2020 is powering ahead and I hope your plans and activities are already bearing fruit for you. We are seeing more IoT action in the news and in particular Spark and Vector announcing CAT-M1 trials for smart metering is a recent highlight.
This week the Waikato TechFest has been taking place and a number of our members have been attending with Smart Cities a particularly hot topic. Well done to Jannat Maqbool as event director for TechFest!
Fundamentals for business managers of IoT Applications, Technology and Management
The NZ IoT Alliance is presenting a 3 hour online webinar in collaboration with CertNexus. Join us on Tuesday 10th March, the webinar covers the key topics for managers to consider when developing their IoT strategy, business plan or project.
- Defining IoT
- IoT Transformation: Benefits, Challenges, Opportunities and Risks
- IoT Business Environment
- Real World Examples
- IoT Components, Systems and Infrastructure
- IoT Strategy Lifecycle
The webinar is presented by John McDermott, IoT Alliance council member and founder of the IoT Auckland Meetup group. Tickets available here.
The following day TUANZ is holding a Smart Cities event, 11 March in Wellington, and has offered IoT members a 75% discount on GA tickets (so $25 each). Tristan Ilich from the IoT Alliance will be presenting. Contact us for the discount code.
The IoT Alliance is doing more for you this year with our programme of events, as we know this is one of the most valuable benefits for you as a member. Whether it is Smart Cities, Industry 4.0, Logistics or any other sector of IoT use we will be putting on events that are relevant to you and help with your organization’s goals. You can help us to make our events a success by getting in contact early to let us know what is important to you so that we prioritise accordingly.
Nga mihi nui,
The team at the NZ IoT Alliance
EVENTS AND NEWS
Smart Grid Expands with Vector-Spark Partnership
Vector is trialling CAT-M1 connectivity from Spark for the next generation of advanced meters for electricity and gas delivery.
Vector’s, Chief Operating Officer Metering & OnGas, Brenda Talacek explained, “Advanced meters give electricity and gas consumers greater visibility and control over their energy usage – something that is becoming increasingly important as Kiwis strive to become more energy efficient and keep their energy prices down.”
Vector supplies power to 1.5 million homes and businesses and the trial of new technology is seen as an important evolution to providing more value to customers.
Spark sees CAT M1 has an important element in providing future proof connectivity for IoT applications as networks evolve to 5G.
Agritech IoT Innovators Beachhead in Melbourne
Callaghan Innovation led a delegation of 60 NZ entrepreneurs and innovators from the Agritech sector to Melbourne last month for the EvokeAG conference. With several IoT solutions featured it’s good to see this support and enthusiasm resulting. Well done to Sparrows in particular.
Battery Free Sensors
Bluetooth sensors without a battery power source are close to reality with substantial funds raised by Israeli/US company Wiliot. Their sensor device is the size of a postage stamp and uses Bluetooth protocol to transmit data, but with no battery required, instead harvesting power from ambient radio signals.
The cost and finite run time of batteries hold back the viability of many IoT applications and a battery free product opens many new possibilities for sensing, tracking and user engagement.
Digital Twins Breaking Out
The UK is looking at creating a national digital twin of infrastructure with the recent appointment of Atkins and Ordnance Survey to research the benefits for the Centre for Digital Built Britain, with Mott Macdonald acting in an oversight / advisory type role.
Coincidentally, NSW in Australia is creating a digital twin of urban infrastructure and buildings.
Techweek2020
The first events are live if you want to attend or run a Techweek event don’t delay. 18-24 May, nationwide.
MedCan 2020
Attend New Zealand’s first medicinal cannabis summit. Connecting medicine, science and technology for a new frontier of care, 18-19 March, Auckland.
Smart Cities Feature at Waikato TechFest
TechFest in Waikato this week focussed on Smart Cities with a workshop looking at the use of IoT and new ways to measure Culture and Natural Heritage providing valuable insights about what culture is to different people.
Other takes from the workshop were developing enablers for those goals – collaboration, investment and legislation. A keynote presentation from the Privacy Commissioner John Edwards touched on what vendors should expect from the new Privacy Act 2020.
5G Enabling Industrial IoT
5G technology is attracting a diverse range of potential applications. The combination of high data rate and low latency will displace wired and fibre connections in some environments due to the convenience and lower cost of avoiding cable installations.
A particular example that is not getting much attention yet but could well be a successful early adopter use case is for Industrial IoT or Industry 4.0 uses. ARC Advisory Group report the use of 5G deployed as a private network with alternatives for spectrum allocation as:
- Licensed Spectrum: Mobile operators allocate licensed spectrum to a specific geographic area such as mines or oil and gas fields.
- Dedicated Spectrum: A region’s spectrum is dedicated for Industrial IoT use. For example, in 2019, Germany announced corporate licenses of 3.7-3.8 GHz spectrum for private 5G networks and services intended for industrial use.
- Unlicensed Spectrum: This can be used for applications that do not require enhanced ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC).
Industrial IoT Consortium Publishes Recommendations for Best Practise
Drawing on results from 30 different projects the IIOT provides a comprehensive report that takes account of all phases of a project. The content includes project planning and management, human factors, IT/OT integration, platform choices, security, AI/ML and the value of standards.
New Zealand arguably has challenges accessing leading edge examples of new technology deployment and this report provides insights from teams with excellent depth of knowledge.
Tech Alliance News
NZTech welcomes the newly formed Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand.
The AI Forum of New Zealand has published a set of guiding principles to help build public trust in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) across New Zealand
