selection without 

changing board design. 

ST has introduced a range of smart 

sensors that tackle these challenges 

starting with the LSM6DSOX 

launched in 2019. These sensors 

have a Machine Learning Core incorporated 

into the sensor itself with 

LSM6DSV16X 

and FSM and configurable decision 

trees. Our latest products continue 

to improve key parameters for 

developers such as performanceper-watt 

ratio. An example is the 

LSM6DSV16X, the newest member 

of our family of inertial MEMS with 

a machine learning core, launched 

earlier this year and available from 

mid 2022 . 

The LSM6DSV16X also introduces a 

new feature called Qvar to the LSM6 

family of devices. Engineers only 

need to connect two electrodes to 

measure variations in quasi-electrostatic 

potential and change two 

registers to enable the feature. Qvar 

opens the door to new applications, 

such as people counting. Instead of 

using an LED and photodiode, engineers 

can place electrodes on walls 

and measure if someone walks near 

them. The LSM6DSV16X remains 

pin-to-pin compatible with the other 

members of the LSM6DS family.

Smart Business EV Charging 

EV Charging 

Current Trends 

The electric vehicle industry is on its way to market maturity but there are still 

twists in the road for stakeholders and customers. From accessibility 

and standardisation issues to a lack of convenient and secure payment methods 

at charging stations, unresolved issues could still throw a spoke in the wheel 

of electric vehicles, leaving full adoption out of reach. 

n By Mark McCoy 

58

Electric vehicles (EVs) are 

cool. They offer a smooth 

ride and they’re good for 

the environment. For many, 

the attraction of EV ownership is 

also financial. For example, a 2020 

survey by smart charging solutions 

provider NewMotion, due to be renamed 

Shell Recharge Solutions, 

found that 61 percent of EV drivers 

were motivated to switch to save 

money. If so, what’s keeping them 

from widespread adoption? 

“The most common issues we see 

centre around accessibility and 

availability,” says Sjors Martens, 

the commercial director of chargepoint 

data provider Eco-Movement. 

“Charging points that are 

private or closed are a nuisance! In 

fact, 36 percent of charge points 

we receive have either restricted 

accessibility or are private. Without 

intervention from a company 

like ours, they’d be displayed on a 

map without any warning.” 

As if the automotive industry 

didn’t have enough problems already 

with eMobility, such as secure 

payment methods, concerns 

about carbon emissions and urban 

pollution are driving the manufacturers 

to introduce hybrid and fully 

electric powertrains. This work is 

being aided by steadily improving 

battery and motor technology but 

is being held back by the ‘chicken 

and egg’ problem of charging the 

new vehicles. 

To ensure that EVs have the same 

freedom to roam as today’s fossilfuel 

cars, a few challenges need to 

be addressed. Experts agree that 

charging has to become faster, the 

world’s network of petrol stations 

has to be upgraded with electriccharging 

facilities, and standalone 

charging stations will be necessary 

to compensate for the EV’s relatively 

limited range. 

The obvious answer is to align 

all charging points on data standards, 

providing EV drivers with a 

consistent experience no matter 

where they are. But, as Martens explains, 

that’s easier said than done: 

“Charge point operators are often 

source ©: Eco-Movement 

too busy focusing on exponential 

growth to work on data and standards. 

Furthermore, the type of 

charging points, definitions and 

regulations are vastly different 

across Europe alone, which makes 

it difficult to align perspectives.” 

Local conditions also dictate if 

private charging points can be installed, 

for example, having a private 

parking space at your home 

is the norm in Belgium but it’s still 

the exception in next-door Netherlands. 

Even so, resistance to EVs seems to 

defy logic. Even a simple back-ofthe-envelope 

calculation suggests 

that filling your tank with petrol is 

Charging 

points that 

are private 

or closed are 

a nuisance! 

Sjors Martens 

Eco-Movement 

A Winning Team 

Dutch ESS provider Alfen 

teamed up with fuel vendor 

Shell to deploy a 350kWh 

battery storage system at a 

forecourt in Zaltbommel, the 

Netherlands, offering gridbalancing 

services. 

like connecting your car to a 5MW 

energy source. By contrast, Tesla 

announced in March 2019 that 

its V3 Superchargers will deliver 

energy at rates of up to 250kW, although 

it will take a liquid-cooled 

charging cable to make it possible. 

EV charging obviously has a way 

to go before it can catch up with 

internal combustion engines in 

terms of convenience and practical 

reliability. It will take a combination 

of high voltages, high 

currents and sophisticated power 

conversion, filtering and charge 

management systems to close 

the gap. This, in turn, will demand 

the deployment of some pretty 

sophisticated connectors, cables, 

relays, conversion electronics and 

passives to ensure the same kind 

of fast, safe energy top-up offered 

by today’s petrol stations. 

Charging Network Growth 

So how close are we to a nationwide 

charging network that drivers 

can rely on when they need it, 

rather than having to hopscotch 

between charging stations? Tesla 

claimed it had more than 12,000 

Superchargers in North America, 

Europe and Asia at the end of 2021. 

This would cover more than 99 

source ©: Alfen N.V. 

59

Smart Business EV Charging 

The EV market Protocols 

percent of the US population and 

the company expects to achieve 

similar distribution in Europe by 

the end of this year. Tesla also 

claims that it recently achieved 

coverage of more than 90 percent 

of the Chinese population. 

Building charging networks looks 

like it will be big business. A report 

from Markets and Markets foresees 

that EV charging stations will 

grow from $3.22 billion in 2017 to 

$30.41 billion by 2023, an annual 

growth rate of 41.8 percent. The 

report offers a number of justifications 

for its forecast, including 

subsidy programmes for purchasing 

EVs in various countries, and a 

US government initiative to develop 

48 charging networks that will 

together cover about 25,000 miles 

(40,000 kilometres) of US highways 

across 35 states. This initiative led 

28 states, utilities, charging firms 

and electric vehicle companies, 

including GM, BMW and Nissan, to 

start working together. 

AC or DC? 

These raw numbers appear encouraging 

for potential EV drivers 

but mask the fact that there is still 

a lot of variety in charging methods, 

the infrastructure available 

to support them and, therefore, 

TSO 

System Operator 

• eclearing.net 

• Gireve 

• Hubjet 

Common Cause 

The evRoaming4EU consortium 

is a partnership project 

aimed at ensuring that 

any EV driver will be able 

to charge at any charging 

station in the EU. Its goal 

is to address and resolve 

functional, technical, 

legal, and fiscal obstacles 

that exist today between 

different countries within 

the European Union and 

create a mature European 

market for EV charging. 

infrastructure. 

Hub 

Roaming 

Platform 

DSO 

Grid Operator 

Sustaiable Home / 

Smart Home 

A Growing Market 

The EV charger market 

in Europe alone reached 

1.7 million in 2020, 

says IHS, and further 

explosive growth is to be 

expected over the next 

few years. 

OCPI (Hub) 

OCHP 

OICP 

eMIP 

OSCP 

MSP 

Service 

Provider 

OCPI (P2P) 

Adm 

CPO 

Tech 

CPO 

their usability to the average user. 

One big issue has the potential to 

reignite the legendary War of the 

Currents between Thomas Edison 

and George Westinghouse in 

the late 1880s and early 1890s. 

Edison’s arc lamp street lighting 

system ran on low-voltage direct 

current (DC), while Westinghouse 

championed the rival alternating 

current (AC) power distribution 

network, which ultimately 

triumphed – but not before the 

two engineers-turned-entrepreneurs 

threw mud at each other, 

with Edison even going so far as 

to equate Westinghouse and his 

system with the electric chair. 

The real difference between the 

two charging strategies is where 

EV driver 

OCPP 

ISO 15118 

Charging Point 

Open ADR/ 

IEC 61850 

Energiy Supplier 

the necessary transformation is 

done. Electric grids deliver AC 

which needs to be rectified to the 

appropriate DC charging voltage 

with the help of technology built 

into the car itself. DC charging 

stations, on the other hand, use 

larger, more efficient and bettercooled 

rectification circuitry than 

would be possible in a vehicle. 

Many predict that, over time, AC 

charging stations will do their 

own rectification but the jury is 

still out. 

In addition to charging power, 

the decision to use either AC or 

DC charging also depends on 

the capital costs of rectification 

and who will pay: the operators 

of the DC charging networks or 

source ©: Netherlands Enterprise Agency 

Global Cumulative Charging Station Deployments (2014 – 2020) 

source ©: IHS Automotive 

60 

14 

12 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

the owners of e-vehicles charged 

with AC. Some charging standards 

also allow bi-directional 

energy flow, so a distributed network 

of charging vehicles can 

act as both an energy sink and a 

source to stabilise the energy grid 

– which could lead to regulatory 

support in some regions. 

While some automobile vendors 

like Tesla are trying to control their 

customer base by installing proprietary 

chargers and connectors, 

others like BMW, Mercedes-Benz 

maker Daimler, Ford and the Volkswagen 

Group, which includes 

Audi and Porsche, are all backing 

a multi-vendor, multi-technology 

standard known as the Combined 

Charging System (CCS). 

As has been seen multiple times 

in other technology evolutions, 

the perceived benefits of lock-in 

are slowly giving way to standardisation 

efforts, as EV customers 

begin to demand ubiquitous 

charging facilities and weigh their 

availability more highly in their 

buying decisions. This is leading 

to a shake-out in the market 

for EV charging. Nissan and Mitsubishi 

have backed CHAdeMO 

(Charge de Move), which allows 

bi-directional charging. China, 

the world’s largest EV market, is 

establishing GB/T (which means 

it’s a favored Chinese regulation) 

as its charging standard. 

There is obviously still a lot of 

room for component manufacturers 

to innovate. For example, 

if rectification in the vehicle becomes 

more efficient, this will 

have a direct impact on the utility 

of an e-vehicle by enabling faster 

charging with AC power. Even the 

design of the plug will be a critical 

factor in the speed of charging 

and all this will help increase the 

practical range of an electric vehicle 

(see boxout). 

Of course, all of these innovations 

will have to comply with 

national and international standards, 

many of which are still being 

developed and agreed. As EVs 

move ahead to replace fossil-fuel 

vehicles, the race for EV market 

dominance will almost certainly 

be fast and furious. 

Interview 

How close are we to a nationwide 

charging network or maybe 

even to a Europe-wide charging 

network? 

With ISO 15118, we actually have 

a pretty good world-wide stansource 

©: Thomas Wagner 

We need a 

faster rollout. 

Thomas Wagner 

Of in-tech, a pioneer 

smart charging company 

based in Bavaria 

dard, except for China and Japan 

which choose to go their own 

way. Most companies are working 

together because they know 

that’s where the future of electromobility 

lies, namely in vehicle to 

grid and sectoral coupling of energy 

and mobility. 

Is the energy sector ready? 

I think the energy sector needs 

to talk more with the mobility 

sector, and vice versa. We need 

a faster rollout. It’s important 

that everyone profits: the manufacturers, 

the operators, the end 

users, and, of course, both the 

charging business and the energy 

sector. 

What are the biggest priorities 

in radically expanding electricvehicle 

(EV) charging infrastructure 

We need much higher numbers 

of charging stations and we need 

them much faster as electric vehicle 

sales are gaining speed. So I'm 

mainly talking about high power 

charging parks and also AC charging 

at home and at work. 

What role will governments play? 

After all, many legal standards 

and regulations aren’t even fully 

developed yet. 

Right, national politics has to 

support international standards 

and international business cases 

because EV will be a truly global 

market. 

61

Smart Lifestyle Urban Renewal 

Urban Renewal 

The 

Smartest 

City 

In 2000, Barcelona’s council created 22@ Barcelona 

as an urban transformation project with the aim of turning a rundown 

industrial area called Poblenou into a new innovation district. 

Today, the neighborhood is buzzing with creative startups, 

research centres and international businesses and is regularly touted 

as an example of urban, economic and social renewal. 

62

The Poblenou district of Barcelona 

long reflected the wider 

malaise of Barcelona. Once 

a thriving industrial district 

in the 19th Century, it gradually became 

the ideal canvas for spraycanwielding 

graffitists. Between 1970 

and 1990, some 1,300 firms closed, 

leaving the area littered with abandoned 

buildings: a decaying postindustrial 

landscape. 

Barcelona’s city council seized the 

opportunity offered by the 1992 

Olympics to refresh the city. A modern 

infrastructure, revamped neighborhoods, 

greener parks and a new 

two-kilometre sandy beach opened 

the city up to the Mediterranean Sea. 

The revitalisation made Barcelona a 

tourist must-visit destination again. 

And Poblenou? It, too, is awakening 

from its long sleep to become a 

torch bearer for urban renewal. 

Much of Poblenou’s renaissance has 

been built on IoT systems. Starting in 

2012, the city deployed responsive 

technologies across public transport, 

parking, street lighting and 

waste management systems as part 

of a Smart City Barcelona plan. 

Transitioning to a more energyefficient 

LED lighting system has 

led to cost savings. Sensors in lampposts 

identify when pedestrians are 

near and dim automatically if the 

streets are empty to save energy. 

The lampposts form part of a WiFi 

source ©: El País 

network, too, providing consistent, 

city-wide, free connectivity anytime, 

anywhere. The network is also integrated 

into Sentilo, a system of over 

19,500 smart meter sensors that receive 

data on weather, pollution and 

noise. IoT devices also monitor rain, 

humidity and soil moisture in city 

gardens. Using the data, gardeners 

can remotely programme electrovalves 

to deliver any irrigation needed. 

This has resulted in savings of approximately 

€500,000 per year. 

For cars, embedded sensors in parking 

bays identify if they are occupied. 

Drivers are guided to available 

spaces through ApparkB, an app 

that allows online payment for parking. 

This has reduced congestion 

and emissions. 

The innovations continue with 

smart pneumatic waste bins that 

Home to the Future 

Ten universities, nine 

R&D and technology 

transfer centres, and a 

spaceship tower, 

the 142 m high Torre 

Glòries, Barcelona's 

new signature skyscraper. 

City in the City 

The Interface Building, 

headquarters of the 

Telecommunications 

Market Commission, 

contains over 42,000 

sqm of office space. 

reduce odors and new interactive 

bus stops, powered by solar panels, 

offer USB charging stations and updates 

on bus arrivals. 

The Knowledge 

Neighbourhood 

In 2000, €200 million was earmarked 

to foster the Barcelona technology 

industry. Twenty-two acres of Poblenou 

was to be recast as an innovation 

district and its name change 

said it all. Formerly called 22a (Industrial), 

it became 22@ – tagging 

it as a digital testing ground. Visit 

the district today and any fresh graffiti 

will be by renowned local artists, 

commissioned by one of the design, 

energy, media or scientific research 

companies that call 22@ home. 

The triangle formed between the 

seafront, Avinguda Diagonal and 

Ciutadella Park is a hotbed of innovation. 

Five universities and academic 

institutions have a presence, 

and co-working spaces, incubators 

and startups abound. 

Famous brands present include Amazon, 

HP, T-Systems, Ricoh, Schneider 

Electrics and Vice Media. Sergio 

Ruiz, CEO of the Signaturit Group, 

an electronic signature software 

company, says the decision to open 

in Poblenou was easily made. 

“You can really breathe innovation 

and technology here,” he explains. 

“22@ is a hub that allows us to connect 

with other technology companies 

and promote innovation. This 

allows the development of new opportunities 

in our business. It is the 

ideal ecosystem for synergies.” 

source ©: patrizia.ag 

63 

source ©: Innovation Academy e.V.

Smart Lifestyle Urban Renewal 

It is estimated that 4,500 new companies 

have come to Poblenou 

since 2000. Of these, 47 percent 

are startups, and 31 percent are 

technology or knowledge-based 

companies. Before Covid-19 struck, 

around 56,000 tech talents had 

been attracted to the area and the 

total number of jobs created was 

estimated at 150,000. 

Old Charm, New Tech 

Poblenou is far from a business district 

where the lights go out at night. 

The redevelopment was not intended 

to run slipshod over existing residents 

but to make 22@ an appealing 

place to live. This included developing 

4,000 units of subsidised housing, 

creating new green areas, remaking 

streets and providing facilities for the 

public, such as schools and community 

centres. 

For this, the support of the real estate 

sector was critical. If educated professionals, 

tech-savvy workers and other 

creatives were to be attracted, they 

needed office and living spaces. By 

2011, there were 139 plans submitted 

for urban redevelopment, 84 from 

the private sector. 

"What caught our eye was not just 

the basic economics and demographics, 

it was also that people want 

to live there, that the universities are 

Cool Quarter 

With Poblenou, 

Barcelona has succeeded 

in rebranding 

itself as a city 

for business, talent 

and innovation. 

More Than Green 

The 22@Barcelona 

project transforms two 

hundred hectares of 

industrial land of Poblenou 

into an innovation 

hub. An estimated 

4,500 new companies 

have come to Poblenou 

since 2000. Of these, 

47 percent are startups. 

expanding, and that 22@ is increasingly 

regarded as a smart city," says 

Eduardo de Roda, country manager 

for Patrizia, an international asset 

management company focusing on 

innovation technology in the real estate 

industry. 

On behalf of clients, Patrizia has invested 

in five office and residential 

buildings. Two are redevelopments 

of old industrial space and the goal 

is to create sustainable buildings, reflecting 

the changing local environment. 

“Although 22@ is one of the largest 

urban regeneration areas in Europe, 

there is still a major shortage of Grade 

A office stock. We aim to address that 

demand,” says de Roda. 

Walk the streets of Poblenou and you 

find a lively scene, half bohemian 

and half cybernetic. La Rambla del 

Poblenou, the promenade that cuts 

through the district to the sea, has 

been revitalised with top-notch restaurants, 

microbreweries and shops. 

In the backstreets alternative art galleries, 

advertising agencies, architect 

firms, dance companies and designer 

showrooms burnish the reputation 

of Poblenou as Barcelona’s cool new 

barrio. It is certainly an eclectic mix. 

source ©: Parametric Places: Data Making + Public Space 

64

source ©: Patrizia AG 

Modernista constructions like the 

tubular Torre Glòries and the Design 

Museum of Barcelona loom large – 

but there has been considerable effort 

to preserve the heritage. 

Cisco invested $30 million in developing 

a co-innovation centre, focused 

on the Internet of Everything (IoE), 

in a former textile factory. An artistic 

colony occupies the Palo Alto Market 

area, and the Pompeu Fabra University's 

Communication Campus and 

From old to new 

The former industrial 

slum of Poblenou has 

been transformed 

into the throbbing 

heart of a new city by 

a mix of careful conservation 

and striking 

modernisation. 

the Fundació Vila Casa Museum are 

housed in renovated textile factories. 

November 2020 marked the twentieth 

anniversary of the 22@ urban 

planning project and provided an 

opportunity to reassess its direction. 

The council plans to open the district 

to green companies and more 

space was earmarked for 9,300 rental 

homes – but this looks like it will be 

increased to around 15,800 residential 

apartments. 

“It is the mix of uses that we like about 

22@,” explains de Roda. “How the office 

and living spaces are revitalising 

the quarter to create a new, dynamic 

and compelling lifestyle. That’s the 

attraction for the creative classes and 

will ensure they will continue to be 

drawn to the area.” 

Interview 

Solutions by the People, for the People 

How is Barcelona approaching 

IoT? 

Barcelona is transforming itself into 

a true smart city. The areas they have 

focused on – environmental monitoring, 

parking, waste disposal and smart 

lighting – provide them with a solid 

platform for continuing to develop in 

the future. Importantly, they have put 

all this in place not for the sake of the 

technology but because it provides 

solutions for the needs of people. 

What are the main challenges? 

First – scale. With a project like this, 

you only benefit when you cover a 

large area. This can pose problems 

because of the physical environment 

or the ‘not in my backyard’ attitudes. 

Barcelona has overcome this by effectively 

scaling proven technology from 

its Urban Lab out over the wider city. 

Any others? 

There are issues concerning retrofitting 

the urban landscape to handle 

new technology. For example, providing 

power to the parking place 

sensors. There is also security. A parking 

app helps cut down on pollution 

and congestion but it also marks 

where the car and owner will be for 

the next few hours, so security is an 

issue. 

There are some pretty nifty 

gadgets installed around here. Is 

theft a big problem? 

With such innovative products, tampering 

happens more often than you 

might think. Safeguards have to be 

put in place to protect the devices. 

What’s the payback? 

There are two: cost savings and the 

ability to influence behavior. Thanks 

to IoT, Barcelona has reduced congestion 

and lowered car emissions, 

water and energy costs. It has also 

brought significant economic development. 

The quality of life for 

residents, workers and visitors has 

Thanks to IoT, 

Barcelona 

has reduced 

congestion and 

lowered car 

emissions, 

water and 

energy costs. 

Giulio Spinelli 

EMEA Smart City 

Business Development 

Manager and technology 

specialist for timing and 

sensing at Avnet Silica, 

lives and works in Milan 

also improved. Also, collecting data 

can help government agencies place 

infrastructure where it’s needed in a 

far more focused manner. When that 

data is also made available to the 

public in effective formats, it can encourage 

behavioral changes. People 

can see it is far quicker to take a bike 

than a car for a short trip, or to leave 

a trip until later when the pollution 

will not be as bad. 


65

Smart Lifestyle IoT and Fighting Forest Fires 

IoT and Fighting Forest Fires 

Internet of 

Trees 

66

An hour can make all the difference. In an hour you can weed the 

garden, mow the lawn, plant a tree. In that same hour, 

as gardeners who make compost may know to their cost, 

a smouldering pile of biomass can easily burst into flames. 

When this happens in a forest, it can start a fire that 

ravages thousands of square kilometres and costs hundreds 

of millions of dollars to control. 

n By Mark McCoy 

Being able to discover forest 

fires early is an increasingly 

urgent issue. According 

to Cal Fire, California’s 

firefighting agency, nine of California’s 

20 largest fires to date 

have occurred since 2020. California’s 

Dixie fire, which began in 

mid-July 2021, grew to consume 

almost 4,000 square kilometres of 

forest by the end of September. 

According to the New York Times, 

authorities spent more than $610 

million over those three months 

to bring it under control. There 

have been similarly extreme fires 

over the past five years in places 

as far afield as Australia, Greece, 

and Portugal. And it’s a growing 

issue: the map below shows just 

how much of the planet’s surface 

Fires are a 

growing Issue 

A map of global 

vulnerability 

to wildfires. 

is now extremely vulnerable to 

wildfires. 

The ability to find and suppress 

forest fires before they take hold is 

therefore of immense value, but it’s 

a hard problem to solve given how 

large forests can be, the lack of infrastructure 

within them, and the 

challenge of sensing the earliest 

stages of a fire before it bursts into 

flames. A Berlin-based startup has 

decided to be up for the challenge 

and is addressing it by developing 

advanced sensing nodes and highly 

distributed networking technology. 

Although Dryad’s initial focus 

is to detect fires, it expects that its 

system will also be able to monitor 

other aspects of forestry, such 

as soil moisture, tree growth, sap 

flow, and even illegal logging. 

source ©: Dryad Networks 

67


The same technology should also 

enable air and water quality monitoring 

over large areas. 

A Network of Networks 

Dryad’s Silvanet is made up of five 

major components: three pieces 

of hardware, a proprietary RF networking 

technology that extends 

the reach of the LoRaWAN protocol, 

and a cloud analytics and 

alerting platform. The whole system 

has been designed to overcome 

the overarching constraints 

of the lack of power and connectivity 

in forests. 

Dryad’s Silvanet 

Wildfire Sensor 

is designed to 

operate for up 

to 15 years from 

onboard solar 

cells. 

source ©: Cision 

The Silvanet Wildfire 

Sensor 

The sensing node for Silvanet is a 

solar-powered device that uses a 

sensor to measure temperature, 

humidity, and air pressure, as well 

as the concentrations of gases including 

hydrogen, carbon monoxide, 

carbon dioxide and volatile 

organic compounds at sensitivities 

of parts per million. A lowpower 

microcontroller, which integrates 

support for the LoRaWAN 

protocol, runs algorithms based 

on machine-learning (ML) strategies 

to process sensor data to reduce 

the energy burden of communicating 

it in raw form over the 

LoRaWAN RF network. 

The Wildfire Sensor is designed 

to run for up to 15 years without 

maintenance or a battery, which 

avoids introducing potentially 

flammable materials such as lithium 

into the forest. 

Silvanet is 

de signed to overcome 

the constraints 

of the lack 

of power and connectivity 

in forests. 

Carsten Brinkschulte 

Dryad Networks 

The Silvanet Mesh Gateway 

The Silvanet Mesh Gateway uses 

a LoRa concentrator chipset to 

implement the low-power, low 

data-rate LoRaWAN protocol, 

which is used to communicate 

with the Silvanet Wildfire Sensors 

and with third-party sensors that 

properly implement the standard. 

LoRaWANs usually have a star architecture, 

in which each end-node 

device, such as the Wildfire Sensor, 

has a direct relationship with the 

LoRaWAN gateway and through 

it to the internet. Although this 

approach is simple and widely 

implemented, it limits the reach 

of LoRaWAN networks to a circle 

whose radius is defined by the RF 

range from node to gateway. This, 

in turn, limits how far a LoRaWAN 

network can reach into a forest and 

hence its utility for early fire detection 

over large areas. 

Dryad’s key innovation is to extend 

the LoRaWAN with proprietary 

technology that links the 

gateways to each other to form 

a mesh of star networks, which 

together can reach much more 

deeply into a forest. The Silvanet 

Mesh Gateways are also solarpowered 

and designed to be 

mounted on trees at about three 

metres above the ground. 

Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Dryad, 

said: “The mesh is the magic 

of what we're doing. Standard 

LoRaWAN has a star network architecture 

so you can buy dozens 

of LoRa gateways, but they 

all have one problem. They all 

need to be connected directly 

to the internet. We place a mesh 

gateway every three kilometres 

which extends the coverage of 

the LoRaWAN network deep into 

the forest. Then we have a pro- 


68

prietary protocol to connect from 

mesh gateway to mesh gateway.” 

The Silvanet Border 

Gateway 

Silvanet WildFire Sensors and Silvanet 

Mesh Gateways together 

can create an extensive ‘Internet 

of Trees’ among themselves, but 

they need a Silvanet Border Gateway 

to reach the wider internet. 

The Silvanet Border Gateway is designed 

to be placed at the edge of 

the forest, perhaps in a visitor’s car 

park or nearby building, to link the 

mesh network to the wider internet 

and then on to the Silvanet Cloud 

Platform. Each Border Gateway can 

act as a LoRa gateway, using the 

LoRa concentrator chipset. It can 

also implement 4G connectivity 

using the LTE-M standard and fall 

back to 2G and GPRS protocols if 

necessary. For even more remote 

deployments, the Silvanet Border 

Gateway can connect to the internet 

using the SWARM satellite network. 

The Border Gateway can be powered 

by solar cells, if necessary, 

although there is also support for 

wired power and Ethernet connectivity 

if that is available at the 

border site. 

The Silvanet Cloud Platform 

The sensor nodes, mesh networks 

and gateways are designed to 

bring pre-processed data from 

throughout the forest to the 

Silvanet Cloud Platform, which 

provides a complete solution for 

wildfire detection and monitoring 

the health and growth of the 

forest. The Silvanet application 

groups sensor devices and gateways 

either by geographical area, 

or by characteristics. Details related 

to each sensor, especially their 

fire status, are shown on a map. 


The Silvanet Mesh 

Gateway 

connects multiple 

LoRa star networks 

into a daisy-chain 

with greater reach. 

The Engineering Challenge 

Dryad has an experienced team 

of founders with a wide variety of 

relevant skills but implementing 

Silvanet is still a challenge. Along 

with the hardware, it includes firmware 

development for energy-constrained 

data analytics, support for 

over-the-air updates, IoT security, 

implementing the LoRaWAN and 

ensuring standards compliance, 

creating the proprietary links between 

Mesh Gateways, integrating 

multiple forms of RF connectivity 

in the Border Gateways, and the 

cloud platform and analytics. All 

this must be achieved in equipment 

working at low power, with 

solar panels that are often in shade, 

in the difficult RF environment of a 

forest, and with the ruggedness to 

ensure long operating lifetimes. 

And, especially for the Wildfire Sensors, 

it must be done at the lowest 

possible cost to enable wide deployment. 

Brinkschulte says: “If you want to 

put something else on the list, RF 

communications in the forest is 

challenging because every tree is 

an obstruction full of water that 

absorbs radio waves.” 

There are other challenges with 

the RF implementation. Both 

69


the LoRaWAN and the 4G radios 

in the Border Gateways must be 

on all the time because they must 

be ready to accept data from the 

Wildfire nodes or inbound messages 

from the cloud. If 4G LTE-M 

connectivity is unavailable, falling 

back to 2G protocols also boosts 

power consumption. 

“A key challenge for us is the ultralow 

power design of the sensor 

Whispering Forests 

The Silvanet Border 

Gateway brokers 

communication 

between the mesh of 

LoRa networks and 

the internet. 

hardware,” says Brinkschulte. “We 

need to work in an environment 

where we have very little energy 

input, yet we have to do something 

complex. We need to scan for gas 

compositions and run ML software, 

it needs to work reliably, and we 

need to detect fires very quickly. 

These are contradicting goals, and 

so one challenge is to select the 

right ultra-low power components. 

“At the same time, price is key 

because we will need to put hundreds 

of thousands if not millions 

of Wildfire Sensors in a forest for 

the system to work, and the price 

of each component at that scale 

determines the system cost. We 

can’t choose a component that 

performs extremely well but 

pushes the Bill of Material up by 

five euro and kills the product.” 


Partnering for 

Market Insights 

Dryad has worked with Avnet 

Silica to explore its options for 

components that can meet these 

tough challenges. 

For example, the initial design 

uses a single- and dual-core microcontroller 

which offers ultra-low 

power operation and integrates 

LoRa radio, while having the performance 

to analyse sensor data 

with enough sophistication to detect 

wildfires early, without creating 

false positives. 

“We have to do that in the sensor 

because we do not have enough 

bandwidth to transmit all of the 

sensor data to the analytics in the 

cloud,” according to Brinkschulte. 

“We really appreciate the competent 

discussions we're having 

with Avnet Silica. They are bringing 

a lot of ideas and proposals for 

components which may optimise 

the performance of the system.” 

Dryad is already looking at potential 

optimisations of the hardware 

designs with even lower power 

and even lower costs, “and that's 

a constant discussion that we're 

having on which chipsets to use. 

We need to have it at really low 

cost and ultra-low power because 

if you halve the power consumption 

of the device you can halve 

the size of the solar panel and 

energy storage, which are key 

price-driving factors of the sensor 

node”, Brinkschulte notes. 

Dryad is using super-capacitors to 

store energy from the solar cells, 

rather than introducing potentially 

toxic and flammable rechargeable 

batteries into the forest. 

70

The network architecture of Silvanet 


“If you can reduce power consumption 

you can reduce the 

capacity of the super-capacitors, 

which would also drive down the 

price. Super-capacitors are not yet 

commoditised, and so selecting 

the right components is definitely 

something where Avnet Silica has 

the competency to advise us on selecting 

which may perform better, 

have better availability, or a better 

price.” 

Dryad’s use of the parts is also a 

little unconventional in that supercapacitors 

are more widely used 

to provide enough energy to enable 

systems that have suddenly 

lost mains power to do an orderly 

shutdown. 

“There's lots of specific things that 

we need to do to charge the super-capacitors 

from the solar cell, 

so we need charging circuits that 

actually do that and that is a bit 

more challenging because it's not 

the standard way of doing things,” 

Brinkschulte adds. 

Avnet Silica is also helping Dryad 

understand current supply constraints 

for various parts, caused 

by supply-chain issues ranging 

source ©: Avnet Silica 

from the pandemic through to 

factory fires. It has been trying to 

ensure that Dryad chooses components 

that will be available in 

enough volume to allow it to roll 

out Wildfire Sensors and Gateways 

in volume. 

“When you move to your go-tomarket 

strategy and try to roll 

out your network and the quantity 

goes up, you need to have the 

microcontrollers and other parts 

delivered on time,” says Ingo Seehagen, 

senior field application engineer 

at Avnet Silica. 

From Tree 

to Tree 

The network 

architecture of 

Silvanet 

When you roll 

out your network, 

you need 

to have your 

parts delivered 

on time. 

Ingo Seehagen 

Senior field application 

engineer at Avnet Silica 

Dryad’s Vision 

According to Brinkschulte, wildfire 

sensing is just the first application 

of the Dryad networking technology. 

“This is a generic IoT communications 

infrastructure for the forest. 

There are tons of applications that 

forestry can benefit from once our 

infrastructure is in place. Soil moisture 

is one of them, tree growth, 

sap flow, anti-logging alerts using 

sound detection, and emergency 

communication for forest workers.” 

Forestry equipment maker Stihl is 

one of Dryad’s backers. “We create 

an IoT network infrastructure that 

digitises the forestry industry, and 

I guess that's of strategic interest 

to them,” says Brinkschulte. 

The deal also gives Dryad access to 

Stihl’s electronics manufacturing 

services, and all the tacit knowledge 

and expertise it has in making 

rugged electronics for use in 

challenging environments. 

“That is an advantage for us because 

if the mothership uses them, 

and the baby uses it as well, that 

means they give us good attention.” 

71

Smart Lifestyle Mobile Services 

72

Mobile Services 

Taking 5G 

to the Max 

The pandemic has increased business and 

user reliance on mobile services and paved the way for 5G. 

But why is it still so difficult to predict 

how useful 5G will be? 

n By Tom Leddo* 

The return on 

investment 

of 5G for the 

operators is 

by no means 

certain. 

Timotheus Höttges 

CEO of Deutsche Telekom 

Smart cities, self-driving vehicles 

and advanced robotics 

are just the tip of the iceberg: 

there's no doubt that 

5G will radically change the world. 

As far back as 2017, Timotheus 

Höttges, the CEO of Deutsche 

Telekom, gave an estimate for a 

nationwide 5G network in Europe, 

saying that the costs could amount 

to €300 billion to €500 billion - for 

a product whose "return on investment" 

for the operators was by no 

means certain. Which responsible 

businessman would invest such 

sums without knowing if and how 

such an investment might pay off? 

The world is a different place 

today than it was before the 

COVID-19 lockdowns. Our dependence 

on wireless services 

has increased dramatically, as has 

the demand for more speed and 

bandwidth. It would be negligent 

to believe that mobile data 

traffic will decrease again as the 

vaccines roll out and the world 

returns to "normalcy." Slow networks 

have simply become unacceptable. 

All operators are working 

flat out to provide users with 

better, faster networks. In many 

ways, the pandemic has been the 

catalyst to accelerate 5G infrastructure 

and deployment. 

Short-term Impact 

Because it is an application-based 

technology, we won't know the 

full benefits of 5G until it is 

source ©: Deutsche Telekom AG 

*Tom Leddo is Chief Strategy Officer of MD7, a mobile infrastructure solutions company based in San Diego. 73

Smart Lifestyle Mobile Services 

7.6 

The 5G Readiness Index 2021: Europe is Falling behind 

6.1 

5.8 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.9 4.7 4.7 4.6 

4.3 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.7 

source ©: Deutsche Telekom source ©: Kearney analysis 

United States 

South Korea 

Norway 

Japan 

Singapore 

Switzerland 

Beamforming 

New aktive antenna technology brings better reception and higher data rates 

Passive antenna 

Active antenna 

Reception evenin 

outlying areas 

thanks to adjusted 

beam signal. 

Signals radiate 

evenly in all 

directions 

Signal weaker at 

the edge 

Individually 

controllable signals 

can be targeted 

Signal is just as strong in 

the peripheral area as in the center 

Client only uses 

telephone, requiring 

less bandwidth 

Finland 

Italy 

Unready in Europe 

The 5G Readiness Index 

reveals that Europe is 

falling behind. But 5G 

isn't just an upgrade, but 

a paragym shift that will 

unleash innovation and 

new business ideas leaving 

latecomers playing 

catch-up. 

Adjustable 

transmitting 

power 

Perfect coverage 

for every single customer 

(maximum cell throughput) 

China 

Netherlands 

Sweden 

Australia 

Denmark 

France 

tions will not disappear when 

the next generation of mobile is 

implemented. Rather, they will experience 

a performance boost under 

5G, such as faster downloads, 

improved streaming and gaming, 

or more reliable video conferencing. 

Mobile operators which can 

take advantage of this difference 

Horizontal and vertical 

antennaadjustment increases 

coverageespecially in urban areas 

withhighrise buildings. 

Signal is only 

transmitted 

when needed 

Client streams video 

at high data rates. 

Signal is adjusted as 

necessary 

Germany 

Spain 

United Kingdom 

Austria 

Belgium 

"here," which will take another 

five to ten years. Until then, we 

see two types of near-term impact: 

How existing applications 

work on 5G networks and how 5G 

impacts the economy even as it is 

being deployed. 

Even though 5G is applicationbased, 

today's mobile applicawill 

definitely be among the winners 

of the development. 

The other angle from which to 

look at the short-term impact of 

5G, is the benefit to the economy. 

According to a study conducted 

for the U.S. by the Boston Consulting 

Group, 5G will contribute 

between $400 billion and $500 

billion to the gross domestic 

product there and create up to 

one million new jobs by 2030. 

Even if these figures already seem 

impressive: The economic impact 

of a new mobile network has already 

been underestimated at 

least once. Studies at the beginning 

of 4G deployment, for example, 

assumed that investment 

in 4G networks in the U.S. would 

contribute about $73 billion to 

$151 billion to GDP from 2012 

to 2016 and create 371,000 to 

771,000 new jobs. By 2016, however, 

4G contributed nearly $445 

To Beam or not to Beam? 

Instead of emitting a mobile 

signal in a circular pattern, 

which then becomes weaker 

and weaker at the edges, as 

has been the case in the past, 

beamforming allows 5G signals 

to be targeted in the form of 

elongated lobes. This means 

that the transmission power can 

be adjusted as needed. 

74

The 5G Economy 

will go through three phases, 

says the Boston Consulting 

Group. Robust 5G networks 

will serve as the backbone 

of future economic growth. 

Rising 5G penetration rates 

will enable transformation in 

existing applications. Phase 

three will bring benefits to 

citizens and businesses 

including higher productivity, 

lower costs, and better health 

and safety. 

Broad 

benefits 

5G -enabled 

use cases 

5G will be the Foundation for Tomorrow's Economy 

A robust 5G network will bring significant direct benefits: 

• More data, more devices, and increased speed 

• A better network experience for US citizens and businesses 

source ©: Boston Consulting Group 

billion to GDP. Over the course 

of the "4G decade," more than 20 

million jobs were created in the 

U.S. alone. 

In this sense, the true impact of 

5G is likely to be much higher 

than we are currently outlining. 

A Look at the Potential 

While the near-term impact of 5G is 

quantifiable in terms of application 

performance and GDP growth, it 

still does not take into account the 

broader effect of the 5G ecosystem. 

For 5G to truly take hold, the 

industry must demonstrate the 

technology's "business case." Why 

else would investment continue to 

flow into the sector? How to develop 

use cases for 5G without using 

5G? It's the ultimate chicken-andegg 

scenario. So which comes first, 

the technology or the application? 

With 4G, it was the technology. 

Application versus network was 

never an issue with 4G because 

4G was content-driven. Consumers 

wanted faster speeds to 

stream movies, go online and 

generally use mobile Internet. 

However, while 4G was a big step 

Fixed Wireless 

Access 

Leveraging the improved speed and 

performance of 5G to offer broadband 

to homes and businesses 

Robust 

5G network 

The Different Rationales for Deploying 5G 

Enhanced 

Mobile 

Broadband 

Offering a better and more unique 

user experience-often including 

tailored content and services 

Near term 

forward for the way mobile users 

consume content, the technology 

didn't break through until 

the emergence of certain applications. 

Through them, developers 

learned what the technology 

could do and products and services 

emerged, such as Uber, that 

used 4G to transmit data and locations 

- and changed our lives. 

With 5G, it's very different. Unlike 

4G, 5G lacks a fundamental network 

for developers to even begin 

developing applications. That's 

because we don't yet know what 

5G can really do. We also don't 

know how applications will use 

the near-zero latency and IoT capabilities. 

As a result, it's impossible 

to assess the true impact of 5G. 

Network Cost 

Optimization 

Meeting network traffic demands in 

a more cost-effective manner than 

building new cell sites 

The business case depends on multiple factors, including market needs, technology options, the existing 

(and expected) competitive landscape, marketing strategies, and tailored content 

Who Will Lead in 5G? 

By the end of the 2G era, 

spectrum-related regulations 

increased licensing 

costs and delayed investment 

in 3G in Europe, so 

Japan dominated and 

was well-positioned to 

lead the 4G economy, 

too. During both the 2G 

and 3G eras, the US was 

slow to roll out networks. 

However, US regulators 

made important policy 

decisions, and by 2015, 

over 50 percent of adults 

in both the US and Japan 

had 4G subscriptions—a 

higher percentage than in 

most European countries. 

It remains to be seen who 

will lead the 5G revolution. 

New Use Cases 

Moving beyond core connectivity with 

newusecases(verticalor horizontal) 

and business models (mostly B2B and 

B2B2C) 

Long term 

5G-enabled use cases are key to building the 5G economy: 

• Extreme mobile broadband 

• Fixed wireless access 

• Massive loT (consumer wearables, logistics and tracking) 

• Mission-critical loT (e-health, connected vehicles) 

Broad societal benefits will include: 

• Improved productivity 

• Improved cost competitiveness for US companies 

• Improved health and safety 

The theoretical possibilities are 

endless. At its core, 5G is about real-time 

connectivity and connecting 

everything to everything – the 

basic promise of IoT, after all. 

Once the first business model is 

established that leverages the capabilities 

of 5G, the ROI will likely 

be greater than anyone is predicting 

today. Just as Uber created a 

ride-sharing market that would 

have been impossible without 4G, 

companies that listen wisely to 

their customers can find the next 

big niche with the help of 5G. 

The Next Big Thing 

Each new generation of technology 

has brought improvements 

with faster and more reliable connections. 

Since the introduction of 

4G/LTE, mobile has changed the 

way people work, live, get around, 

or spend their leisure time. But 

where those advances were already 

astronomical, 5G will far 

eclipse them. No one can predict 

what the future will bring, but the 

limitless potential of 5G is beyond 

question. All that remains to be 

seen is how, when, and by whom 

this technology's enormous potential 

will be fully realised. 

source ©: Boston Consulting Group 

75

Smart Lifestyle Interview: Chetan Khona 

I bet these last few months have 

been an exciting time to work for 

Xilinx. 

Yeah, Tim, it sure is. Recently, 

we’ve doubled down on our 

products geared for my segment 

of the market: industrial vision, 

healthcare and sciences. And, if 

you haven't noticed, we've announced 

about five years’ worth 

of products for industrial and 

healthcare IoT edge applications 

in the past few months. 

Interview 

The World 

is Shrinking 

Computer chips are more powerful and versatile than ever 

and they're getting smaller every day. A company making 

this happen is Xilinx, based in San Jose, California, 

and it is one from just a handful of innovators shaping 

the future of semiconductors. The inventor of the field 

programmable gate array (FPGA) has just been acquired 

by microprocessor giant AMD for the staggering sum 

of $35 billion. Smart Industry sat down with 

Chetan Khona, Director, Industrial, Vision, 

Healthcare & Sciences at AMD. 

n By Tim Cole * 

source ©: TIM Global Media BV 

So, you already have your work cut 

out for you for the next five years. 

Yes, absolutely. We just announced 

our cost-optimised portfolio 

at 16 nanometers, our Artix 

UltraScale+ in our extensions towards 

Zynq UltraScale+ devices 

that are amazingly popular in industrial 

healthcare IoT systems. In 

April of this year, we introduced 

our Kria system-on-modules that 

enable developers to programme 

and differentiate their designs at 

the software level, without requiring 

FPGA programming experience. 

Then, in June of this year, 

we announced our Versal AI edge 

products for people who don't 

really know what FPGAs are. It’s 

an Adaptive Compute Acceleration 

Platform (ACAP) for real-time 

systems in automated driving, 

predictive factory and healthcare 

systems, multi-mission payloads 

in aerospace and defense, and a 

breadth of other applications. 

Could you explain what role they 

play in the development of IoT systems? 

Sure, adaptive system-on-a-chip, 

or SoC FPGA for short, is what our 

Zynq and Zynq UltraScale+, and 

now our Versal AI edge devices 

offer: processing at the IoT edge, 

right at the analog digital boundary. 

They enable scalability from 

low to mid to high-end systems 

but also allow you to keep running 

software on a consistent 

Arm processing subsystem. In addition, 

they have customised acceleration 

blocks for a variety of 

76 

*Tim Cole is editor of Smart Industry.

applications ranging from things 

like electric drive to patient monitors 

and security cameras, all with 

the same device. We call this ‘platform 

design’ and platforms are 

critical to industrial and healthcare 

IoT design. 

What is FPGA DNA? 

When we say FPGA DNA, we are 

referring to the fact that, even 

though we have systems-onchips, 

what separates ours from 

traditional SoCs supplied by other 

semiconductor manufacturers 

is that, in addition the usual set 

of status-quo features, we also 

offer fabric FPGAs to go along 

with them. In the past, you’ve often 

seen a processor sitting next 

to an FPGA, now you essentially 

are getting the functions of both 

devices in one because we've 

brought the FPGA and the processor 

together under one hood. 

You mentioned platforms. Why are 

they critical in situations like this? 

Xilinx has identified a few key 

pieces that are used in virtually all 

industrial and healthcare IoT systems; 

things like functional safety, 

cybersecurity, connectivity, control, 

vision, mixed criticality, embedded 

software and edge AI. These are 

pieces that are used in almost all 

new industrial and healthcare IoT 

designs. If you have to start designing 

from scratch every time, you 

might have a product out by the 

end of the decade, so good luck to 

you! But the platform concept helps 

you to be more efficient by re-using 

blocks and leveraging your investment. 

When you mix the scalability 

of Xilinx SoCs with this platform in 

concept, you get what a lot of our 

customers would feel is a winning 

combination. 

The semiconductor world is moving 

quickly to things like miniaturisation, 

lower power, lightweight 

or even entirely wireless. What can 

Xilinx bring to the table here? 

You're so right! I mean, no one out 

there is selling products that are 

bigger, slower or require more 

power. The world in all aspects of 

life is moving to smaller, lighter, 

wireless and battery power. In the 

short term, there is this concept 

of compute density that we're 

really focused on. As more and 

more processing is moving to 

the extreme edge, to the analog/ 

digital boundary, compute density 

increasingly becomes a bigger 

deal. That's something we've 

tapped into with InFO packaging 

in the cost-optimised portfolio 

extensions that we have just announced. 

Tell us something about integrated 

fan out. What is it and why should 

customers be interested? 

I wouldn’t recommend your readers 

try this at home but if you 

were to crack open your mobile 

phone – and maybe you have 

one, you know, with a fruit logo 

on it – you'll see examples of InFO 

packaging in action. Integrated 

fan out eliminates the substrate 

that acts as the interconnect between 

the dye and the balls that 

connect up to the printed circuit 

board. What this means is that 

you're getting the most compute 

density per square millimetre of 

any embedded processor on the 

planet without reducing IO count. 

Typically speaking, you're going 

to see 60 percent smaller size, 70 

percent lower height, with zero 

IO loss. Having that kind of computational 

horsepower in something 

smaller than the size of your 

fingernail is an absolute game 

changer for many industries. 

You know, that sounds like the end 

of the road for chip miniaturisation, 

doesn’t it? How can you possibly 

get any smaller? 

Well, this is independent from the 

natural scaling that takes place, 

right? Even though Moore's Law 

has slowed down slightly over 

time, that doesn't mean that geometries 

aren’t still shrinking. 

Right now, our 16 nanometer 

products are probably main- 

Just because 

Moore's Law 

has slowed 

down slightly 

doesn't mean 

geometries 

aren't still 

shrinking. 

Chetan Khona 

AMD 

stream for many applications, but 

we've announced products, many 

of which are already entering into 

full-ramp production, that work 

at seven nanometers, and the 

world is shrinking even more. 

If the dye shrinks even further, 

the InFO packaging will have to 

shrink along with it. 

You were personally involved in 

the Xilinx solution approach. What 

is your primary focus and what are 

your core vertical markets? 

At Xilinx, we have eight markets 

that we’re really focused on, 

namely wired and wireless communication, 

data centres, automotive, 

aerospace and defense, 

test and measurement, audiovideo 

broadcast, consumer 

electronics, and then my market 

which is industrial vision, healthcare 

and sciences which makes 

up almost 40 percent of the total 

number of customers Xilinx has 

out there. 

You are partnering with Avnet 

Silica, the sponsors of this magazine 

and the corresponding podcast, 

We Talk IoT, in which you’ve 

already appeared. What is Avnet’s 

role in your go-to-market process? 

As we touched on when you 

asked about the ecosystem, we're 

fortunate to have partners, and in 

this case Avnet Silica, as a close 

cooperative partner with whom 

we can generate clear value for 

customers on a daily basis. They 

do the distribution and financial 

services, support and upfront 

architectural advisement for customers’ 

design services, from the 

chip to the board to connectivity 

to the cloud. They do the training 

and events that draw a lot 

of people, whether in person or, 

these days especially, online but 

most importantly for us, they're a 

trusted partner that our customers 

think of first and can count 

on even in such uncertain times. 

I would say they are the key player 

in my own business go-to-market 

process. 

77

Smart Solution Data Marketplaces 

Data Marketplaces 

Old Data for 

Sale 

Do you know what your data is worth? Many private 

companies and public sector organisations could be sitting on 

piles of money they could use for other purposes– but where can 

they go to buy, sell or exchange this ‘used’ data? Data exchanges 

are an exciting new frontier in the realm of Big Data. 

n By Stian Overdahl 

78

Data exchanges, or data 

marketplaces, could potentially 

unlock new revenue 

streams for companies, 

as well as lowering the cost of engaging 

in data-intensive activities, 

such as training machine-learning 

algorithms. Aside from exchanges, 

white label solutions for large corporates 

and their suppliers are another 

promising development. 

Any company can estimate the 

value of its data by calculating the 

cost of collecting it, its value to an 

internal commercial project, and 

its quality and longevity (will it 

have value in five years’ time?). In 

the era of data exchanges, these 

figures take on a new cogency 

as companies sell data sets, give 

them to trusted partners or acquire 

new data sets. 

Establishing a value for data on a 

public marketplace could bring 

big benefits to companies. For 

example, a project generating a 

significant amount of data could 

defray some of its costs by selling 

it, while a project where collection 

costs are significant could be done 

more cheaply by buying-in data. 

Sheridan Johns, head of ecosystem 

at Ocean Protocol, a blockchain-based 

data exchange, says, 

“People understand that data is 

valuable, and people are building 

valuable companies using data, 

but what are people going to 

pay for data? Putting data on our 

marketplace, allowing data to be 

Data 

Provider 

Compute 

Provider 

of digital and emerging technology 

at professional services firm EY. 

Buyers of raw data often find that 

suppliers collect and aggregate 

data in different ways and formats. 

A company that wants to 

provide a weather service, for example, 

can run into difficulties as 

it must obtain data from various 

measuring sites. 

It’s likely that a weather station 

run by a professional organisation, 

like an airport, would collect 

data more frequently, whereas 

others, such as a community organisation, 

would sample less frequently. 

In addition, the various 

measurers may calibrate their sensors 

differently. Maintenance can 

also be a factor – for example, one 

supplier may experience more 

downtime or it may decide to 

upgrade its software, making the 

data fragmented or unreadable. 

There are also questions about 

whether a company can build a 

product with a competitive advantage 

by relying on third-party data 

sources, or does it need to build its 

own sensing infrastructure? 

“In 99 percent of cases, you will 

recognise that the competipriced 

in real time using dynamic 

pricing features and automatic 

market makers, enables an individual 

or organisation to publish 

a certain dataset and determine 

exactly what its value is.” 

Johns believes that within ten 

years it’s going to be commonplace 

for large organisations to be 

either buyers or sellers of data using 

online data marketplaces. This 

potential growth will result from 

the growing need for data, especially 

for artificial intelligence. 

Increased demand and a growing 

awareness of the importance of 

data also makes companies more 

likely to share externally, notes Didier 

Navez, senior vice president of 

strategy and alliances at Dawex, a 

data exchange. “In the context of 

training AI, it seems like the market 

is evolving and maturing, and 

companies are really willing to 

share data. Clearly data exchanges 

help in that process because they 

provide a structured environment 

where exchange of data is secure 

and compliant,” he says. 

There are still several flies in the 

ointment, especially in the domain 

of IoT: quality of data, privacy 

and commercial sensitivities. 

"When it comes to monetisation 

of IoT data, people think it should 

be easy. Unfortunately, there are 

a couple of huge issues and this 

concept very quickly becomes 

very complicated,” says Aleksander 

Poniewierski, global head 

Decentralized Data Market Protocol and Network of AI Data / Servies 

Storage 

Provider 

Analytics 

People understand 

that data 

is valuable, but 

what are they 

going to pay? 

Sheridan Johns 

Ocean Protocol 

Further 

Processing 

source ©: New Work SE 

source ©: Asia Crypto Today 

Algorithm 

f(x) 

Curation 

Building a Data Ecosystem 

Through the help of decentralised service 

agreements and access controls powered 

by virtual machines, Ocean allows users 

to access, monetise, and even curate data 

management services that they will need 

for their businesses. 

79

Smart Solution Data Marketplaces 

tive advantage comes from building 

your own data infrastructure, 

rather than sourcing [externally],” 

says Poniewierski. If a company 

creates a business that relies on 

external data sources, then competitors 

might easily surpass it, he 

notes. 

Putting Data to Good Use 

Exchange operators embrace a 

range of different models, ranging 

from fully open data marketplaces, 

through restricted marketplaces 

or corporate internal data sharing 

platforms, to data brokers that will 

search for a data set on request. 

There is also the split between private 

and public sectors. For example, 

several public sector organisations 

have a mandate to share data 

sets and a marketplace is one way 

to make these more readily available. 

One such project, Gaia-X in 

Europe, envisages a marketplace 

to improve artificial intelligence 

product development, including a 

“protected data room for development 

and test data in order to continuously 

improve the AI applications 

and adapt them to customer 

needs”. 

Long-running fears about personal 

data privacy means there is now 

the potential for forming decentralised 

autonomous organisations 

80 

The advantage 

comes from 

building your 

own data infrastructure. 

Aleksander Poniewierski 

Global head of digital 

and emerging technology 

at EY 

Purchasing Platform 

Smart Contracts by 

Databroker DAO is a 

platform for listing, 

verifying, aggregating, 

enhancing and 

reselling data through 

a simple and intuitive 

user interface. 

(DAOs) where individuals could 

share their own anonymised data 

with others. 

“What we’re seeing emerging on 

the consumer front is the idea of 

data unions, or data DAOs, where 

individuals are encouraged to pool 

their data into one larger data set. 

Then, when that data set is used 

by the third party, the rewards are 

distributed to all of the individuals 

who helped to make it,” says Johns. 

source ©:EY / Ernst & Young Global Limited 

White-label solutions target organisations 

where commercial sensitivity, 

privacy and other concerns 

are top of mind. These allow data 

sets to be shared securely between 

business units within the organisation 

or with trusted supply-chain 

partners. 

In the enterprise segment, the advantages 

of sharing data may outweigh 

commercial sensitivities. In 

the German automotive industry, 

companies – including Mercedes- 

Benz, BMW and Volkswagen – are 

exploring the potential benefits 

of a data exchange programme. 

The goal is an open, scalable network 

for sharing cross-company, 

standardised information. As a 

technology partner, Ocean Protocol 

describes the basic concept as 

showing how competitive companies 

can benefit mutually by sharing 

data rather than building separate, 

proprietary, siloed services for 

themselves. 

Financial opportunities will depend 

on the value companies 

see in the data they obtain on exchanges, 

and what they’re willing 

to spend. In turn, that depends on 

how the data can improve business 

outcomes – and its quality. 

source ©: Medium

Interview 

Circular Reasoning 

What is Dawex? 

Dawex helps facilitate the circulation 

of data among various stakeholders. 

We are developing data 

exchange platforms that can be 

used by many different types of 

organisations, whether private or 

public. 

Why are data exchanges important? 

As you know, the world is seeing 

an explosion in data being created. 

IoT is part of the reason but, 

even though the supply of data is 

incredibly high – activities such 

as training a machine learning algorithm 

requires huge amounts 

of data – demand is increasing a 

lot, more than a single organisation 

can typically supply. Organisations 

need to look to external 

sources. Of course, you have open 

data, you can scrape the web and 

do things like that but very often 

the most important data are residing 

at other organisations – accessing 

that can be challenging, 

at least legally. 

So that’s where data exchanges 

come in? 

They connect the data suppliers 

with the data acquirers and help 

them engage. That requires trust. 

Elements that can create trust 

include being able to carry out a 

data transaction in a secure and 

regulatory compliant environment 

– something you can typically 

embed in a data exchange 

platform. 

Can I buy used data like I buy a 

used car? Does it belong to me? 

Data owners must consider 

whether they are ready to make 

their data available to others and, 

if so, on which terms and conditions, 

and at what price. Typically, 

data is licensed. Instead of buying 

the data outright, the buyer 

purchases a license which allow 

them to use it under certain 

terms and conditions. There are 

also many regulations governing 

data sales – not just private data, 

but any kind of data. We know of 

more than 120 pieces of regulation 

globally and our anticipation 

is that the data economy is going 

to be regulated as heavily as the 

financial markets – if not more so. 

What are the technical requirements? 

The actual sharing and transferring 

of data can happen in many 

ways: simple, file-based exchange 

or API-based; it can be a one-time 

transaction versus subscription 

or ongoing. With a subscription 

the user obtains access to data 

Data owners 

must always 

know who they 

are dealing 

with, who is 

using the data, 

and how it will 

be used. 

Didier Navez 

Dawex 

source ©: Dawex Systems 

for a certain period, with the data 

updated on a regular basis according 

to the agreement. The 

challenge and opportunity for 

the data exchange provider is to 

be able to keep track of, and cope 

with, all these use cases and scenarios. 

At Dawex, we manage all 

these issues, whether it’s a hedge 

fund making a one-off acquisition 

of a data set to test an algorithm, 

or on-going projects, for example 

in the agricultural sector and in 

the agri-foods industry. 

In September 2021, you joined 

a consortium of partners from 

the aerospace industry to create 

what you call the Space Data 

Marketplace. What is the rationale 

behind that? 

This project is focused on satellite 

data. Currently, the domain 

is quite siloed. There are multiple 

sources where you can get 

these data now but it’s neither 

very streamlined nor efficient. We 

want to create a one-stop shop 

for all types of satellite data for 

all kinds of use cases and initiatives. 

For example, we have companies 

developing solutions for 

analysing infrastructure using AI 

or looking at applications such 

as rail or waterways or managing 

crops and vegetation. 

What’s the difference between 

open exchanges and closed 

white-label ecosystems, and 

how do you see this playing out? 

A modern data exchange environment 

should push for transparency, 

so the data owner will always 

know who they are dealing with, 

who is using the data and how 

it will be used. That’s a very important 

principle for augmenting 

the trust that corporates have for 

making their own data available 

to others and, for example, avoiding 

the chance that a competitor 

would be able to access sensitive 

data they shouldn’t have. 

81

Smart Solution Machine Vision 

Machine Vision 

How to See 

the World 

Machines aren’t just becoming smarter every day – 

they are also developing the ability to see the world around them. 

In fact, artificial eyes can penetrate to greater depths and 

pick out much more detail than our weaker human eyes can 

ever hope to see. And yes, they can see in the dark, too. 

For IoT applications, this could be a real eye-opener. 

n By John Koon 

82

Light detection and ranging 

(Lidar) is a remote sensing 

method that uses pulsed laser 

light to measure ranges 

(variable distances). Similar to its 

close cousins, radar using radio 

waves and sonar emitting sound 

waves under water, Lidar uses laser 

light to accurately measure ranges 

(distances) – something that is critical 

for many sectors and industrial 

processes. 

Theoretically, measurement can be 

performed using other technologies, 

but Lidar has multiple advantages 

over them. For example, it has 

a higher resolution than radar and 

a wider range than camera sensors 

and can even perform in the dark. 

Furthermore, Lidar produces 3D 

data and can detect and differentiate 

objects. As a result, it can be used 

to track objects, detect physical protrusions 

and survey landscapes. 

Measuring carbon dioxide, sulfur 

dioxide and methane in the air or 

water can also be achieved with 

Lidar, making it ideal for things like 

geographical surveys, autonomous 

driving, industrial applications and 

logistics. 

source ©: NOAA 

The Face of the Earth 

Geographical surveys are not just 

for mapping mineral and water 

resources, they have been used to 

map zones prone to earthquakes, 

tsunamis, landslides, flooding and 

volcanic activity to deal with potential 

disasters. In addition, coastlines 

need to be surveyed for effective 

management and planning for 

navigational, environmental and 

homeland security purposes. 

As global warming raises sea levels 

and causes extreme weather events 

like enormous floods and droughts, 

high-resolution geographical surveys 

will be crucial for monitoring 

the effects of global warming, such 

as coastline erosion. This information 

can help governments to devise 

coping strategies, such as safe 

and responsible land use and emergency 

preparedness, to protect civilian 

lives and marine wildlife. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), an 

agency primarily responsible for 

mapping US shorelines, sought to 

increase the efficiency and reduce 

the subjectivity of older technologies, 

such as tide coordinated aerial 

photography. Data collection in intertidal 

zones was also poor because 

these areas are too shallow for 

survey vessels to approach safely. 

NOAA now uses airplanes and helicopters 

equipped with two types of 

Lidar: topographic and bathymetric. 

Topographic Lidar typically uses a 

near-infrared laser to map the land, 

while bathymetric Lidar uses waterpenetrating 

green light to measure 

seafloor and riverbed elevations. 

Lidar is helping 

us understand 

sea-level rises 

and coastal 

flooding/inundation 

impacts, 

and marine life 

habitat mapping. 

Stephen White 

NOAA 

National Ocean Service 

Monitoring 

the Warming 

A view looking northeast 

from Virginia Key 

shows the topobathymetric 

surface of the 

intertidal zone near 

Fisher Island. This 

image was created 

from the LiDAR bare 

earth model colored 

by elevation. 

The two images can be combined to 

produce a single ‘topobathymetric’ 

image of the coastal area. 

Driving Force 

How do we make sure autonomous 

cars and trucks pay proper attention 

and avoid disasters in near 

darkness, pouring rain, heavy snow 

or on a winding road? 

Lidar’s high speed and accuracy enable 

distant object detection on a 

moving vehicle, even in low light. 

This makes it a powerful technology 

for advanced driver-assistance 

systems (ADAS) in drones and vehicles. 

It performs less well in heavy 

rain and snow or in fog but work is 

in progress to find ways to improve 

its reliability in all but the worst conditions. 

Earlier Lidar technologies were 

typically used in applications with 

a high tolerance for failure. In contrast, 

the bar is much higher for 

safety, accuracy, and reliability 

when using it in autonomous vehicles. 

Products need to be designed 

from scratch to meet the 3D sensing 

requirements of automotive active 

safety systems, ADAS implementations 

and autonomous vehicles. In 

addition, solutions must be small 

and unobtrusive which is a challenge 

for Lidar. 

83 

source ©: NOAA

Smart Solution Machine Vision 

Aerial Mapping 

YellowScan uses 

a mix of dronemounted 

passive 

and active laser 

sensors to create 

3D maps for mining, 

civil engineering, 

forestry, environmental 

research, 

and archeology. 

Passive Sensor 

Active Sensor 

source ©: MicroVision 

source ©: YellowScan 

The scan rates and angles of the 

sensor need to be dynamically controlled 

and limiting the number of 

sensors used helps to decrease overall 

cost. It also minimises the amount 

of high-resolution data that must be 

collected and analysed on an often 

fast-moving and sporadically accelerating 

and decelerating vehicle. 

Vehicles need to 

see further out 

and understand 

more about 

what they see, 

such as which 

objects are 

moving and 

where are they 

heading. 

Jari Honkanen 

MicroVision 

The latest high-resolution 3D systems, 

such as MicroVision’s Long 

Range Automotive Lidar, meet stringent 

3D sensing requirements. They 

are compact and non-intrusive, 

with fast frame rates and can characterise 

an environment more accurately 

with a higher level of information 

analysis. These features enable 

vehicles to respond more rapidly to 

obstacles and avoid them. 

Making Things Work 

Industrial applications for Lidar include 

things like manufacturing 

and robotics automation. Systems, 

such as Baraja’s Spectrum-Scan, are 

being deployed in mining vehicles 

to map locations and visualise environments. 

It can also help improve 

worker safety in mines and caves. 

Mines are often located in remote 

areas and underground, where 

pockets of lethal gases tend to accumulate. 

Methane is explosive, carbon 

dioxide and carbon monoxide 

are lethal to humans at high concentrations, 

and hydrogen sulfide 

is poisonous and highly flammable. 

Therefore, using laser light to detect 

gas pockets allows miners to deal 

with them promptly, keeping them 

safe and making their time in the 

mine more efficient. 

Just as Lidars image the 3D topography 

of the environment for 

autonomous vehicles, they can be 

used above ground to detect unwanted 

gas concentrations during 

gas mapping. For example, a methane 

leak can be detected by pointing 

a laser beam of a specific color 

Loggerhead Lighthouse 

This image is a topobathymetric 

point cloud colorised 

by intensity. This image was 

captured during a survey of 

the Dry Tortugas, and is the 

lighthouse on Loggerhead Key. 

source ©: NOAA 

84

An Eye on the Road 

source ©: Bridger Photonics 

Scientists have approached the challenges 

of determining range, angleand 

velocity in two ways: using radio waves 

and using laser light. Lidar, radar and 

sonar each have their benefits and 

deficiencies in autonomous vehicles. 

Google’s spin-off company Waymo and 

Aurora, which took over Uber’s ill-fated 

project, both use Lidar but have radar 

for support in foggy, rainy or snowy 

conditions to assist Lidar’s less-reliable 

results in extreme weather. Tesla uses 

ultrasonic sonar to map the environment 

and a front-facing radar. 

A Sentry in the Sky 

At least 2 percent of gas 

resources is wasted through 

leaks of methane. A drone-based 

laser-based Remote Methane 

Leak Detector (RMLD) by Physical 

Sciences might solve the problem. 

at the suspected location or along 

a survey line. Some of the laser 

light is absorbed by the target gas 

and the rest bounces back as a diffused 

beam. The Lidar receives the 

reflected beam, measures the light 

absorption and calculates the density 

of the leaking methane. 

This process generates geo-specific 

images of gas plumes that can be 

combined with satellite and other 

data to create a map illustrating the 

leak’s extent and location. The GPS 

coordinates of the map can quickly 

direct a maintenance crew to the 

leak. So far, ExxonMobil and SoCal- 

Gas have used Lidar gas-mapping 

technology to detect leaks. 

source ©: Baraja 

What Will the Future Bring? 

In all cases, high-definition cameras 

supplement and complement the 

other systems to add visual context. 

The color cameras also provide the 

ability to monitor traffic lights and 

read road signs, which is beyond 

the other three sensors. This is useful 

where emergency signs have 

been put out by emergency services 

or for roadworks that may not be 

mapped on satnav systems. 

Lidar sensors are being developed 

that are even more miniaturised 

and lighter so they can be used for 

unmanned aerial systems, such as 

drones performing geographical 

surveys. Meanwhile, reducing costs, 

increasing reliability and enhancing 

data resolution will be common 

goals for the next generation. 

We are also likely to see further democratisation 

of Lidar applications. 

For example, the low-performance 

3D Lidars appearing in smartphones 

are likely to be replaced by 

ones with higher resolution and 

processing. In short, Lidar will be 

more compact, more capable and 

lower cost. 

Lidar systems 

can accurately 

map and visualise 

surrounding 

hazardous environments 

increasing 

safety 

and efficiency. 

Jim Kane 

Baraja Industries 

■ Radar 

Radio detection and ranging, coupled 

with hi-res cameras, is an approved way 

for providing machines with ‘sight’. In 

1886, German physicist Heinrich Hertz 

demonstrated that radio waves are reflected 

by metallic objects. British scientists, 

spurred on by the militarization of 

Germany, used this property to develop 

radio-based detection and ranging in 

1935. Independently, Germany, the USA 

and Russia also developed radar systems 

in the following year or two. These 

systems were all designed to detect 

huge hunks of metal at sea or in the air 

and in the years since then refinements 

have been made to finesse the detection 

capabilities to include all manner of 

objects, including humans. 

■ Lidar 

In 1960 the invention of laser technology 

created a flurry of research 

activity to find uses for the powerful 

light beams. In 1961, a US scientist 

named Malcom Stitch, who worked 

for the Hughes Aircraft Corporation, 

introduced the first functional Lidar 

system but it wasn’t until the arrival of a 

commercially available global positioning 

system (GPS) using satellites and 

inertial measurement units (IMUs) in 

the late 1980s that accurate positional 

data became available.Lidar’s reach is 

constantly increasing. Currently, Aeva, 

based in Silicon Valley, is selling its 4D 

Lidar system on-a-chip which has a 

range of 500m. 

85

Column Bernd Schöne 

Liquid Software 

Wetware Revisited 

There was a time when ‘wetware’ was a 

geek word for the part of the body 

that computer scientists use to 

gather and modify their thoughts. 

But jargon moves on and the new 

buzzword is ‘liquid software’, which 

stands for a system that can be updated 

and modified at any time without 

interrupting its flow. So, it isn’t all that 

different from wetware, is it? 

Agreeing on a definition for the new 

buzzword, on the other hand, is tricky. If 

you ask me, it simply represents a cautious 

step forward, albeit in the right general direction, 

with many more to follow. 

Software for IoT has very specific requirements. The 

market is fast-moving, unit volumes are high, and 

prices are manageable. The need to transfer large 

amounts of data across device and network boundaries 

is essential – as is the distribution of updates. 

Without software that is up-to-date, seamless interaction 

between sensors (acquiring data), data centres 

(crunching data), decision-makers (evaluating 

data) and actuators (controlling data) is impossible 

– and, without it, so is IoT. It comes as no surprise that 

the concept of ‘liquid’ has caused quite a flurry since 

its introduction to IT in 2014, even though, or maybe 

because, no one can say precisely what it is. 

The water analogy helps us understand what it is 

everybody’s talking about – and why they’re so excited. 

Just as water will always find its way to a river 

Dams and dikes 

are barriers 

that keep water – 

and data – from 

flowing freely. 

Bernd Schöne 

is a veteran German Internet 

journalist and an expert on 

cybersecurity 

and the sea, data and applications should be 

able to flow steadily and independently to 

where they are needed throughout the 

IoT network. The latest software versions 

running individual IoT components 

should autonomously go with 

the flow, with error corrections and 

new features being automatically 

patched-in on the way. 

This is not a new concept. The internet 

itself, and the World Wide Web, have 

been connecting computer systems for 

years, and ‘patch days’ are as old as the 

first servers. Before now, automatic updates 

were always instigated by specific applications, 

such as a browser or an email programme. 

Everything else required actions by the user. That's 

about to change. In the future, streams of data, applications 

and updates will find their own way to 

their destinations without a single click of a mouse. 

So far so good but experience has taught us that 

where liquid flows are concerned, dikes and weirs 

are essential to the successful co-existence of water 

and people. No one knows this better than the 

inhabitants of Europe, who were hit by horrendous 

flooding in 2021. The Dutch know better than most 

how to handle water: After a devastating storm 

surge in 1953, they sealed off the entire country from 

the North Sea within 30 years. 

Weirs and dikes are barriers that keep water – and 

data – from flowing freely and out of control. In IT, 

86

malware and substandard sets of data play the role 

of storm surges and floods. They must be contained. 

Even today, there are already such barriers in place in 

many companies but these ‘dikes’ are usually there 

for economic reasons. Apple and Google, both pioneers 

of the liquid software idea, with products like 

Apple's Handoff (Continuity) service and Android’s 

Lollipop, are fighting doggedly for market share – 

but the days of data monopolies are over. 

Keeping your users locked up within the walls of 

your own company network is the direct opposite 

of liquid software. It takes away the key advantages 

for the user and puts the whole idea of liquidity in 

danger. 

In my opinion, IoT dams and weirs should not be 

built by stock market analysts and CEOs, but by CTOs. 

There should be a coherent technical need for barriers 

to minimise security issues. Sandboxing of unknown 

data is one way to minimise risks but clear requirements 

for structure and security checks for incoming 

updates and new applications would also help. 

Technically, this is no longer a problem for machine 

tools whose AI intelligence always assumes a defect 

is imminent, based on conspicuous fluctuations in 

measured parameters. These predictive systems can 

not only inform service departments, without being 

told to do so, but can also automatically determine 

the availability of spare parts and the maintenance 

personnel waiting in the background. Edge systems 

can then autonomously calculate the team’s arrival 

time and determine when things will be running 

smoothly once again. All this without the maintenance 

or security teams needing to pick up the 

phone or for an employee to send an email to alert 

them. 

The IT support world is full of data: information about 

traffic flow, the number of service vehicles on standby, 

the location and condition of necessary spare or 

replacement parts. All we need to do is unlock this 

treasure trove of information and let the data flow. 

When that happens, we’ll be amazed to find what opportunities 

we’ve been missing just because phone 

providers, internet service providers, equipment 

manufacturers and operators, service companies, 

and application distributors have been jealously 

protecting their sinecures instead of networking in a 

purposeful way. 

Today, service technicians have to identify themselves 

to the gatekeeper, even though their IDs may 

have been established long ago and the exact time 

of their visits would already have been noted in all 

the company's IT systems. Unfortunately, gatekeepers 

don’t know any of this. Too bad! 

Of course, nobody should jump blindly into the flow. 

As always, prudence and precautions are necessary. 

New management tools, like ‘scrum’ software which 

helps teams to learn from shared experiences, will 

make IT security easier to achieve – there’s still no 

substitute for the human brain if we want to take IoT 

to the next level. In the end, it means that someone 

has to accept responsibility for any system. But as for 

the software? Just let it flow. 

87

Smart Solutions Smart Sensors 

Smart Sensors 

Smart Eyes for IoT 

Technicians have been reluctant to 

use cameras for IoT because they were 

considered too expensive. That is now 

history. Today, CMOS sensors with 

respectable resolution cost only a 

few dollars and chips that deliver 

high-definition images are available 

for a little more. Thanks to AI, new 

integrated image signal processors 

(ISPs) are taking the strain off transmission 

networks and edge computing. 

88 

n By Bernd Schöne 

Cameras provide lots of data 

and the more data, the better 

they are. Unfortunately, 

that clogs up the communications 

channels. In addition, the 

images have to be prepared and 

processed which puts a strain on the 

computers in the system. Often, the 

normal TV frame rate of around 25 

frames per second is not enough, either. 

Manufacturing machines operate 

so fast that surveillance cameras 

have to deliver 60 or more images 

per second. Thanks to data reduction, 

the H.265 transmission format 

shrinks the amount of data and thus 

enables wireless operation – but 

H.265 is computationally expensive, 

which is a shortcoming for batterypowered 

devices. 

CMOS chips also have peculiarities. 

Most sensors produce a certain 

basic noise level, even in absolute 

darkness. These chips also inevitably 

contain a few defective pixels. 

No problem – there are correction 

programmes for that. In addition, 

the distances between camera and 

object are often small in IoT applications. 

Also, no problem – that's what 

wide-angle lenses are for, though 

they do tend to distort and suffer 

from vignette shadowing around 

the edges. 

If the image analysis determines 

whether labels on a bottle are correctly 

positioned, for example, image 

errors can confuse and deceive 

the analysis programme. Here, too, 

there are proven remedies. However, 

correction programmes put a 

strain on the camera CPUs because 

the correction is best done before 

the image has been compressed in 

order to achieve optimum results. 

This, in turn, puts further strain on 

the communications channels. 

Usually, in cheaper systems, the 

black-and-white image of the sensor 

has to be transformed into a color 

image. For this purpose, the mosaiclike 

pattern of color filters over the

Qoitech 

Fighting Power Hunger 

source ©: Qoitech AB, Elektor Verlag GmbH 

camera sensor has to be back-calculated, 

so to speak, in order to obtain 

red/green/blue color separations 

(demosaicing). This also costs computing 

power. 

A new generation of image signal 

processors (ISPs) now offers developers 

a solution to these problems. 

ISPs operate in the immediate vicinity 

of the camera module and handle 

all the pre-processing of the images. 

They are calibrated to the chip and 

its optics and transform the raw data 

into images that can be easily processed 

further. 

In reality, no one is interested in 

the camera images, only the results 

count – thumbs up or thumbs 

down. In the labeling example, the 

operator wants to know if the label 

is positioned correctly: is it crooked 

or, in the case of pharmaceuticals, is 

it stuck together in such a way that 

it’s no longer legible? When cleaning 

bottles, no one is interested in 

the 100,000 bottles that have been 

cleaned well but only in those that 

need to be cleaned again or belong 

in the waste because they have a 

crack. 

Today, AI can take over these relatively 

simple tasks and the new ISPs 

also have a neural network on board 

that runs an AI programme for image 

analysis. In this way, the engineers 

can let them make their own 

decisions without the need for cloud 

support or data flow gymnastics. 

Most IoT devices are battery powered but 

designers want to know how power consumption 

will fare over time. Finnish startup Qoitech 

has launched the Otii Arc, an inexpensive ‘little 

helper’ that makes it possible to precisely 

track current, voltage and power consumption 

before a device is deployed. 

All batteries react the same way to load – the 

voltage output plummets. Unlike a flashlight, 

an IoT sensor does not load the battery evenly. 

Sometimes the sensor is ‘asleep’ and consumes 

no energy, sometimes it sends data and 

consumption skyrockets for a short time. Decisive 

for the load profile is the software, which 

may or may not be cleverly written, and the 

environment, especially the temperature. The 

Otii Arc measuring device connects directly 

to the sensor and a laptop. It acts as a power 

Fraunhofer 

How to Bee a Sensor 

What does a bee need to survive? Dramatically 

declining populations spurred the German 

government to have special sensors developed. 

In response, researchers at Fraunhofer 

source ©: Micro-Sensys GmbH 

source and determines the load profile over 

the operating time until the dreaded ‘brownout’ 

as the battery empties. 

Qoitech’s device allows small development 

offices to carry out their own measurements 

and tests at a high technical level. The target 

groups also include software developers because 

the more cleverly the software manages 

the energy reserves, the longer the sensor 

battery will last. Programmers can now conveniently 

and quickly determine the success of 

their efforts without having to rely on lab tests 

from engineering firms. 

Determining battery runtimes is not the easiest 

of tasks. Within a few months of the launch, 

Qoitech received a number of requests and 

suggestions from users, which it rapidly incorporated 

in a software update. 

IZM created ultralight wireless sensors that can 

be attached to a bee's back, turning the insect 

into a flying IoT sensor. The RFID chip transmits 

important flight data as well as temperature 

and brightness to a base station. The system, 

which weighs only ten milligrams, is powered 

by a specially developed ultra-light battery 

which receives its energy from a microscopic 

solar module. 

In the medium term, the Sens4Bee project, 

based at Fraunhofer’s Helmholtz Centre for 

Environmental Research (UFZ) is to become a 

tool for all interested beekeepers. The aim is to 

clarify the relationship between bee mortality 

and the application of pesticides. 

89

Smart Solutions Smart Companies 

Smart 

Companies 

Robotics Research 

Automated Rapid Transit 

A growing list of IoT innovations 

have been developed and 

deployed by companies which 

are using IoT to solve real-world 

problems in transport. Robotics 

Research’s AutoDrive advanced 

driver assistant system (ADAS) 

is one of these potentially revolutionary 

approaches to IoT. It is 

‘platform agnostic’ – meaning 

that it can be used to retrofit 

vehicles of all sizes, from small, 

portable robots to large trucks 

and buses. The system provides 

vehicles with autonomous driving 

functionality on surfaces 

ranging from urban-improved 

roads to off-road terrain, while 

also collecting and analysing 

data to enhance the driving experience. 

Robotic Research has deployed 

Society of Automotive Engineers 

(SAE) Level-Four automation 

where self-driving is supported 

only in limited spatial 

areas (geofenced) or under special 

circumstances. Outside of 

these situations, the vehicle will 

safely abort the trip by slowing 

down and parking the vehicle 

if the driver does not retake 

control. The AutoDrive technology 

is currently operating in 30 

states in the US and on four continents. 

Recently, the company has 

helped the Connecticut Department 

of Transportation to make 

source ©: New Flyer 

Electric Commute 

Flyer Xcelsior Charge 

heavy-duty transit buses 

are operating on the 

CTfastrak corridor, a 

dedicated nine-mile 

(14.5 km) stretch for exclusive 

use by CTtransit 

buses. 

advancements in automated 

public transit thanks to a new 

programme funded by the US 

Department of Transportation. 

Through the department’s Integrated 

Mobility Innovation (IMI) 

initiative, Robotic Research’s 

proprietary AutoDrive system 

is enabling the automation of 

heavy-duty transit buses for 

passenger service deployment. 

This will be a first for mass 

transportation systems in North 

America. 

Three automated New Flyer 

Xcelsior Charge heavy-duty 

transit buses are operating on 

the CTfastrak corridor, a dedicated 

nine-mile (14.5 km) stretch 

for exclusive use by CTtransit 

buses. The 40-foot, electric buses 

will offer a zero-emission operation 

running between New 

Britain and downtown Hartford, 

the capital of Connecticut. 

As the first automated Bus Rapid 

Transit line put into public service 

in North America, the CTtransit 

initiative also marks the 

first application of automated 

precision docking to optimise 

platform gaps. This, and other 

automated technology to improve 

access, ensures boarding 

is compliant with the Americans 

with Disabilities Act (1990) 

which prohibits discrimination 

based on disability, while increasing 

accessibility for all passengers. 

90

source ©: Space&Matter, Isabel Nabuurs Fotografie 

Space&Matter 

Launching A Floating 

Neighbourhood 

Climate change may force some 

city dwellers to take to the water. 

At least, that is the thinking at architects 

Space&Matter, founded 

in 2009 by Sascha Glasl, Tjeerd 

Haccou and Marthijn Pool. United 

by the desire to improve the world 

for their children and all future 

generations, their journey began 

with Water voor Wonen (Water for 

Living), a floating neighbourhood 

in the low-lying Dutch polder region. 

"Since urban areas struggle with 

high density, we should make better 

use of the space on the water,” 

says Haccou. Co-founder Glasl 

adds, “We want to set the example 

and show how living on water can 

be a great and better alternative 

for people and our planet." 

Their signature project, which 

began almost a decade ago but 

was only completed in the summer 

of 2021, is called Schoonschip 

– literally ‘clean ship’ in Dutch. 

Space&Matter says it was originally 

a “circular neighbourhood 

which was initiated and developed 

by a group of enthusiasts with a 

shared dream: to build a sustainable, 

close-knit community on the 

water”. The group approached the 

architecture firm to help design 

the urban plan, plotting the boardwalks 

and smart jetty that unite 

the inspired community. 

The project houses more than 100 

people in 46 sustainable homes 

across 30 water plots. The area 

was designed to be mainly selfsufficient, 

with a minimal impact 

on nature while adapting to the 

rising water. 

Schoonschip also uses clean 

energy sources, using solar 

Sascha Glasl 

is passionate about strategic 

design, innovative 

concepts and democratic 

development processes 

Tjeerd Haccou 

likes using online and offline 

tools to bring together and 

empower communities 

Marthijn Pool 

is excited about researchbased 

projects that explore 

new urban concepts 

panels and heat pumps to provide 

heating, and the architects 

plan to convert wastewater 

from toilets and showers into 

energy. All buildings also have 

a green roof – part vegetation 

and geared to rainwater collection. 

C40 Cities Climate Leadership 

Group, a collaboration between 

the mayors of 97 cities worldwide, 

agree that climate change 

may force many to choose to 

live on the water. It estimates 

that some 800 million people 

and 570 cities could be at risk 

by 2050 if sea levels rise by half 

a metre, as forecasted by some 

experts. C40 Cities – which represents 

a twelfth of the global 

population and a quarter of its 

economy – believes that the 

floating neighbourhood in Amsterdam, 

Netherlands, shows 

one way to cope. 

“Living on the water offers a 

great solution for places where 

climate change and a rise in sea 

levels are a looming hazard,” 

says Glasl. “It not only protects 

people against nature, it also 

protects nature itself.” 

91

Smart Lifestyle One More Thing 

And now: 

One More Thing 

For more than a year, the team at Smart Industry, the IoT Business 

Magazine, has been hosting a monthly series of podcasts 

called We Talk IoT. These consist of interviews with experts in the 

various areas of IoT who have something 

really important to say, 

n By Tim Cole 

92

The podcast covers a wide 

range of topics ranging from 

IoT infrastructure to autonomous 

vehicles, artificial intelligence, 

predictive analysis and 

cybersecurity. It is sponsored by 

Microsoft Azure and features on 

Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Sound- 

Cloud to reach an average audience 

of 5,000 to 6,000 listeners per 

month. We encourage our interview 

guests to link to the podcast from 

their own websites and social media 

platforms to boost overall listenership. 

If you would like to hear it, you 

can find it through our homepage at 

www.smart-industry.net/podcast. 

Every issue of We Talk IoT concludes 

with a short editorial item of interest 

which we call One More Thing. As of 

now, the editors will get to choose 

their favourite installments to share 

here at the end of our print edition. 

Foresolution 

Where’s the Loo? IoT 

Flushes It Out 

One of the most challenging jobs for 

IoT technologies is real-time tracking 

of goods and assets at remote locations, 

even when they lack a power 

source. Portable toilets are a good 

example. They’re usually tucked 

away well out of sight (and smell) 

and sometimes the only way to find 

them is to send out a search party. 

Foresolutions, a UK technology 

company, thinks it’s found a better 

way to locate and check the status 

of such hard-to-find assets as porta 

Mobile Expandable 

Wellbeing Unit 

Compacting to a 4ft 

(1.2 m) cube, the 

MEWU fits onto a 

standard rail trolley or 

trailer anywhere on 

track for deployment 

at the point of work. 

The Daily 

Travel Puzzle 

At Heathrow, as in 

any major airport, 

hundreds of companies 

work together 

to make travel 

safe and smooth. 

Increasinly, they 

rely on IoT to coordinate 

thousands of 

routine tasks, from 

toilete to air traffic 

control. 

potties, construction tools and airtraffic 

equipment, just to name a 

few. The company is providing battery-powered 

IoT devices along with 

its own software for managing nonpowered 

items in outdoor working 

environments. 

These often include seats of ease, euphemistically 

called Mobile Expandable 

Wellbeing Units, or MEWUs 

(pronounced ‘mews’). These are typically 

bright orange, interconnecting 

boxes placed at railway or building 

construction sites. They contain 

removable wastewater tanks and 

compartments for additional 

source ©: Selectequip source ©: Twitter / Heathrow Airport Limited 

93


source ©: Digital Matter 

Live Long and 

Prosper! 

Ultra-rugged longlife 

battery-powered 

GPS devices like this 

one from Digicore 

offer up to seven 

years of asset tracking, 

theft recovery, 

and more. 

IoT data 

keeps units 

sanitised 

and wellmaintained. 

Tom Ross 

Foresolutions 

safety equipment such as defibrillators 

and first-aid gear. The units cost 

lots of money and are mostly left to 

fend for themselves out somewhere 

in the boondocks. 

Thanks to battery-powered sensors 

and wireless connectivity, Foresolutions 

helps railroads and construction 

companies keep track of their 

units, tell whether they are being 

used and when to call in maintenance. 

In addition, the company 

has deployed several thousand IoT 

devices at Heathrow Airport to keep 

track of various non-motorised assets 

– tools, steps, tugs and other 

equipment – in order to help management 

understand their utilisation 

and to locate equipment when 

needed. 

Throughout the past year, Foresolutions 

has been partnering with Australia’s 

Digital Matter, which makes 

battery-powered sensors that leverage 

wireless networks – including 

LTE, GSM, WiFi and Bluetooth – to 

forward data to the cloud, no matter 

where the sensor is deployed. 

On the mobile toilets, the company 

is using Digital Matter's Oyster 2 sensor 

devices, powered by three AA 

batteries, to update companies with 

the information they need to manage 

the units. 

Traditionally, this type of data cannot 

be accessed without a human 

visiting the station. Foresolutions' 

system can detect not only the GPS 

location but also such conditions as 

the opening and closing of doors, 

vibration, temperature and humidity 

changes, as well as water, ice 

and other outdoor conditions. Any 

changes in location or sensor readings, 

such as tilting or moving, are 

forwarded to the headquarters so 

those in charge of the stations can 

tell if they are being moved. After all, 

these units cost a lot of money and 

theft is not unknown. 

IoT data also helps to ensure that the 

units are sanitised and well-maintained, 

says Tom Ross, Foresolutions' 

managing director. He has plans to 

expand his solutions beyond mobile 

loos, as they’re called in the UK, to 

include such markets as farms, factories, 

hospitals and shopping centres 

or even amusement parks. 

source ©: Foresolutions 

source ©: Foresolutions 

IoT Everywhere 

IoT solutions in facility management can 

fullfil multipile roles at once, for instance 

building & structure monitoring, temperature, 

air quality, presence, occupancy, 

energy, noise, door opening, weather and 

environmental conditions, people tracking, 

safe distancing, as well as security & access 

control and CCTV. 

94

source ©: Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara, Salesforce.com, San Diego State University 

SharkEye 

AI Drones Track and 

Protect Great White Sharks 

Academics from the University of 

California and San Diego State have 

teamed up with AI researchers from 

Salesforce to create software that 

can spot sharks swimming around 

popular beach sites. 

SharkEye, as the system is called, 

uses drones to spot sharks from 

above. The unmanned flying vehicles 

follow pre-programmed paths 

at a height of around 120 feet (36.5 

metres) to cover large areas of the 

ocean without disturbing marine 

life. The goal of SharkEye is eventually 

to produce automated ‘shark reports’ 

for beachgoers to help them 

assess levels of risk. 

The researchers hope this application 

of AI can help keep beaches 

safer, encourage a more informed 

public and help people learn how 

to share the waves with wildlife. Perhaps, 

most importantly, the system 

could help protect the gradually improving 

populations of great white 

sharks, top predators that are a 

healthy part of the California ocean 

ecosystem, says Doug McCauley, director 

of the Benioff Ocean Initiative 

and a professor at the University of 

California Santa Barbara. 

Salesforce AI is using its proprietary 

Einstein Vision algorithm – ordinarily 

used for visual search, brand 

detection and product identification 

– to process drone video and 

recognise the unique attributes 

of sharks, thereby identifying 

them without the need for physical 

tagging. This information will 

then be shared with local officials 

and beachside communities, so, 

without ever touching the water, 

SharkEye can make sure it’s safe for 

the rest of us to hop in! 

Shark Alarm! 

The dashboard created 

for the SharkEye project 

at Santa Barbara's Parado 

Beach is meant to openly 

share data insights on 

sharks collected from dronebased 

arial surveys as well 

as acoustic detections. Both 

are shown on a current-day 

and a seven-day rolling 

average.The latter provide 

a clearer picture of trends 

in abundance compared 

to expected variation in 

daily peaks and dips in shark 

activity. Absence of shark 

sightings or acoustic signals 

are not an indicator that 

no sharks are present - in 

California's costal waters, 

they almost always are. 

The goal here 

is to reduce 

the number 

of traffic 

accidents. 

Ivan Ndip 

Fraunhofer Institute 

for Reliability 

and Microintegration 

(IZM) in Berlin 

Fraunhofer 

Many Still Wait for 5G – 

but 6G is Just 

Around the Corner 

Most smartphone owners are still 

waiting for 5G to appear but the telco 

industry is already gearing up for the 

next step. The starting pistol for this 

next generation of mobile communications, 

6G, has already been fired. 

"With 6G, we have the ambitious 

goal of achieving data rates of terabits 

per second and a latency of 

about 100 microseconds – that’s 50 

times the data rate and one-tenth 

the latency of 5G," says Ivan Ndip, 

an expert on antennas and radio frequency 

systems at the Fraunhofer 

Institute for Reliability and Microintegration 

(IZM) in Berlin. 

Ndip uses autonomous driving to 

explain the difference. The goal here, 

he says, is to reduce the number of 

accidents. 5G has a maximum data 

rate of about 20 gigabits per second 

– nowhere near enough to communicate 

a car’s position to other road 

users in real time, much less to measure 

distances and scan through 360 

degrees at the same time. 

The self-driving car needs to be 

able to look far into the distance 

while also focusing on close-up 

things. For this, autonomous vehicles 

require sensors that combine 

both radar and cameras, and need 

to be able to collect enormous 

amounts of data and share them 

simultaneously. According to Ndip, 

Fraunhofer IZM is currently developing 

such sensors. 

source ©: Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM 

95


source ©: Khachi 

The car must also react instantly to 

unforeseen circumstances, so, in addition 

to very high data rates, the 

sensors must exhibit extremely low 

latency. Ndip says, 5G just doesn’t 

cut it. He adds that 5G is still missing 

a couple of critical components 

as well as the network intelligence 

necessary to handle true hands-off 

autonomous driving. 

“That's why we need 6G," the scientist 

maintains. Although 6G will not 

be operational until at least 2030, 

Ndip believes that governments 

and telcos need to start investing in 

the new technology now. 

Hardware still needs to be developed 

for mobile communications 

above 100 GHz but, for most manufacturers, 

this is terra incognita as 

they have never worked with frequencies 

like these before. Typically, 

researchers and developers need a 

ten-year head start for this kind of 

mammoth project, Ndip says. Setting 

the necessary specifications 

and standards alone will take at 

least five years, he believes. 

Fraunhofer recently opened its 6G 

Innovation Campus in Cottbus – the 

so-called iCampus – where it plans 

to do research into new networking 

and sensor technologies, together 

with the local university and two separate 

Leibnitz Institutes. The future of 

mobile communications, it seems, 

just can’t happen fast enough. 

Smart Dessous 

Myant's new Skiin brand 

textiles monitor their 

owner's vital functions 

and sleeping habits 

and can even wake up 

sleepy drivers before 

they doze off at the 

wheel. 

Myant 

A New ‘Brief’ 

in Health Monitoring 

Underwear is getting a lot smarter 

these days. Myant, an innovator in 

wearables, has developed a smart 

pair of briefs that could potentially 

transform healthcare. 

Biometric sensors woven into the 

fabric of the underwear can measure 

things like sleep quality, activity, 

stress levels, temperature and 

heart condition, to provide some of 

the most reliable and effective ways 

to detect and prevent health issues, 

the company claims. 

The Skiin brand fabric sends data 

to a corresponding app and onwards 

to the cloud platform which 

analyses the data to provide guidance 

on lifestyle changes and the 

information can, with permission, 

be shared with healthcare providers. 

Underwear is a good choice for 

a smart garment because it makes 

consistent, close contact with the 

body – a must-have for continuous 

skin sensors. 

Myant’s underwear innovation fits 

into the larger trend of e-textiles 

and smart clothing, powered by 

artificial intelligence and tiny semiconductor 

technology. Scientists 

are attempting to replace clunky 

ECGs and health monitoring devices, 

like watches and chest straps, 

with comfortable smart garments. 

Healthcare providers and developers 

believe advances like these will 

increase compliance and lead to 

better health outcomes. 

Smart garments will probably be 

able to do much more for us. Sensors 

can now be embedded directly 

into textiles – similar to weaving additional 

yarn into an existing piece 

of fabric – or by applying sensors 

to the top of the fabric. Either way, 

the use cases for e-textiles go far beyond 

health monitoring. Smart garments 

can to do things like: 

• diagnose comfort levels of amputees 

by monitoring their interaction 

with their artificial limb. 

• assess patterns in athletes’ performances 

and deliver small electric 

shocks to underperforming 

muscles. 

• wake up sleepy drivers on the 

road before accidents occur, using 

built-in fatigue monitoring. 

• connect to smart home systems 

to do things like changing the 

thermostat when your body is 

cold (or hot). 

The latest report by research firm 

IDTechE predicts that smart textiles 

will be worth over $1.4 billion by 

2030. The number of potential applications 

and markets for e-textiles 

is vast, including military and space, 

automotive, haptic suits for virtual 

reality, sports and fitness, and assistive 

clothing. 

source ©: Skiin 

96

Kerlink 

Windmills Push Spread of 

Public IoT Services 

Like many others along the Netherlands 

North Sea coast, the Port of 

Moerdijk has a large wind farm. The 

farm was installed in 2020 and is 

operated by Vattenfall, a European 

green energy specialist. The wind 

farm supplies 27 megawatts of 

clean energy to more than 27,000 

households. 

But officials soon realised the turbine 

towers could serve an additional 

purpose by hosting an IoT 

network to provide key sensor data 

to the bustling port 120 metres below. 

IoT networking company Kerlink 

was commissioned to create the 

gateways for the LoRaWAN project. 

The Kerlink Wirnet iStation receives 

sensor data and information from 

within a radius of 25 kilometres and 

securely transfers it to users of the 

energy-efficient IoT network. This 

includes monitoring air quality, 

CO2 emissions, water levels and detecting 

whether bridges and gates 

around the port are open or closed, 

source ©: Kerlink 

which helps move traffic more efficiently 

while reducing emissions. 

In addition, the industrial-grade 

IoT network will be available at low 

cost for organisations near the port 

in shipping, rail and other industries 

as well as to municipalities, 

government agencies and individuals. 

Aurélien Seugnet, Kerlink’s business 

developer, is happy with the 

results so far. “The wind industry 

The wind 

industry could 

be crucial to 

builidng the 

public Internet 

of Things. 

Smart Station 

The Kerlink Wirnet 

iStation receives 

sensor data and 

information from 

within a radius of 

25 km and can 

monitor air quality 

in addition. 

Aurélien Seugnet 

Kerlink 

could become a crucial building 

block in the public Internet of 

Things,” he believes. “We usually 

use high buildings and pylons [as 

mounting points],” he added – so 

why not use turbine towers? 

The height of the towers means 

the signal is stronger and can reach 

further. Besides which, piggybacking 

on a wind generator does away 

with the constant need to change 

batteries. 

source ©: CCM Benchmark Group 

source ©: Storm 

97

Column Gerd Leonhard 

The Future 

Looks Great! 

Are you excited about the future or are 

you worried? Are you expecting good 

things or more misery? These days, it seems 

like all around us, the future is getting bleaker 

and bleaker. Netflix and Hollywood are telling us about 

dystopian scenarios. The news is showing more reels 

of climate change disasters, economic issues, clueless 

CEOs and politicians. And of course, in the end, the robots 

will take our jobs, and then they're going to harvest 

our bodies for energy. 

But despite all of that noise, I am here to tell you that the 

future is better than we think. I believe that human ingenuity, 

our science and technology can and will solve 

most of our long-standing problems. I also believe that 

human kindness and the ability to collaborate will prevail. 

But we're running out of time because the future is 

arriving faster than we think. Actually, the future is already 

here, we just haven't paid enough attention. 

Whether it’s enhancing humans, designing chimeras or 

robots going to war: What will happen during the next 

ten years will sweep away most of our notions about 

gradual progress and upend our views about how technological 

innovation usually and maybe even inadvertently 

furthers the common good. 

In my speeches, I have recently started talking about 

what I call “the good future” – a utopia (or better yet, 

a protopia) as opposed to a dystopia. As hard as it may 

be for all of us to agree on what a “good” future would 

look like, we must submit to the hard work of creating 

such a definition. Because, if we don’t reach some kind 

of consensus, there may be no future at all – at least not 

for us humans. One thing we know for certain is that 

the Good Future is not likely to come about with good 

Gerd Leonhard 

is the founder of 

The Futures Agency (TFA) 

and author 

of the bestseller 

Technology vs Humanity. 

He is based in Zurich 

Technology is 

morally neutral 

until we use it. 

William Gibson 

old-fashioned “greed capitalism”, and neither 

will it be ushered in by technology. Rather, it will 

be a question of ethics and values – and the policies 

we craft from them. 

Now is the time to think about and act on “civilising” 

– maybe a better word would be “rehumanising” our 

technology. Yes, this will mean regulating (but not 

strangulating) the global tech giants, because in this 

age of advanced exponential change, today’s amazing 

breakthroughs may well turn out to be major problems 

not too far down the road. 

It’s time to stop asking “what will the future bring” – it 

can, quite literally, bring almost anything we can imagine. 

Instead, we need to ask: “what kind of future do we 

want? 

It is a basic truth that technology can serve opposite 

purposes, good or bad. And as William Gibson famously 

said, it remains morally neutral until we use it. 

“Too much of a good thing” describes this conundrum 

very well: something quite useful can quickly become 

something deeply harmful and corrosive to society – 

as recently evidenced with social media, which suffers 

from excessive monetisation obsession and utter lack 

of accountability. 

We are at a fork in the road: The future is our choice, 

by action or by inaction. And time is of the essence. We 

have at most ten short years to debate, agree on and 

implement new, global (or at least territorial) frameworks 

and rules as far as governing exponential technologies 

are concerned. 

Call me an optimist or a utopian, but I am convinced 

that we can still define and shape a “good future” for all 

of mankind – as well as for our planet. 

98

We Talk IoT, 

the Smart Industry Podcast 

Welcome to We talk IoT, a regular series of podcasts 

from the editors of Smart Industry – the IoT 

Business Magazine. Our podcast keeps you up to 

date on the most important developments in the 

world of IoT, IIoT, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive 

Computing. Listen to leading industry experts, 

business professionals and experienced journalists 

as they discuss some of today’s hottest tech topics 

and how they can help boost your bottom line. 

You can listen to the first episode right here on 

smart-industry.net. Or you can follow We talk 

IoT, the Smart Industry podcast on the following 

streaming providers to always get the latest 

episodes: 

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Smart Industry No.1 2022

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