Internet of things: Iiot and new business outlooks
The Internet of Things sector has been the protagonist of an annual growth of 50% reaching almost 3 billion euros. These are the data that emerge from the Research on the Internet of Things of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic which highlights how the market has been the gas meters and the connected cars, while among the most promising areas of use are the Smart Home, Smart Cities and the Industrial IoT. The research also shows that 79% of Italian consumers are willing to buy products for the Smart Home, but only one in four will do so within 12 months. As for Smart Cities, 60% of Italian municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants have already started projects especially for the management of mobility and smart lighting (Osservatorio Internet of Things, School of Management Polytechnic of Milan).
"The Internet of Things offers the possibility to give new life to objects" - says Gabriele di Matteo in the workshop "Dialogue between a washing machine and a toaster - The Revolution 4.0 generated by the Internet of Things" online at www.smauacademy.it and in his book published by Hoepli. - "Imagine the advertising billboard: an instrument already known 5,000 years ago and that today, with the IoT is able to provide information in real time. This is what a famous airline in London did in Piccadilly Circus, placing an apparently normal advertising poster. As soon as the sky is flown over by an airplane of your company, near the square, the billboard indicates the origin, the destination of the flight and in some cases the minutes of delay. In the same way the tennis racket is no longer just a racket, but with sensors installed in the handle it is able to give detailed information on sports performance: on the speed of the blow or on how many times it is wrong and why ". "The Iot however," - specifies Gennaro Persano, supervisor of Smau Academy with the workshop "Giving life to objects: the Internet of Things" - "does not mean only remote management of hardware devices, but it means completely reinventing business processes and have the opportunity to collect huge amounts of data - Big Data - that can help companies make decisions and develop forecasting models."
Among the areas in which IoT technologies are spreading is Agrifood, an area in which these technologies can provide important support for farmers' decision-making activities. By inserting sensors inside the ground it is possible to obtain important information, for example, on humidity and soil temperature.
In Smart Cities you can find widespread examples of using the Internet of Things, especially within Municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants. An example is the City of Naples that has launched a real "energy challenge" with other European capitals to reward the most virtuous families. Naples, in fact, is involved together with Berlin and Brussels in the DOMINO project which translates into a challenge on energy saving that involves more than 1200 families for each urban reality. Thanks to the free use of adapters / smart plugs, families can measure the electricity consumption of their appliances and, with the suggestions provided, reduce bill costs and polluting emissions. The most virtuous families, as well as having an immediate confirmation in the bill, are also rewarded with green prizes like electric bicycles and discount coupons of various types. Dedicated to environmental monitoring, the solution of Tree Voice, a startup of Tim #Wcap that, through a small IoT device that is inserted - without being invasive and harmful - directly inside the plant, is able to analyze and collect a lot of information coming from the tree to send them promptly to a central server that processes them and advises those responsible in case of various dangers to avoid numerous accidents resulting from bad weather or tree diseases in the city. Another example of how the IoT can be applied to the concept of Smart City comes from the Nexus startup. The startup presented to Smau Safe Underpass, a system that monitors the flooding status of the underpasses and, in the event that the water level becomes dangerous, warns drivers, blocks the passage and sends an alert to a remote management center who will be aware of the problem in real time and can make decisions much faster and more precisely. The use of the new LoRa technology allows to cover distances of 15Km drastically reducing energy consumption.
In the domestic field there are numerous applications of Smart Home, including Jarvis, "smart robot" for the home and office, created by the Iooota startup in Bologna specialized in IoT solutions, which allows users to manage and control in a very simple way, direct and wherever they are (from the bed as well as from the other side of the world), different parameters such as energy saving, lighting, consumption control, the safety of their spaces and that of their loved ones, their own appliances. And it is also able to intervene in real time in situations that, in a hurry or distraction, can happen in everyday life.
Among the various industrial applications, the IoT can provide an effective aid in the maintenance and monitoring of machinery. The Minerva Omega Group, a consolidated reality in the food sector that deals with designing and producing a wide range of machines and systems for processing and preserving food products, has received the Smau Innovation Award for giving added value to its products through the insertion of the IoT. The company, in fact, has decided to create a Spin-Off, with the aim of doing research and development specialized in this sector. In 2013 he created the DSC Nexus, which today not only produces added value to company products, but also allows the Group to be partners of other companies, even competitors, management customers and customers who request ad hoc projects. To achieve this result, specific hardware has been developed following the specifications of the IoT, while for the software, through the Solair / Microsoft platform, the data acquired by the machines are extracted, processed with specific algorithms and synchronized also with external systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) and then be integrated into business processes. Thanks to the project, in two years, the business has expanded both the company and the end customer with increased know-how that today allows the Group to provide customized, modular and scalable solutions and an expansion of the target of the interlocutors, thus differentiating itself from the other competitors on the market.
The IoT market is booming, interest is growing and new scenarios are developing. In this context, big players and startups, together, can create new projects that can increase the competitiveness of companies and improve services to citizens. In Smau, with its Roadshow around Italy, the task of turning the spotlight on these experiences and sharing them with companies and public administrations of our country.
The Internet of Things sector has been the protagonist of an annual growth of 50% reaching almost 3 billion euros. These are the data that emerge from the Research on the Internet of Things of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic which highlights how the market has been the gas meters and the connected cars, while among the most promising areas of use are the Smart Home, Smart Cities and the Industrial IoT. The research also shows that 79% of Italian consumers are willing to buy products for the Smart Home, but only one in four will do so within 12 months. As for Smart Cities, 60% of Italian municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants have already started projects especially for the management of mobility and smart lighting (Osservatorio Internet of Things, School of Management Polytechnic of Milan).
"The Internet of Things offers the possibility to give new life to objects" - says Gabriele di Matteo in the workshop "Dialogue between a washing machine and a toaster - The Revolution 4.0 generated by the Internet of Things" online at www.smauacademy.it and in his book published by Hoepli. - "Imagine the advertising billboard: an instrument already known 5,000 years ago and that today, with the IoT is able to provide information in real time. This is what a famous airline in London did in Piccadilly Circus, placing an apparently normal advertising poster. As soon as the sky is flown over by an airplane of your company, near the square, the billboard indicates the origin, the destination of the flight and in some cases the minutes of delay. In the same way the tennis racket is no longer just a racket, but with sensors installed in the handle it is able to give detailed information on sports performance: on the speed of the blow or on how many times it is wrong and why ". "The Iot however," - specifies Gennaro Persano, supervisor of Smau Academy with the workshop "Giving life to objects: the Internet of Things" - "does not mean only remote management of hardware devices, but it means completely reinventing business processes and have the opportunity to collect huge amounts of data - Big Data - that can help companies make decisions and develop forecasting models."
Among the areas in which IoT technologies are spreading is Agrifood, an area in which these technologies can provide important support for farmers' decision-making activities. By inserting sensors inside the ground it is possible to obtain important information, for example, on humidity and soil temperature.
In Smart Cities you can find widespread examples of using the Internet of Things, especially within Municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants. An example is the City of Naples that has launched a real "energy challenge" with other European capitals to reward the most virtuous families. Naples, in fact, is involved together with Berlin and Brussels in the DOMINO project which translates into a challenge on energy saving that involves more than 1200 families for each urban reality. Thanks to the free use of adapters / smart plugs, families can measure the electricity consumption of their appliances and, with the suggestions provided, reduce bill costs and polluting emissions. The most virtuous families, as well as having an immediate confirmation in the bill, are also rewarded with green prizes like electric bicycles and discount coupons of various types. Dedicated to environmental monitoring, the solution of Tree Voice, a startup of Tim #Wcap that, through a small IoT device that is inserted - without being invasive and harmful - directly inside the plant, is able to analyze and collect a lot of information coming from the tree to send them promptly to a central server that processes them and advises those responsible in case of various dangers to avoid numerous accidents resulting from bad weather or tree diseases in the city. Another example of how the IoT can be applied to the concept of Smart City comes from the Nexus startup. The startup presented to Smau Safe Underpass, a system that monitors the flooding status of the underpasses and, in the event that the water level becomes dangerous, warns drivers, blocks the passage and sends an alert to a remote management center who will be aware of the problem in real time and can make decisions much faster and more precisely. The use of the new LoRa technology allows to cover distances of 15Km drastically reducing energy consumption.
In the domestic field there are numerous applications of Smart Home, including Jarvis, "smart robot" for the home and office, created by the Iooota startup in Bologna specialized in IoT solutions, which allows users to manage and control in a very simple way, direct and wherever they are (from the bed as well as from the other side of the world), different parameters such as energy saving, lighting, consumption control, the safety of their spaces and that of their loved ones, their own appliances. And it is also able to intervene in real time in situations that, in a hurry or distraction, can happen in everyday life.
Among the various industrial applications, the IoT can provide an effective aid in the maintenance and monitoring of machinery. The Minerva Omega Group, a consolidated reality in the food sector that deals with designing and producing a wide range of machines and systems for processing and preserving food products, has received the Smau Innovation Award for giving added value to its products through the insertion of the IoT. The company, in fact, has decided to create a Spin-Off, with the aim of doing research and development specialized in this sector. In 2013 he created the DSC Nexus, which today not only produces added value to company products, but also allows the Group to be partners of other companies, even competitors, management customers and customers who request ad hoc projects. To achieve this result, specific hardware has been developed following the specifications of the IoT, while for the software, through the Solair / Microsoft platform, the data acquired by the machines are extracted, processed with specific algorithms and synchronized also with external systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) and then be integrated into business processes. Thanks to the project, in two years, the business has expanded both the company and the end customer with increased know-how that today allows the Group to provide customized, modular and scalable solutions and an expansion of the target of the interlocutors, thus differentiating itself from the other competitors on the market.
The IoT market is booming, interest is growing and new scenarios are developing. In this context, big players and startups, together, can create new projects that can increase the competitiveness of companies and improve services to citizens. In Smau, with its Roadshow around Italy, the task of turning the spotlight on these experiences and sharing them with companies and public administrations of our country.