Not a glib title, but reality, though maybe difficult to see as the three topics tend to be treated separately. Digital Business usually means private sector, whereas Smart Cities even at the level of improved user access to ‘retail’ style services, is very much Public sector. As a result adding increased awareness through the Internet of Things, IoT, is usually focused around one or the other. Sadly this isolation has the makings of an expensive mistake as maturity brings the Internet of Things, IoT, and the resulting data access into wider, shared usage.
Research report now available: The Foundational Elements for the Internet of Things (IoT)
Common shared data definitions and discoverable catalogues are already being established, and your Digital Business needs to participate or your Enterprise will suffer in lonely isolation!
To illustrate this consider the terminology we unwittingly use, and consider the remark made by the Head of Digital Strategy and Economics at Future Cities a large UK Government program that is creating real working initiatives.
“We talk of The Internet of Things, but everything I see is An Internet of Things based on different approaches. This will ensure that the required ongoing up scaling and integration to increase awareness by using multiple devices will be difficult. We are already creating problems that will result in future values being restricted and limited”.
Stand back; look at the bigger picture that is developing of a smart city created around the smart ‘coordination’ of major resources used by any number of Digital Business and Citizens. Consider carefully the question of where, and how, an integrated Smart City gets its information to be ‘aware’. The city may have its own sensing, as will the private Enterprises, but surely they will need to share and integrate information as well? What happens to logistics as an example? Will distribution companies plan delivery routing based only on their data, or will it be dynamic routing based on up to the minute information from the city? Where do citizens fit in this in terms of their working, commuting, shopping and entertainment patterns? Surely all areas where any Digital Business will want to be equally ‘aware’ and integrated with data in order to be ‘smart’ in their responses.
Perhaps you doubt that Government and Private Sector have enough in common to result in the creation, and use, of any data of value. As the customers of Digital Business and citizens of a Smart City are most likely the same that’s not a bad starting point, but the following three positioning statements may make it clear that there is much more in common;
· Digital Business uses technology for connectivity to, and the ability to use, a wide variety of information sources to increase its competitive capability in the eyes of its customers.
· Smart Cities uses technology for connectivity to, and the ability to use, a wide variety of information sources reduce the cost and improve the perceived value in the eyes of its citizens.
· Both are looking to delight their (shared?) customers/citizens and both see the increased awareness that Internet of Things, IOT, brings as a key element in gaining constant real time feedback of the environment.
Put this way its hard to see the difference in core drivers, and hence in core technologies, but there are key differences in focus, and investment, that should allow both public, and private, sectors to gain from each others efforts. There are short-term boosts and longer-term gains around ensuring that the Internet of Things, IoT, will develop as a singular shared environment, with common data. Any Business or Technology manager should have seen enough examples of investments that failed to pay off due to choosing, or not making a conscious choice, of what became the common standardized approach.
Start now to find and use standards, if you wait then further you are along a path the harder, (and more expensive), it is to get back to rejoin the mainstream.
Would your Digital Business on its path to add intelligence with the Internet of Things, IoT, make use of an appropriate standard if you knew of its existence and relevance? Perhaps introducing HyperCat, a rapidly emerging ‘standard’ way of making the Internet of Thing devices usable that has grown out of Government backed Smart City programs might provide the necessary encouragement. Thinking of large scale city wide deployments by many different venders, and users, has led to the need to sort out the common data models at an early stage. This is an area where government investment in the Internet of things, IoT, is valuable, and for private sector Enterprises its difficult.
But its not just Government Smart City projects that are driving HyperCat, there are more than forty technology providers from long established players who are the global leaders, through to young start-ups that are changing the game with new capabilities. A good clear explanation of HyperCat is provided on a slide set to found here whilst for more on the HyperCat consortium including members see here.
Why adopt this for your Digital Business growth into, and deployment of, Internet of Things, IoT, devices? Four strong basic commercial considerations;
1. Is it really in your budget to have to research how to do this area of the technology and then document your own definitions?
2. When you manage a procurement for IoT, or increasingly likely when looking for access to sensors as services, how much purchasing time and expense will it save by using a Standard as a benchmark for bids?
3. Perhaps most importantly of all, how much integration risk, cost and time will your enterprise save by ensuring that it is using, and operating to, a common defined approach?
4. By definition IoT devices will be low cost and be deployed, or accessed and used, in huge numbers. It simply wont be possible to accept the level of system integration costs appropriate to internal IT. IoT, like the Internet and the Web, is a plug and play standardized environment.
You can rightfully challenge as to whether HyperCat is the right standards and what will happen if something better emerges in three years time. The truthful answer is nobody knows, but right now its formed enough, and supported enough to make it useable for many Internet of Things, IoT, pilots and deployments. What happens if something newer, and different does supersede your enterprise HyperCat deployment? Then it is likely to be better to have to implement a single gateway between HyperCat and the new environment rather than having to work out piecemeal integration for a series of devices and services.
Increase your knowledge of deploying, and reading data, from Internet of Things, IoT, devices and take the time to read up about HyperCat. Take a long look around to see if there are any other standards that you can use. Remember this is all about a common integrated environment and work on approaching your deployments with this in mind.
Just don’t treat it as a traditional IT project and extend your existing architectures and methods that suit a closed internal Enterprise IT project. There are too many differences to take into account!
Research report now available: The Foundational Elements for the Internet of Things (IoT)