Category: Internet of Things

Secrets Behind Building Any AI Driven Smart Service – A Software Insider’s Point of View

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The combination of machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and cognitive computing will change the ways that humans and machines interact with our environments.  AI-driven smart services will sense one’s surroundings, know one’s preferences are from  past behavior, and subtly guide people and machines through their daily lives in ways that will truly feel seamless. This quest to deliver AI driven smart services across all industries and business processes will usher the most significant shift in computing and business this decade and beyond.

Organizations can expect AI driven smart services to impact future of work flows, IOT services, customer experience journeys, and block chain distributed ledgers.  Success requires the establishment of AI outcomes (see Figure 1).  Once the outcomes are established, organizations can craft AI driven smart services that orchestrate, automate, and deliver mass personalization at scale.

FIGURE 1.  SEVEN SPECTRUM OF AI OUTCOMES

rwang0-spectrum-of-outcomes-for-ai

Secrets To Designing AI Driven Smart Services Start With The Orchestration Of Trust

Crafting AI-driven smart services requires a shift in thinking to atomic driven smart services.   In fact, these new AI driven smart services rely on five key components:

  1. Applying digital footprints and data exhaust use AI to build anonymous and explicit profiles.
    Every individual, device, or network provides some information. That digital footprint or exhaust could come from facial analysis, a network IP address, or even one’s walking gait. Using AI and cognitive reckoning, systems can start to analyze patterns and correlate identity. That means that AI services will recognize and know individuals across difference contexts.
  2. Immersive experiences enable a natural interaction.
    Context, content, collaboration, and channels come together to all AI-driven services to deliver immersive and unique experiences to each individual.  The services will use context attributes such as geospatial location, time of day, weather, heart rate, and even sentiment – combined with what the service knows of our identity and preferences – to improve relevancy and deliver the appropriate content. Sense-and-respond mechanisms will enable collaboration among participants and machines through conversations and text dialogs. Channels include all interaction points such as mobile, social, kiosks, and in-person. The goal is natural user experiences based on identity.
  3.  Mass personalization at scale delivers digital services.
    Anticipatory analytics, catalysts, and choices interact to power mass personalization at scale.  Anticipatory analytics allow customers to “skate where the puck will be”.  Catalysts provide offers or triggers for response.  Choices allow customers to make their own decisions.  Each individual or machine will have their own experience in contexts depending on identity, historical preferences, and needs at the time. From choose-your-own-adventure journeys, context-driven offers, and multi-variable testing on available choices, the AI systems offer statistically driven choices to incite action.
  4.  Value exchange completes the orchestration of trust.
    Once an action is taken, value exchange cements the transaction. Monetary, non-monetary, and consensus are three common forms of value exchange. While monetary value exchange might be the most obvious, non-monetary value exchange (including recognition, access, and influence) often provide a compelling form of value. Meanwhile, a simple consensus or agreement can also deliver value exchange on the veracity of a land title or agreement on a patient treatment protocol.
  5. Cadence and feedback continues and AI powered learning cycle.
    Powered by machine learning and other AI tools, smart services consider the cadence of delivery: one time, ad-hoc, repetitive, subscription based, and threshold driven. Using machine learning techniques, the system studies how the smart services are delivered and applies this to future interactions.

FIGURE 2.  THE SECRET TO DESIGNING ATOMIC AI DRIVEN SERVICES

rwang0-ai-atomicservices

The Bottom Line: Artificial Intelligence Augments Humanity

Fears of robots taking over the world have been overblown.  Successful AI driven smart services will augment human intelligence just as machines augmented physical capabilities.  By enabling reduction of errors, improving speed of decisions, identifying demand signals, predicting outcomes, and preventing disasters, AI driven smart services play a key role in defining business models for block chain technologies,  IOT, customer experience, and future of work.

http://blog.softwareinsider.org/2016/11/28/mondays-musings-secrets-behind-building-ai-driven-smart-service/

Internet Industry Group Issues IoT Security Guidelines

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With recent IoT-related cyberattacks, organizations and at least one government agency are now focusing on preventative security measures with another set of recommendations just released.

In addition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s IoT security principles, the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) just outlined its recommendations for IoT device security.

The guidelines are intended specifically for the area of consumer-facing IoT devices, although most of the recommendations are for increased process and oversight in the supply chain of those devices.

Most of the recommendations are simply to follow current best practices that have already been established in other similar devices, like personal computers and other consumer electronics.

BITAG recommends using current best practices for software standards, device naming and addressing, security and cryptography. The group also recommends that the IoT devices industry comes together to explore the creation of a more formal cybersecurity program.

Most of these guidelines seem to be similar to the principles for IoT security that DHS recently released.

Those guidelines include incorporating security at the design phase of IoT products and services and enabling security by default through unique usernames and passwords.

However, there has yet to come a legal governance for IoT device security. Rather, the guidelines from both DHS and BITAG are recommendations for IoT device manufacturers.

Here are the IoT device security recommendations outlined by BITAG:

  • Follow current software best practices
  • Follow current security and cryptography best practices
  • IoT device communication should be restrictive, not permissive, by default
  • IoT device core functionality should work if the internet connection is disrupted
  • IoT device core functionality should work if the cloud service fails
  • Support naming and addressing best practices
  • Ship with a privacy policy that is easy to understand
  • Disclose if the device functionality can be remotely limited by the manufacturer
  • IoT device industry should establish a cybersecurity program
  • IoT device supply chain should be actively involved in addressing privacy and security

 

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/289800/internet-industry-group-issues-iot-security-guidel.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=readmore&utm_campaign=98404

IoT interoperability: Where it stands and what comes next

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The Allseen Alliance earlier this month merged with the Open Connectivity Foundation with plans to operate under the OCF name in working towards interoperability in the “internet of things” market through open source software frameworks and standards. IoT interoperability is a hot topic at conferences around the world, with the forecast billions of forthcoming IoT devices expected to be reliant on their ability to connect with each other in order to garner the most benefit, even in an industrial setting. Art Lancaster, CTO of Affinegy, told Industrial IoT 5G there has been progress in different verticals, but the growth opportunity of IoT needs to be sped up with a broad base of IoT interoperability using a consortium framework of many different companies.

Gartner predicts IoT reaching 25 billion devices and hitting $263 billion by 2020. Cisco sees it as a $19 trillion market by 2025, with an impact 10-times the internet itself. If these predictions are to come true, the current landscape must adapt to make connecting hardware, software and storage easier.

IoT ecosystems require interoperability to create seamless programmability of devices or sensors in enabling a world of connected devices. This means IoT will require standards to enable horizontal platforms that are communicable, operable and programmable across devices, regardless of make, model, manufacturer or industry. The hope is that connectivity between people, processes and things works no matter what screen type, browser or hardware is used. The reality, however, is that the IoT is fragmented and lacks interoperability.

According to a PTC blog post, this fragmentation can manifest as any of the following:

  • Different OEMs: devices or equipment that are not made by the same manufacturer can cannot integrate.
  • Different OSs: inability to run on the same operating systems.
  • Different versions or times of purchase: devices that weren’t made or purchased at the same time.
  • Different/incommunicable types of connectors or connectivity frameworks (e.g. devices).
  • Different/inconsistent communication protocol standards (i.e. rules).
  • Lack of programmability needed to connect in the first place.

Interoperability is a crucial missing piece to the progress of IoT, according to a report by McKinseytitled “Unlocked the potential of the internet of things.” The report notes:

  • Interoperability between IoT systems is critical. Of the total potential economic value the IoT enables, interoperability is required for 40% on average and for nearly 60% in some settings.
  • Currently, most IoT data are not used. For example, on an oil rig that has 30,000 sensors, only 1% of the data are examined. That’s because this information is used mostly to detect and control anomalies — not for optimization and prediction, which provide the greatest value.

In order for the “internet of things” to be successful, it should better promote IoT interoperability and open interfaces or APIs. Many devices focus on proprietary technology and interfaces because they view themselves as the only game in town, hurting the development and expansion of IoT.

According to Cloud Technology Partners, issues that arise around the lack of IoT interoperability with IoT-enabled devices include:

  • The inability to test APIs using common approaches and mechanisms.
  • The inability to push and pull information from devices using the same interfaces.
  • The inability to secure devices using third-party security software.
  • The inability to monitor and manage devices using a common management and monitoring layer.

To get around this, standards must be created. Interoperability between IoT is extremely complex, but the application layer is seen as the key place to get bridging technology to the layers below, according to Lancaster, who says IoT technology to write workflows still tends to be siloed, but the best place to transcend that challenge and gain broad interoperability is to work at the application layer. Wireless technologies like Z-Wave and ZigBee are at the physical networking layer, and early automation technologies put a simple interface schema for “is it on or off, what is the temperature, etc.” baked right into the radio modules. If you wanted to write ZigBee application you had to write APIs directly into ZigBee application. OCF is looking at creating standard specifications that allow for connectivity specs between each of the technologies.

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20161031/internet-of-things/iot-interoperability-tag31-tag99

202 Million ‘Connected’ Appliances Projected; Fridge Seen As Hub Of Smart Kitchen 11/02/2016

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A flood of connected home appliances is on the way.

There has been a limited number of new products and market movement recently, but that is about to change, based on a new study.

The number of connected home appliance shipments will hit 202 million units globally by 2021, up substantially from 17 million this year, according to the Smarter Kitchen, Smarter Shopping study by Juniper Research.

Smart appliances will be dominated by large vendors, unlike the smart home ecosystem that was developed by small startups, according to Juniper.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/288101/202-million-connected-appliances-projected-frid.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=97758

The Google Cast app is getting a new name and purpose

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Fire up the Google Cast app – which is used to discover content to stream on Chromecast-connected TVs and speakers, and to manage them – and you’ll spot a message indicating that it’s getting a new name: Google Home.

The rebranding makes sense, as Google officially launched a new voice-activated speaker (also called Home – yup, it’s kinda messy) at its hardware launch event yesterday and will need an app to manage it.

http://thenextweb.com/google/2016/10/05/google-cast-is-getting-a-new-name-and-purpose/

New CEO at Nest has eyes on what’s needing to be fixed

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NEST’S CEO IS REPLACED: Tony Fadell is leaving his position as CEO of Nest, according to a blog post written by Fadell. He will be replaced by Marwan Fawaz, who previously led Motorola Mobility’s television set-top box business, Motorola Home. The transition has been underway since the end of 2015, and Fadell will remain involved with Alphabet (Nest’s parent company) as an advisor.

Nest and Fadell have faced a lot of criticism over the last few months.

Nest failed to meet revenue expectations. When Alphabet (formerly Google) acquired Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion, Alphabet set Nest’s revenue target at $300 million annually. But Nest has failed to meet that revenue on its own and has only surpassed the target because of revenue from Dropcam, which it acquired for $555 million six months after Nest was acquired by Alphabet.
Nest is being pressured by Alphabet to release a smart home security system, but hasn’t yet. Nest is reportedly working on three devices — Flintstone, Pinna, and Keshi — that would work in tandem to create a smart home security system. Nest has not released a successful product since the launch of its signature smart thermostat in 2011.
Nest shut down service to the Revolv hub. In April, Nest announced it was shutting down service to Revolv smart home hubs, which were used to control smart lights, locks, thermostats, and other smart home devices. Revolv was acquired by Nest in 2014. Shutting down the Revolv hubs led to a major public backlash against Nest.
Fadell pointed the finger at Dropcam’s CEO Greg Duffy for many of Nest’s problems in an interview withThe Information. Duffy publicly responded saying that if Dropcam’s revenue was released, it would make Nest “not look good in comparison” to Dropcam.
Nest isn’t the only company struggling in the smart home market though. There are very few success stories among smart home products right now, as they tend to be expensive, gimmicky, and often don’t add enough value for the consumer. For example, the $250 price tag for the Nest Learning Thermostat is not affordable to the mass market and doesn’t add enough value to justify the cost difference compared to a $30 unconnected thermostat. Over time, the price of smart home products will drop, making them more affordable for the average consumer.

IoT 2020 Business Report

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Dubai – MENA Herald: Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, recently unveiled its IoT 2020 Business Report, outlining the company’s predictions for how large organizations will leverage Internet of Things technologies as a serious business tool by 2020.
The GCC region has been steadily investing in enhancing IT capabilities and digital readiness and has been known for its widespread adoption of cloud technologies. Similarly, the region’s forward-looking governments have been quick on jump to the IoT bandwagon to help its industries, cities and people live a better connected, safer and greener life. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the total IoT spending in the Middle East will reach $1.8 billion in 2016 and then increase to $3.2 billion by 2019, with manufacturing, transportation, and utilities accounting for up to 50% of this total. Vendors and solution providers must be quick to adapt their offerings to be compatible with the IoT, as it provides visibility to ensure proactive management of assets and can propel the region’s vision to design intelligent and eco-friendly cities.
“We’re past the point of questioning whether IoT will deliver value. Businesses now need to make informed decisions to position themselves to maximize IoT’s value in their organization,” said Dr. Prith Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer, Schneider Electric. “Our IoT 2020 Business Report is designed to serve as a guide for IoT implementation and innovation to help customers reap its benefits as the market evolves over the next five years. It reflects our commitment in delivering technologies that ensure Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment.”
Based on a recent global IoT survey of 3,000 business leaders in 12 countries, in addition to Schneider Electric’s expertise with IoT solutions and feedback from its customers and partners, the predictions showcase the immediate value for both the public and private sector.
Dr. Banerjee added: “The Internet of Things has been at the top of the hype curve for some time, but the findings of this survey demonstrate that IoT technologies can and will continue to drive real business value across industries and geographies.”
The following predictions serve as a guide for what business leaders can expect as the market evolves:
1. The next wave of digital transformation. IoT will trigger the next wave of enterprise digital transformation, unifying the worlds of OT and IT and fueling a mobile and digitally enabled workforce: As more companies both expand and deepen their digitization programs enterprise- wide, IoT will increasingly take center stage. This new wave of transformation will be enabled by more affordable “connected” sensors, embedded intelligence and control, faster and more ubiquitous communications networks, cloud infrastructure, and advanced data-analytics capabilities.
2. Insightful data. IoT will translate previously untapped data into insights that enable enterprises to take the customer experience to the next level: When thinking about the value proposition of IoT, most businesses point to efficiency and cost savings as the key benefits. Yet access to data – including previously untapped data – and the ability to translate it into actionable insights, the hallmark of IoT, will deliver greater customer-service transformation and new opportunities to build brand/service loyalty and satisfaction.
3. Premise-to-cloud confidence. The IoT will promote an open, interoperable and hybrid computing approach, and it will foster industry and government collaboration on global architecture standards that address cybersecurity concerns: While cloud-based IoT solutions will grow in popularity, no single computing architecture will monopolize their delivery. IoT instead will flourish across systems, both at the edge and on premise, as part of private cloud or public cloud offerings. Making IoT available across heterogeneous computing environments will help end users adopt IoT solutions in the way that best suits their security and mission-critical needs while also offering entities with legacy technology infrastructures a logical and manageable path forward, allowing them to transform over time.
4. Innovations that leapfrog existing infrastructure. IoT will function as a source of innovation, business model disruption and economic growth for businesses, governments and emerging economies: Just as the Industrial Revolution, birth of the Internet and mobile revolution have driven advancement, innovation and prosperity, so will IoT. Businesses and cities alike will deliver new IoT-enabled services; new business models will emerge; and, in particular emerging economies will have a significant opportunity to quickly leverage IoT without the constraint of legacy infrastructure, essentially leapfrogging old ways. In fact, McKinsey forecasts that 40 percent of the worldwide market for IoT solutions will be generated by developing countries.
5. A better planet. IoT solutions will be leveraged to address major societal and environmental issues: IoT will help countries and their economies respond to the biggest challenges facing our planet, including global warming, water scarcity and pollution. In fact, survey respondents identified improved resource utilization as the number one benefit of IoT to society as a whole. In concert with the private sector, local and national governments will embrace IoT to accelerate and optimize current initiatives to curtail greenhouse gas emissions in accord with the breakthrough COP21 climate agreement, whereby 196 countries pledged to keep global warming under the threshold of 2 degrees Celsius.
The key global survey findings that informed the predictions revealed:
• Seventy-five percent of businesses are optimistic about the opportunities the IoT presents this year, including:Improved customer experience: Sixty-three percent of organizations plan to use the IoT to analyze customer behavior in 2016, with faster problem resolution, better customer service and customer satisfaction ranking among the top five potential business benefits.Cost savings in automation: Building and industrial automation represent the highest potential annual cost savings (63 and 62 percent, respectively). Results showed automation technologies will be the future of the IoT, with nearly half (42 percent) of respondents indicating that they plan to implement IoT-enabled building automation systems within the next two years.Mobile delivers the value of IoT: Two out of three organizations (67 percent) plan to implement the Internet of Things via mobile applications in 2016. Even further, one- third of respondents (32 percent) plan to start using the IoT in mobile applications in as little as six months, citing potential cost savings of up to 59 percent as a major driver in implementation.
• 81 percent of respondents feel that knowledge gathered from the data and/or informationgenerated by the IoT is being shared effectively throughout the organization.
• 41 percent of respondents anticipate cybersecurity threats related to the IoT as being a critical challenge for their business.

CUSTOMERS REPORT GREATER SATISFACTION WITH SMART HOME SERVICE PROVIDERS THAN DEVICE MANUFACTURERS

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Smart home service providers like Vivint, Alarm.com, and Xfinity Home are getting more positive online reviews than smart home devices makers, according to a new report from Argus Insights. This shows that customers prefer to have a service provider who comes in and installs their smart home devices for them.

The report analyzed more than 56,000 online and social media reviews of smart home devices and apps. Looking at the app reviews, Vivint’s Sky app had the highest satisfaction rating in the report. Other service providers including Xfinity Home, Alarm.com, and Cox Communications are all seeing improving app satisfaction and subscriber growth, according to Argus. In comparison, smart home apps from device makers like Nest, Philips, and Belkin are lagging behind in satisfaction, the report found.

The big difference between the service providers and individual device makers is that the service providers will install customers’ devices for them. When consumers buy an individual smart home device like a Nest thermostat they have to setup and install the device on their own.

Unfortunately, many smart home devices are plagued with technical glitches that can make installing them very difficult for the average consumer. If a customer is experiencing technical problems with their device, it will likely reflect on their satisfaction with the app that controls that device. So smart home service providers are carving out a space for themselves in the nascent smart home market by solving this technical challenge for customers.

The vision at Bosch: over 200 million smart-connected households by 2020

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Peter Tyroller, member of the board of management of Bosch Group responsible for Asia Pacific

GERMAN industrial giant Bosch earlier this month launched a connectivity strategy for China, its second-largest market. Its broad range of businesses and technologies — from automotive, consumer goods, building and energy efficiency solutions, and industrial products and solutions — provides a natural resource for the exploration of connected mobility, connected industries, smart homes and smart cities.

It’s product eco-system is in tune with the rapid growth of the Internet of Things in China, thanks to the government’s Internet Plus initiative for integrating the Internet into traditional industries.

Having just achieved record-high sales in China of 77 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion) last year, despite a slowing market, Bosch predicts strong momentum in sales of connected solutions and services.

Peter Tyroller, a Bosch board member responsible for the Asia-Pacific, shared his company’s vision of “connected for life” at a press conference in Shanghai during the Asia Consumer Electronics Show.

Q: Talk about smart homes and smart cities has been going on for years. Turning talk into reality is another matter. Are these ideas still ahead of their time?

Tyroller: It’s a pretty expansive debate, with everyone fielding their own ideas. What matters lies in the detail. For example, with connectivity, Bosch runs an active parking management system that draws on data collected by sensors installed in the pavement of parking spots to record availability. And for buildings, connectivity of all kinds of devices helps boost energy efficiency within a more integrated system. The Internet of Things takes shape step-by-step.

The market for all these visions may not yet be all that large, but people nowadays seem to be willing to spend extra money on connectivity solutions if they bring costs down. We expect some 230 million households to be “smart connected” by 2020 globally.

This will not be a repeat of the dotcom bubble of the early 2000s. Communication technology is much better developed today, and the Chinese government is sparing no effort in upgrading infrastructure that will lead to the 5G era.

Q: Bosch claims to be the only company with a whole package for the Internet of Things, the sensor, the software, and the service. Which part of your specialty do you see as the strongest growth point?

Tyroller: It is hard to see any of them as a stand-alone business because their power comes from cooperation. Sensors are the eyes, ears and noses, software is the brain, and services are deliveries of value. We have a very strong presence in the hardware field, with three out of four mobile devices in China equipped with Bosch sensors.

We are actively developing data mining and analyzing capabilities as our soft skills. In 2015, 30 percent of the 5,500 Bosch researchers and developers in China were working in software development, and this year over one-fifth of our recruitment of university graduates in China will be related to software. We have a target to connect every product we are selling now with the Internet, compared to the current 50 percent. We have a natural reason to explore the idea of smart homes and smart cities because we ourselves make home appliance and supply building and energy solutions.

Q: A Chinese Internet company called LeEco has the strategy of selling hardware cheaper than cost to attract more users into its product eco-system, where they pay for more value-added services and content. What’s Bosch’s opinion on such a bold business model emerging with the Internet of Things?

Tyroller: The Internet of Things will certainly broaden the traditional way of doing business. Will we make our sensors free and charge for services? It is open for discussion. There are already some business possibilities we can explore with the power of connectivity. We can keep insurance and leasing companies posted with how drivers behave and help them develop a new fee rate like “pay how you drive.” With live data diagnostics, we can advise on routine maintenance to operators of construction and mining machines to avoid breakdowns and business losses.

Q: Do you believe that data will become the “new oil,” and whoever owns it will make a lot of money?

Tyroller: I think there will be an increasing number of cooperation models for that in the future. It is not a competition for one to fight alone because data streams come from a connected world. We are in favor of an open Internet of Things and solutions not just for Bosch products.

Q: The merger of the physical and digital worlds raises a lot of issues about security and privacy because our lives now seem easier to peek into. How will Bosch insure that its Internet of Things users are not vulnerable to intruders?

Tyroller: Whenever we handle data, there must be no leaks. For that purpose, we have launched our first Internet of Things cloud-computing infrastructure and platform at a dedicated data center in Germany. Additional cloud services locations are planned for the United States, Singapore and China. We leave the decision to users as to what we can do with their data, when to provide their personal data and when they want to have them deleted. We understand that as everything gets connected, our customers will be more concerned about their lives becoming too transparent.

http://mobile.shanghaidaily.com/article.aspx?i=612957