The following are news announcements made during the past week:
PRESS RELEASE:
GlobalPlatform, IoT Connectivity Alliance Sign Memorandum of Understanding
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been agreed between industry associations GlobalPlatform and the IoT Connectivity Alliance (ICA). The two technical bodies will work to develop and promote a standardized approach to internet of things (IoT) security based on secure component technology. This will reduce the cost and streamline the development of large-scale consumer and industrial IoT deployments.
The ICA is committed to promoting the establishment of an open, interconnected and secure ecosystem for the global IoT market which, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, is expected to reach 11 trillion US dollars by 2025. One of its key priorities for the year ahead is the development of secure authentication for IoT devices and cloud services, to tackle the issue of IoT security fragmentation in the Chinese market.
GlobalPlatform standardizes two secure component technologies, Secure Element (SE) and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), both of which address various functional and security requirements in IoT, including the protection of authentication services, device attestation and cloud enrolment. Collaboration between the two associations will foster the adoption of GlobalPlatform SE and TEE standards as security baselines for IoT devices, and simplify their integration. This work will enhance interoperability and reduce the cost and complexity of secure IoT deployments.
As Fang Qiang, Security Standard Work Group, ICA, explains “It is expected that the market scale of China’s commercial IoT will grow from $2,155 billion to $3,610 billion by 2020. However, the security incidents that we have seen recently have resulted in fragmentation of the IoT market and its related technology.
To solve this problem, the standardization of IoT security mechanisms is desperately needed. Combining the ICA’s in-depth understanding of China’s IoT market, and key chip-related technologies, with GlobalPlatform’s nearly 20-year history as the international standard for the secure management of digital services and devices will help resolve the fragmentation problem, both in China and internationally.”
Both key players in driving the adoption of open and interoperable standards, GlobalPlatform and the ICA will collaborate on alternative interfaces for the connection of embedded SEs based on serial peripheral interface (SPI) and inter-integrated circuit (IIC) devices. This is part of the IoT road map defined by GlobalPlatform’s Consumer and Industrial IoT Task Forces, which are working to identify, define and evaluate the business and technical requirements needed for the secure deployment of IoT services.
GlobalPlatform’s Technical Director Gil Bernabeu explains “The connected device landscape is expanding rapidly; new devices need to enroll to different cloud platforms and support different device operating systems (OS). While this evolving market has the potential to revolutionize today’s digital service offering, it also represents widespread security and interoperability challenges for device makers, service providers and cloud platform providers. GlobalPlatform’s secure component technologies empower all actors in the value chain to seamlessly deliver, and securely manage, digital services and devices. Our partnership with the ICA will ensure security, while also supporting privacy, to give stakeholders the additional tools needed to help manage risk for a range of current and new use-cases”.
Longer term, the ICA and GlobalPlatform will continue promoting collaboration in the field of secure component technology, and the widespread adoption of IoT security standards in international markets.
PRESS RELEASE:
Ecofit, ServiceChannel Partner on Asset-Management Solution
Ecofit, the leading Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider to the fitness industry, has announced that the company has joined ServiceChannel’s solution partner ecosystem to provide proactive equipment monitoring and predictive failure resolution for health and fitness facility owners and managers. The collaboration and technical integration with ServiceChannel, the leading online marketplace and SaaS platform for facilities managers, contractors, and technicians, simplifies and automates the identification of an equipment-related problem, thereby speeding resolution, lowering cost, and improving customer satisfaction.
The streamlined process will help ensure optimal operation and uptime for critical equipment, such as treadmills, strength equipment, spin bikes, and more. When Ecofit’s smart sensor solution detects an issue, all information related to the equipment problem will be instantly shared with ServiceChannel, which will automatically dispatch an appropriate service provider and track the ensuing workflow, saving critical time, minimizing equipment downtime, and allowing for ultimate transparency in the resolution process.
ServiceChannel and Ecofit already count many leading fitness brands as joint customers. The integration of the two systems will provide the fitness industry with a seamless real-time equipment management solution that address critical asset management challenges.
Last year, ServiceChannel announced its solution partner program, where validated partners such as Ecofit can develop an integrated solution with the ServiceChannel platform, granting customers a broader set of capabilities, greater system transparency, and more advanced automation through one common user experience.
“As we continue to move toward a more deeply automated world, it’s critical that every company arm itself with the proper tools to keep pace,” said Tom Buiocchi, ServiceChannel’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to count EcoFit as a partner to help further simplify and automate its IoT-fueled platform for fitness facilities.”
“ServiceChannel’s advanced service automation marketplace and ability to quickly bring visibility and transparency to equipment issues are the obvious next steps to Ecofit’s issue identification abilities,” said Dave Johnson, Vice President, Business Development, Ecofit. “Our goal is to make the life of the facilities manager easier by taking that in-between responsibility off of them and drastically reduce downtime when an issue occurs.”
PRESS RELEASE:
STMicroelectronics to Demo Internet of Things Solutions in Asia
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, will be demonstrating its latest innovative solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Driving at IoT Asia, Singapore Expo, March 21-22, 2018. At the event, ST will highlight its rich portfolio of solutions for making Driving, Cities, and Things Smarter.
Making Driving Smarter: On the road to full electrification and autonomous vehicles, ST will showcase the Company’s broad range of automotive products and will, in particular, demonstrate solutions for mass V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication deployment, Connected-Driving use cases, intrusion detection and prevention, innovative infotainment solutions in diverse applications, and the latest evolution of automotive satellite-positioning solutions.
Making Cities Smarter: A smart city operates more efficiently, securely, and with greater convenience for its residents. ST will showcase its capabilities for effective power management from generation to distribution and consumption. Some of the demos on display include wireless charging solutions, an HB LED driver based on the LED2472G and an STM32 MCU (microcontroller), and USB Type-C Power Delivery based on the STUSB4710 controller and the ST1S10 step-down switching regulator.
In the area of secure and contactless solutions, ST is showing its NFC tag with tamper detection for product identification and anti-cloning, an NFC sensor node to monitor environmental and motion variations, a mobile POS machine using the high-performance ST25R3911B NFC/RFID reader for contactless payment, and a battery-less application enabled by the ST25DV NFC tag and STM32L4 MCU. A lighting application will also demonstrate device authentication with a remote server to manage authenticity of IoT devices using the STSAFE-A100 secure solution.
For connectivity applications, ST will showcase STM32 solutions for NB-IoT and 3G/2G cellular connectivity, LoRa solutions with STM32, and a long-distance communication LPWAN technology required for machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT applications.
Making Things Smarter: Today, consumers already have many Smart Things in their homes that are intelligent and connected to the Internet, including smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices. ST will display its latest high-performance STM32L4+ MCU for wearable graphics applications, voice recognition using Alexa Voice Service with STM32, and an advanced voice-processing and -transfer platform (BlueCoin) using ST’s MEMS microphones and BLE.
A highlight is the STM32 Open Development Environment that supports fast prototyping with plug-and-play hardware and software blocks, tools, and advanced prototyping solutions – all designed to get customers to market as fast as possible.
An augmented reality (AR) demonstration will also showcase how ST solutions can enable a Smart City, Smart Home, and Smart Industry with real-life use cases. Vishal Goyal, Senior Technical Marketing Manager from ST will speak at the Smart City Track on March 21, 3.25pm – 4.00pmfocusing on “Provisioning for Smarter Collaborations.” He will be joined by Sigfox, and together they will highlight examples of collaborative approaches to designing, building, integrating, and developing specific Smart City solutions, and why this is necessary at the system level.
PRESS RELEASE:
Siemens AG Extends Contract With Orange Business Services for Global SD-WAN Infrastructure
Siemens AG, a global electronics and electrical engineering company, has extended its contract with Orange Business Services for a global “Siemens Digitalization Network” (SDN) built on an SD-WAN infrastructure, connecting 1,500 sites in 94 countries. The increased performance of its communications infrastructure will enable Siemens to take full advantage of further digitalization to improve its Industry 4.0 processes.
Under this new six-year contract worth 240 million Euros, Orange Business Services will migrate Siemens’ entire global infrastructure to a dynamic and flexible SD-WAN network which will connect cloud applications as well as IoT devices. Consolidating network design and maintenance with one single provider will further reduce complexity and strengthen application performance and agility.
“As a globally operating company with subsidiaries and divisions all over the world, we need a reliable and flexible communication network that is a critical business enabler and can evolve with our growing business,” said Frederik Janssen, Head of Siemens IT Infrastructure Portfolio and Strategy. “We chose Orange Business Services because we see it as a prime partner with the ability to deliver seamless worldwide SD-WAN coverage with the highest degree of security standards – especially to protect against threats from the Internet, quality of service, local support and an attractive price-performance ratio. We were also impressed by the flexibility and the service level Orange Business Services has been providing as a trusted partner to Siemens over the past several years.”
Demands on the Siemens WAN have increased with virtual teams and teleworkers collaborating on global projects. Orange Business Services can meet Siemens’ needs by combining SD-WAN technology with cloud- and web-based services and solutions. With a single-point-of-contact service desk and local presence in 166 countries, Orange Business Services provides Siemens with managed network services in the 94 countries in which it operates. This builds on the long-standing cooperation and governance established throughout Siemens’ worldwide divisions and the headquarters in Munich.
“We are pleased to have been chosen by Siemens to provide its future SDN network and manage its critical global communications infrastructure across all continents,” said Helmut Reisinger, Executive Vice President, International, Orange Business Services. “As a company with its pioneering role in innovation and technologies, Siemens set the highest benchmarks for this project. Combining an innovative solution approach with specialization in providing robust seamless global network services, Orange Business Services has the end-to-end integration expertise to efficiently implement and manage projects of this scale, including all areas in fast-growing emerging markets and critical cyberdefense components.
“Orange Business Services has once again been positioned as a Leader in the Gartner 2018 Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Global for the 18th consecutive year. We believe that our Leaders position validates our ability to steer the future of global network services and deploy our strategy towards the promise of intent-based networking,” added Reisinger.
PRESS RELEASE:
Accruent Acquires Connectiv, Providing Asset-Management Visibility to Clients
Accruent, the world’s leading provider of physical resource management solutions, has acquired California-based Connectiv, enhancing Accruent’s ability to meet the needs of clients in healthcare. This marks Accruent’s seventh company acquisition in the past twenty-four months to help clients have control and visibility across asset management solutions.
Connectiv is a rapidly-growing cloud-based, mobile-enabled software company that allows biomedical and clinical engineering groups to manage and control all aspects of their medical devices and equipment. Connectiv software helps healthcare organizations fulfill their mission by mitigating risk, ensuring regulatory compliance and maximizing utilization. Connectiv is a ServiceNow Technology Partner automating the management of medical applications, devices and facilities.
“With 67% of medical device manufacturers and 56% of healthcare providers believing an attack on their devices is likely to occur within a year, we saw the urgency to provide a solution for managing biomedical assets,” said John Borgerding, CEO, Accruent. “We are acquiring Connectiv because their software, co-created with clinical engineers in national healthcare organizations, enables management of medical devices across the lifecycle, including automatic security monitoring that identifies threats in minutes. Connectiv’s biomedical asset management solution has the feature set and the flexibility to address changing healthcare needs, new technologies and regulatory demands.”
With hospitals and clinical providers looking for the user-friendliness and control of a master IT platform, Connectiv leverages the proven reliability of the widely adopted Now Platform™ from ServiceNow, Inc., enabling more powerful automated management across clinical applications and medical assets.
“Healthcare IT adoption is growing at a rapid rate across our platform,” stated Avanish Sahai, Global Vice President, ISV, Industry and Technology Alliances, ServiceNow. “Working together, Accruent and Connectiv will bring new ways to manage healthcare assets to clients.”
“Connectiv is a fast-to-scale company, and we’ve built our business and platform to meet the underserved needs of healthcare clinical engineers,” said Rob Woodbyrne, CEO, Connectiv. “Since our founding, we’ve brought more transparency to healthcare organizations as they manage technology and optimize the delivery of healthcare. Now, as part of the global Accruent team, we’re primed to build on a well-established base to achieve rapid global expansion.”
The acquired solution set and its planned enhancements will continue serving existing Connectiv customers, and will be offered as a complement to Accruent’s existing suite of healthcare solutions in asset and maintenance management, lease accounting, and capital planning. The acquisition, effective immediately, includes the continuation of existing Connectiv product development, support and sales resources.
PRESS RELEASE:
Vodafone, Continental Use IoT to Make Truck Tires Smart
Continental is helping to make the world’s roads safer with Vodafone’s support through the new digital tire monitoring platform, ContiConnect. The companies are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to connect commercial vehicle fleets to the digital tire monitoring platform to improve road safety and vehicle efficiencies. ContiConnect is currently deployed in US, Canada, Malaysia and Thailand with more markets in Europe and Asia to follow in 2018 and next year.
ContiConnect communicates tire temperature and pressure data to a central web portal via the wireless network, allowing fleet managers to continuously monitor the data for their entire fleet. The system sends alerts via e-mail or SMS to the fleet manager if tire pressure or temperature deviate from the defined value and suggests corrective measures where necessary.
The new platform helps prevent expensive tire-related breakdowns affecting commercial fleets, and maximizes vehicle uptime. The Vodafone mobile communications network transmits the data securely, reliably in real-time to destinations around the world.
Continental’s Commercial Vehicle tire Division Head of Digital Solutions Michael Neuheisel, said: “ContiConnect provides commercial vehicle fleet operators such as haulage, bus or construction companies with greater transparency in their fleet management activities and allows them to digitally monitor their vehicles’ tires in real-time. The recorded data helps fleet managers to maximize vehicle uptime and reduce maintenance costs and fuel.”
Vodafone’s IoT Director Stefano Gestaut said: “This is a great example of how IoT can make real world differences in so many unexpected places. This ensures that truck drivers experience fewer tire-related breakdowns and accidents – making the roads a safer place to be for every vehicle user.”
Special Continental sensors continuously monitor tire pressure and temperature data and transmit it to a receiver unit. The receiver unit then transmits the data in real-time to the Continental backend where a software program analyses it. If any of the values are critical, ContiConnect sends an alert so that the fleet manager can take action immediately.
ContiConnect is putting commercial vehicles in the ecological fast lane. The regular data streams that are sent to the fleet managers help them to plan tire changes and maintenance far more efficiently, improving the operational performance and lifespan of the tires. Tire pressure monitoring also contributes to protecting the environment because tires that are operated at optimum pressure save fuel and reduce commercial vehicles’ CO2 output. For example, a tire operating at just 80% pressure uses around 0.9 litres more fuel for every 100 kilometres driven. Over an average distance covered of 120,000 kilometres per year, that’s 1,080 litres more fuel consumed for each rire. So in addition to the environmental benefits, ContiConnect also improves commercial fleet profitability.
The system transmits data by SMS or e-mail, so the driver doesn’t need to have a display unit in the cockpit. And the global Vodafone network ensures that fleet managers have real-time data on all their vehicles that are out on the road.
PRESS RELEASE:
Understory, Monsanto Partner in Argentina to Inform Global Weather Impact on Agriculture
Understory, the weather network, edge computing, and machine learning company, has announced an international expansion and strategic collaboration with Monsanto (NYSE: MON), the global modern agriculture company. Monsanto’s use of Understory’s weather network is providing on-the-ground insights into localized weather in Argentina to drive growers’ decisions and optimize high value operations.
“Understory provides the only technology necessary to make hyper-local weather valuable for operations management in agricultural areas where local weather information is not accurate.” said Giovanni Piccinni, Global Supply Chain Field Optimization Lead, Monsanto. “With localized accurate data, growers can streamline operational challenges and boost economic outcomes. We anticipate this being an important and valuable partnership.”
Monsanto and Understory tested a pilot program of their partnership in Hawaii over the past year, refining weather data use in day-to-day grower operations. This Understory international expansion with Monsanto means unprecedented localized weather networks in corn growing regions in Córdoba and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since Understory’s networks do not require maintenance, they can be deployed in remote areas and remain untouched for over five years. Each station in the network provides 50,000 measurements a second to power a fully built artificial intelligence core that provides precise hail, rainfall, temperature, humidity, evapotranspiration (moisture leaving the plant) and growing degree units (where a plant is in its lifecycle to determine best harvesting time). Understory data informs Monsanto’s decisions around irrigation, harvest dates and times, and seed production.
Understory’s weather network is different from other weather hardware. This network provides customers with a full-stack, rugged, maintenance-free, precision weather solution, where Understory sites, installs, and operates the network, while providing a real-time data platform and API. In addition, Understory’s weather network can be integrated with any third-party sensors currently available on the market.
“Argentina is an agricultural giant that produces 22 percent of the world’s soybeans, yet many growers there, and around the world, still lack data insights due to the remote, harsh farming conditions,” said Alex Kubicek, CEO, Understory. “Our collaboration with Monsanto promises to deliver daily operational insights to farmers around the world to yield better, healthier crops, and it can be deployed anywhere without the need for oversite or management.”
In the United States, Understory has saturated networks deployed across five major metropolitan areas with plans to expand to 5,000 stations covering all at risk areas by the end of 2019. In addition to agriculture, Understory provides damage analytics to P&C insurance industry to improve the claims experience for home and commercial properties. The patented technology provides actionable information that radar, satellite and other remote sensing technologies fail to deliver. Understory plans to make its technology available to additional agricultural partners in the near future.
PRESS RELEASE:
IoT Solutions World Congress Establishes Advisory Board
The IoT Solutions World Congress (IoTSWC) has recently established the Advisory Board for its upcoming edition to be held from 16 to 18 October. The advisory board is commissioned with defining the general strategy for the event, organized by Fira de Barcelona, and is formed by 17 members, among them renowned visionaries within the industry, technology experts and executives from leading companies dedicated to accelerating the awareness and implementation of the Internet of Things in a range of environments.
This committee of experts, presided by the executive director of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), Dr. Richard Soley, is dedicated to publicizing the world’s industrial IoT event and ensuring that the upcoming edition of the IoT Solutions World Congress will provide practical knowledge on the deployment of loT in different industrial environments, offer professional networking of the highest calibre, and demonstrate how the interconnectedness of companies in the loT value chain is transforming business and society.
The Advisory Board works in close collaboration with the programme committee, formed by nearly thirty representatives from leading companies and organisations in charge of defining and identifying the most topical issues, speakers and success stories that will be presented over the course of the Congress. This ensures the highest quality content and the panel of conferences and speakers covers a wide variety of industries, technologies, standards and applications.
In addition to Dr. Richard Soley, the Advisory Board of the IoT Solutions World Congress 2018 is formed by Jonathan Ballon, Vice-president of Intel; Prith Banerjee, Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry; Roger Bou, IoTSWC Director; Stephen Gold, Vice-president and General Manager of Connected Enterprises at Honeywell; Tony Guerion, Global Head Sales of IoT at Vodafone; Tim Hanley, Global Leader, Consumer & Industrial Products at Deloitte; James Kirkland, Chief Architect of the Internet of Things at Redha t; Jason Mann, Director of Industry Solutions Product Management and IoT Strategy at SAS; Jayraj Nair, Global Head IoT, VP of Wipro; Yasuyuki Nishioka, president of the Industrial Value Chain Initiative; Derek O’Halloran, representative of World Economic Forum; Stan Schneider, CEO of RTI; John Tuccillo, Senior Vice President of Global Industry and Government Affairs at Schneider Electric; Katherine Voss, president of ODVA; Jiang Wangcheng, President of IoT Solutions at Huawei; and Joy Weiss, vice-president of IoT and Security at Analog Devices,.
The IoT Solutions World Congress (IoTSWC) is the world’s largest event on industrial Internet of Things innovation that brings together a congress, trade show and testbeds area. Its October edition expects to gather 300 international exhibitors and 250 speakers. This year’s show is set to showcase the growth of the IoT and its wide scale implementation across a range of industrial and business applications and will also demonstrate the convergence of this technology with artificial intelligence and blockchain. Last year, more than 13,000 professionals from 114 countries visited the event.