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Internet of Things can help attain new levels of efficiency in all
spheres related to human life
t would probably be an exaggeration to
compare it with that typical pachyderm
puzzle. For the characters in the play are
sensing it full well that they are touching
something of a huge elephant, which will
Create transformational and not just transitional
waves, once it gains momentum. The issue is:
how to cope with its projected gargantuan pace
something which has begun becoming visible
‘on the ground and Is likely to be the story of the
next decade. There are issues and challenges but
there is also unanimity that 11, or in more spe-
cific terms, 1oT (internet of things), is all set to
usher in a evolution, which may change human
life forever, in all respects. The sensors-enabled
increasing connectivity between machines
empowered by tremendous technological inno-
vations in the spheres like cloud computing, big
data mining and data analytics in the last one
decade will bring in a regime, wherein devices
around us will be talking to each other and
taking smarter decisions.
‘And this phedomenon will be section-ag-
nostic. While it will help enterprises to remark-
ably improve their operations by weeding out
the inefficiencies in their systems, it will also
be a catalyst for the efficient implementation of
social programmes (healthcare, education, ete)
oon a large scale. Nothing surprising, its emer
sence is being viewed as the evolution of a new
“God of all things, rather than just of ‘small’ or
‘big’ things.
Some of it may appear out to be a straight
Liftoff from a science fiction. Imagine rising in
the morning and, as soon as you switch off your
alarm clock, a message being sent to your gey-
ser to warm the water; or your wearable device
(more like a wrist wateh) telling you in the mid-
le of your office hour that you have spent
enough time sitting and it’s time to take a short
walk, which will be good for your health; or,
sensors in your refrigerator sending the messagethat the milk shelf is empty and it needs to be
filled immediately.
How about your LPG delivery boy turning up
suddenly at your door steps with the new supply,
without you contacting them, because the sen-
Sor was Keeping the dealer informed about the
recedinglevel of fuel; or, your ikdepartment su
denly asking about your well-being? The CCTV
camera, which you Walked through, while enter.
Ing into the office may also be empowered with
capabilities to monitor your vital health stats in
not so distant a future. How about your ac turn-
ing off on its own, the moment you leave the
‘oom; or being updated on your smart phones
fon a daily basis on your consumption pattern
of basic utilities ike power and water. Will it
not help you to use these essential resources
‘more judiciously?
On the enterprise side, forget about what
global giants like GE can accomplish with tor.
Here is simple scenario. You are a mid-sized
‘manufacturing enterprise running some units,
‘You may be diligent in getting your machinery
regularly serviced. But still you can never antic.
ipate, if something goes wrong suddenly affect-
ing your assembly line. How about using sensors
with your machinery, which can send you warn-
{ng signal in advance, helping you to take pro-
active decision rather than forced to remain in
a reactive mode? Or, for that matter, a pharma
‘manufacturing company keeping a direct tab,
sitting anywhere in the world, on the tempera
‘ure maintained in the transit vehicle through
‘out the different legs of its journey in another
corner of the globe.
‘And, on the social initiative side, which is the
cote constituency of a progaramme like ‘Digital
India’, tor sits just in the middle of the entire
epic scale design. If the words of the market
observers are to be believed, new age concepts
like smart city are difficult to imagine without
well-defined ior architecture,
‘These are merely a handful of basic examples,
some of which have begun touching the imple-
‘mentation line in different pockets of the world,
And, there is no doubt in anybody's mind that
given its all-encompassing nature, it will be a
‘multirllion dollar opportunity over the next
decade rising significantly from the present
level of around $300 billion globally. Different
agencies at this stage are, of course, furnishing
different estimates mostly veering around the
potential economic value of this business, “This
is poised to usher in the biggest revolution sinct
the advent of internet,” says Stefan Sjostrom, ve
Public sector, Asia, Microsoft (se interview).
“lot is going to be a massive business oppor
tunity because it will make the world a smarter
place to live,” concurs Kavitha Mohammad,
director, industrial solutions group, public sec-
tor, Asia-Pacific Japan, Intel. Jonas Haggard,
chief solution officer, Sensorise Digital. Ser
vices, pitches in with a three *M’ formula: " If
1996-2005 was the decade of basie mobility and,
2006-15 was the decade of multi-media, then
2016-25 would be the decade of 2M {machine
to machine), connected by billions of sensors
across the globe.”
‘No doubt, the rr industry is filled with enthu-
siasm unbound with the promising prospects
of lot. Talk to anybody within the industey ci
cles today and chances are that they will tell you
that a specific lot cell has been created within
the company, which is exploring new opportu
nities. Though, many of them may not be forth
‘coming when you ask for the details. Quite
understandable, given the fact that itis the early
hours for the segment and you would nat like to
tell the competition what you are cooking in the
kitchen. They may even tend to duck the ques-
tion on their investments and projected returns
in the medium to long run, But the point which
‘you will not miss out in their utterances is the
unprecedented windfall they are all expecting
over the next decade, Somewhere, they seem to
bbe weighing various options as how to ride this
Ww A
Amit Phadris,
cisco
Sumit
Chowdhury,
GAIA Smart
Citeselephant elegantly.
Understanding IoT
In the marketplace, you will come across sev-
eral definitions of jor. The most tom-tommed
one being ~ it will eventually be the mother
turf of all technological innovations happened
Shalil Gupta, associate vr, insights & consulting,
IDC, a noted global IT consultancy & research
firm, counters this argument strongly. “lot
entails intersection of technologies brought in
by cloud computing, big data analytics, social
business mobility and security. Individually
these technologies have reached to an inflection
in the recent past. But is it precisely the case? point and they are unlikely to bring any further
‘loT can be an effective social equaliser tool’
In conversation with Ritwik Sinha, Stefan Sjostrom, vice-president,
Public sector, Asia, Microsoft, affirms that io can provide tremendous
Support to revamp Indian social sector, among many other things
‘outside the internet connectiv-
ity equation today. But, pro-
gressively, they will get more
aligned to the computing
the lot business, globally
standing at $200-
300 billion, will grow
manifold in the next six.
Continue to go down the learn-
ing curve, we willdo more with
Jess something that we have
bbeen doing for last 35 years.
Is there a standard power. And it’s @ social equa- seven years and become
definition of tor? ler, because when you have a staggering $23 trillion _1oT seems all set to
Everybody seem to have ow: cost devices available for business. How realistic are succeed. But does It mean
hhis own definition. rural development, it changes these projections? moving to an era, where
‘oT is a wide area resulting in whole notion around educa- Thevalueliesinhow much sav- machines will become
various ways of putting things tion, citizen services, micro-fi- ingsandhowmuch productive more dominant?
together. You can think of bil nancing, etc, So, technology use can be put into the play. would submit to you that, as
lions of sensors, which you can has a powerful way of being a Typically, problems are solved we do, we help the world to
use in manufacturing devices
like elevators, as pipelines,
‘etc. The crux is that you draw
social equaliser. today, but they are solved at a
level that it costs more. Going
by a projection, data science
shift focus to high value tasks,
Technology will take over
Do you also have any ‘many, many things in a clever
yalue from those connections. dedicated programme or data insight itself wil offer way to free us up to do greater
‘This is a ciitical micro-eco- Mike 18M's Watson 2 $70 billion business oppor- things. There sa massive online
nomic change after the advent programme for tunity by 2020. There are alot education portal that has been
‘of intemet. We, as a company, promotion of tor? Of estimates to look into the made in india. Itis instruments
believeinmobilefirstandcloud
first world, connecting huge
amount of devices and dravw-
ing value outof them while we
safeguard security and privacy.
Within those lies opportunities.
and some challenges.
Internet is the base driver.
So, how do you envisage lot
panning out and making a dif-
ference in a marketplace like
India? We are at the cusp of an
ternet revolution, with one-
fourth of India’s population
sing internet, But this figure is
[projected to more than double
Inthe next five years,
am a firm believer that
we are moving towards clos-
‘We are a platform company.
‘Watson is a. solution pro-
‘gramme trying to do many
things. We, on the other hand,
help highly specialised compa-
‘ies with great amount of
depth expertise, getting huge
scalability on our platform.
Small is beautiful and peo-
ple who have got the domain
‘expertise and scalablity to do
that, we provide them a global
feach with our computing
ower. And these are nimble,
‘could be small entities coming
‘out of ’Make in India’ kind of
innovation. We literally work
with thousands of partners
‘and info, you will see much of
future and say how big is the
problem, how elegant are the
solution and who is going to
execute that and build bus-
ness models for the market.
| would submit to you that
the very notion of looking into
the technology landscape and
mobilise the local. software
‘economy, in India, there is a
tremendous amount of capa-
bilities and skis. Having them
to focus on specific problem
rather than trying them to do
‘everything is going to free up
their solutions and we will get
better results. So, here, itisnot
the case of making too much
(of investments and wait for
like these which are the bed-
rock of critical changes. When
we could get affordable edu-
‘ation for everyone and take it
to the rural areas, imagine the
kind of value it creates.
{Is 107 the culmination
of major technological
cchurnings which we have
seen in the last couple of
decades?
I think, lor takes it to another
level. It takes us into a space
where we have never been
before. So, we are going to
‘draw much more value from
it, and when you think about
better utilisation of resources,
ing that last mie ofruralestab- these interplay. the returns. Here, you willstart better insight, better decision.
lishments and vilages. There getting returns as soon as you making, everybody is going to
‘are pockets, where people are There are reports that make investments, So, we will gain from it. .cone
‘Menatntgn
‘es tines Caan oe
aye
million, which is projected to more than dou-
ble by 2020, has proven expertise in 1, is grad-
wating to 4G wireless regime, has a government
which has initiated an epic scale ‘Digital India’
progranime and is now fuelled by the dreams of
datagiri? On the enterprise side, a report by IDC
‘makes it clear that the adoption is at the nascent
stage, The report talks about five distinctive stage
of lor adoption — ad hoc, opportunistic, repeat
able, managed and optimised (see chart: The tot
Maturity-scape).
“Things are happening in India at ad hoc
level, the preliminary experimentation stage.
‘That is why you may not find Indian 17 majors
too much gung ho about it because they are get-
ting piecemeal projects. But, the corporate inter
€st is rising and I expect the scenario to change
in next 24 months,” says Gupta of 1D¢. Accord-
ing to Kishore Shetty, head, lor cell, Microsoft
India, “Many people probably still look at it as
‘ hype. They can only be responded by provid-
ing them with effective and practical solution. It
may take some time”
"1 guess that phase is over when it was con-
sidered hype,” adds Ramamoorthy of Gartner.
“Gradually, things are falling in place and we
are noticing even Indian 11 companies getting
involved in more fot projects executing them at
roof of concept stage.”
‘Though Indian firms are not that forthcom-
ing vis-2-vis their MNC counterparts in divulg-
ing the details of their tor programmes, most of
them claim of having a dedicated tor cell. “Info-
sys has a dedicated focus on tot and it is one
Of the core practice areas under the larger engi-
neering services practice. We have developed
‘multiple solutions across industry verticals that
attempt to address the industry problems, such
as asset efficiency that aims at increasing ser-
viceable life of an asset, ike landing gear of an.
aircrait, precision crop management to improve
the agriculture yield, connected healthcaresolu-
tion enabling remote patient monitoring and
telematics solution to increase driver's safety,”
explains Sudip Singh of Infosys.
Infosys is also working with industry group
consortiums such as Industrial Internet Con-
sortiums (lI) to develop standardised solution
addressing specific industry problems. It has also
Joined hands with Acatech in Germany to cre-
ate the maturity index for organisations adopt-
ing industry 4.0 standards that will help provide
more clarity for organisations on the journey to
mature their ior journey.
According to a research estimate, Indian tor
business opportunity will be about $20 billion
by 2020 (excluding hardware) and it will not
take much time 10 see more action after the
present phase of preliminary experimentation is
‘over. “For example, in one of its chiller plants,
Amul has deployed sensors, which not only help
in monitoring the temperature of the chamber,
but also judge the density of the milk filled in
there,” says Sumit Chowdhury, CEO, GAIA Smart
Gities (and former Cio, Reliance fio). The former
CO, Reliance fio, had setup Gaia Smart Cities last
year, with the primary aim of being in the fore-
front of offering made in India loT solutions for
solving urban and industrial problems in india.
Their utility metering service is at @ pilot stage
in several cities across the country. On the enter-
prise side, the company claims to be working on‘users outcome La
seems” ene ao
ner ‘tele OT rts
innovation. Combining them will bring in larger
innovation. jor is one of them,” he explains (se
the graph Digital Transformation).
“The other major applications emerging out of
the convergence of cloud, computing, big data
analytics, social business mobility and secu
rity are: augmented & virtual reality; congni
tive systems; robotics and 3D printing, “But lot
is going to be biggest of them, since it can cover
everything,” Gupta clarifies.
“Convergence of other technologies may be
‘one way of looking at it but that does not nec-
essarily mean that they will only converge for
Jor,” emphasises Amit Phadnis, president, engi-
neering & India site leader, Cisco Systems. “But,
yes, when seen through the prism of tot, their
Convergence can bring a world of difference in
attaining a new level of efficiency when used in
spheres like hospital equipment and transporta-
tion. Ifyou are using sensors on aircraft, you can
create a lot of data, It can be analysed and you
can draw business intelligence from it helping in
taking some useful business decision,” he points
‘out, Cisco incidentally has gone a step further
in defining tot by coining a new term called lof
couple of years ago (internet of everything),
which entails
process and data.
“tot infuses the brain into things - and makes
them think..by putting software into hardware
and then by building analytics capabilities on
top,” explains Sudip Singh, senior VP, global busi-
ness unit & head, engineering services, Infosys.
“This technology provides the identity to phys
ical and virtual objects, builds inter-connectiv-
ity between them so that real time insights can.
be generated from data. There are a lot of prom-
ses made by lo across different industry sectors
both on the consumer side (connected car, cor
nected healthcare, connected retail, etc) as well
as the enterprise side with industrial tot (smarter
factories, digital twins, assets and machines)".
‘The emphasis on building analytics capabilities
‘make it clear that loT as a technology comprise
the quintessential features of analytics to deliver
the desired outcome. And the typical journey of,
data - the bedrock of IoT story - from sensors to
gateways to cloud/ servers to big data to smart
hones or other internet enabled devices does
highlight its inherent feature of drawing some-
thing from the established set of technologies.
‘There Is another set of theory, which refuses
connecting things, people,
ara)
OF
Teens
Derek Kuhn,
BlackBerryINTERNE
oF
eens
‘
Manish Gupta,
Xerox
Kavitha
Mohammad,
Intel
to recognise lof-as a critical technological churn-
‘ing. For them, it is something else. "I look at it
‘more as a business improvement tool than a
‘technological process,” says Ganesh Ramamoor-
thy, vice-president, research, Gartner. “It's
all about helping your business to adopt effi-
cient operational modalities. Same outcome is
expected when it is applied elsewhere and it has
to be understood properly”. Concurs Kavitha
Mohammad of Intel: “The Us? of lot is clearly the
Outcome for which the targeted segments will
opt for it”
The global scene
There could be different prisms to examine the
proposition which lot is bringing on the table
but the fact of the matter is: it is paving the
way for a world where sensors will be dominat-
{ng our lives. Almost as eyes and ears for most
of the things we do. And when combined M2M
internet-led connectivity and analytics power,
the process will ultimately also result in superior
decision making. Here is a projected estimate
for M2M connectivity as itis unfolding globally.
According to a report released by noted global IT
consultancy and research firm Gartner late last
‘year, 6.4 billion connected things will be in use
‘worldwide in 2016 ~ a hefty jump of over 30 per-
‘cent from 2015 level. And in next four years, it
slated to register over three fold growth reach-
ing to 20.8 billion by 2020. In practical terms, it
‘means 5.5 million new things getting connected
‘every day in the current year.
In terms of hardware spending resulting from
tremendous growth in the M2M segment, con-
sumer applications will amount to $546 billion
in 2016, while the use of connected things in
the enterprise will drive $868 billion in 2016.
‘Ona cumulative basis, the hardware business to
support 1oT growth Is slated to cross a stagger-
ing $3 trillion by the end of 2020 (see charts 2 &
43), A recently released report by Ericsson clearly
earmarks that M2M connectivity segment will
‘overshadow even the mobility connectivity in
the medium run, “Of the 28 billion total devices
that will be connected by 2021, close to 16
billion will be tor devices," the report said.
The drive is clearly led by the likes of global
IT giants ~ IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Accen-
ture, SAP, etc - who had probably, read the ‘seeds
of the future’ much better than the others.
18M, for example, is running a Watson IoT pro-
gramme for quite some time meant to devise
effective solutions for its customers. “Watson
Internet of Things Platform Is a fully-managed,
loud-hosted service, which makes it simple to
derive value from jor devices. We have more
than 750 107 patents, and are engaged in extend-
‘ing the power of cognitive computing to the
billions of connected devices, sensors and sys-
‘tems that comprise the 107,” informs Prashant
Pradhan, Watson leader, 18M India & SA. “IBN
Is betting big on Iof and is looking forward
to invest $3 billion over the next four years to
establish a new tot unit. The company is also
building a cloud-based open platform designed
to help clients and ecosystem partners build 1oT
solutions,” he adds,
‘We clearly recognise the growing digit
sation movement in the world as our future
growth driver and here lot is an integral com-
Ponent,” maintains Amit Phadnis of Cisco.
‘The company had released a forecast last year,
which had underlined M2M connections grow-
ing nearly three-fold from 4.9 billion in 2015 to
12.2 billion by 2020, representing nearly half
(46 per cent) of total connected devices. Micro-
soft, with its cloud computing expertise, is also
exuding confidence that its leading platform
status will not only help thousands of SMES or
now age innovators across the world to connect
with the larger global market but also in serv-
ing the communities with healthcare and edu-
cation specific solutions. “We want to be in the
forefront of the digital transformation happen-
{ng around us,” quips Sjostrom. Late last month,
Europe's biggest software maker SAP announced
investing $2.2 billion for 1oT specific solutions
that would help in connecting a wide range of
products ~ from washing machines to cars.
Global wireless device major Zebra, which had.
acquired Motorola’s Enterprise Solution Unit two
years back, claims its push for lor is increasingly
becoming strong. “We have a platform called
Zapr and we cater to niche industries,” points
ut Deep Agarwal, director, regional sales, India,
Zebra ‘Technologies APiC. “We produce print.
‘ers which are part of 1ot eco-system. After the
acquisition of Motorola, our lor programme in
wireless devices has become more robust. All
‘our new devices are made with this prime real-
Isation that ultimately they are going to be partNE
TNT
Kenny Ng,
Alcatel Lucent |
of tof eco-system”. The company, in the recent
past, has been launching over 10 new wireless
products mostly meant for industrial use every
Year. Telecom companies too are gung ho with
the new prospects unveiled by for
‘Take the case of Blackberry - it might be los-
Ing its hold on the handset market but it is also
operating an enterprise solution unit which has
established a dedicated oT platform. “The Black-
Berry lof Platform is a trusted foundation for
Jot, providing intelligent solutions to complex
user problems,” says Derek Kuhn, senior vice-
president, BlackBerry lof. “Currently, we are
focussed on over-the-air (OTA) software updates
for the connected embedded computing indus-
try including automotive and BlackBerry Radar,
our end-to-end, secure asset tracking solution
for the freight transportation industry. But there
are many other opportunities in the transporta-
tion value chain, such as cold-chain shipping,
and we are investigating which areas would be
‘the best fit for our expertise and technology.”
‘On the other side of the spectrum, the enter-
prise or industrial tor as it is popularly known,
Gx is the most successful lo? signpost today. Its
software platform Predix, something that has
turned heads in the global rr circles, is meant to
provide a formidable base to support the grow-
ing industrial internet of things segment with
loud servers and an app store. Predix, @ cloud
based PaaS (platform asa service), monitors asset
performance management and suggest opera-
tions optimisation using high-end analytics.
Many experts believe Predix would eventually
‘turn out to be GE's master stroke for factories and,
‘manufacturing units ~ something on the lines of
Apple's i0s for the cell phone segment. The com-
pany is expecting to generate $20 billion revenue
annually out of this offering by 2020. Amazon's
AwS Jor platform is another major global success
story providing options to its suppliers and cus-
tomers to connect with it with a mere push of
the button on their smart phone.
‘Nothing surprising, the markets in the devel-
oped markets are increasingly witnessing the
rapid inflow of new innovative products. Inter
net-connected door locks, helmet equipped with
sensors, medical alert watches, smart fitness
clothing, one-button product purchases, inter.
net-commanded kitchen appliances, etc, are the
product categories where maximum innovation
is currently underway, In the US, a company
thas recently also launched a device which helps.
‘you to keep a tab on the dietary habits of elderly.
‘members of your family who are living away ~
you can look into their kitchen and refrigera-
tors. There are light bulbs now available in the
‘market, which go dim, Ifthe sensor notices that
‘everybody has left the room.
On social initiative and city revamp side,
there are again examples galore. Chicago's Array
Of Things and Dublin's CityWatch are projected
as the model examples in laying pan-city sen-
sor network to constantly monitor tempera~
ture, noise and air quality (sensors are installed
at lamp posts), In California, the local adminis-
tration has begun using loT platform to mini-
ise water wastage and its judicious allocation.
In England, Oxford Flood Network involving
citizens has deployed a network of sensors to
monitor groundwater level and also anticipate
flood risks. Companies like Big Belly, a trash
management firm in the US, are consolidating.
their position in the marketplace by aligning,
‘their capabilities with (or: They are now supply=
ing bins empowered with sensors which directly
talk to the systems of the local municipal.
ties telling then the level of trash collected in
different zones of the city.
In the area of smart car parking solutions, a
slew of companies have come up in the US and
Europe offering sensor enabled information to.
drivers helping them in saving time in finding,
right spot for parking. And here is an iInterest-
ing example: to curb the crime rate in Sao Paulo,
the Brazilian government made it mandatory to
equip all new vehicles with sensors (to be sup-
plied by the manufacturer at the plant) a few
years ago. The sensors not only transmit the
information about the exact location of the sto-
len vehicle but can also lock it from a remote
location or even stop its movement. “The crime
rate has significantly gone down in the city sub=
sequently,” points out Sushil Kumar, DDG, Tele-
com Engineering Centre, “Such examples can be
easily emulated elsewhere.”
‘The emerging lof eco-system
That brings us to the moot point: where does
India fit into the emerging lot eco-system -some-
thing that is slated to have an arch like presence
in not so distant a future. To what extent has
it geared up to embrace fot, given the fact that
it has an internet subscriber base of over 250Prashant
Pradhan, IBM
Rishi
Bhatnagar,
Aries
@ comprehensive Automation Platform which
will be used for measurement, tracking and
controlling machines and people. Concurs
Rishi Bhatnagar, president, Aeries Communica
tion & member, NASSCOM Committee on Smart
Cities: “The government-backed programmes
like ‘Digital India’ and ‘Smart Cities’ will be
the critical catalysts to give a firm base to lot
business in this country”.
A company like Microsoft confirms that it sees
{a major opportunity for itself in India’s Smart
City programme. “There is more opportunity for
ToT in an emerging economy like India since it
is talking of digital transformation to spruce up
its social sectors like healthcare and education,”
Shetty of Microsoft points out
‘The government, through its Digital India
Programme, is committed “to create smart
eveverrere
infrastructure to manage complexities of public
services, reduce expenses, increase efficiency and.
Improve the quality of life,” says Sushil Kumar of
Telecommunication Engineering Centre, which
comes under the ministry of communications &
I. And the broadly targeted areas for the smart
Infrastructure ranges from smart city to smart
homes and intelligent transportation systems to
water manager (see chart: M2M/ lot applications)
Of course, public private partnership (PPP) for
mula will be the cornerstone of many projects
built around the broader social objectives and
some of the initial indications positively point
‘out in that direction,
Early this year, Andhra Pradesh government
engaged Cisco to execute AP's Fibre Net proj-
ect, targeting to provide on-demand connec
tivity of 2-20 Mbps for all households and 1-10a
Tenens
Gbps for all institutions by 2018. The 22,500 km
Jong project will cover 2,500 locations and will
connect over two million households. “A proj-
ect of this kind will make a decisive change in
the social life of the covered area particularly
Jn spheres like healthcare and education,” says
Phadnis of Cisco, And there are reports of com-
panies across 1 spectrum, including telecom
network connectivity firms queuing up to get a
plece of slice for the smart city projects, which
are out of the drawing board stage now. “We are
involved in communications and networking of
‘Gujarat International Finance Tec-City project,
relating to Smart City development, which
‘enables lof at a fundamental level,” says Kenny
Ng, head, Worldwide market development,
network business division, Alcatel Lucent,
“This project is expected to enable city-wide
connectivity and Intelligent parking to
connected bulldings.”
‘Among other notable examples, L&T is
‘involved in smart city project in Jaipur. Cisco is
also creating a tourism-specific facility, based on
Jot platform in the pink eity..
‘That lor is not a mere buzzword and the
government is also committed to give it a big
push to support its digital India drive was also
evident when, in July, It gave its nod to set up
India’s first centre for excellence in tor, which
‘will promote startups in the segment. The cen=
tre has the capacity to ineubate 40 start-ups and
agencies collaborating for this include National
Association of Software & Service Company
(NASSCOM), Department of Electronics & Infor-
mation ‘Technology (DEITY) and Education &
Research Network (ERNET). “I will be the happl-
est, if your extraordinary potential propels prod=
ucts that truly become products and used across
the world,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union
minister for tt & electronics, on the occasion.
“Healtheare, education and agriculture should
be the priority areas, which give fong benefits to
people of India”
So, when it comes to building an tot move-
ment in the country involving diverse stake-
holders, there are indeed some positive signs.
‘And more than anything else, players in the fray
are counting on the quintessential Indian ser-
vices DNA. “India was 10 years late in adoptir
the AC (ect Cpu) we cae Woops
tion, but only as consumers. With Internet of
Things (lot), India has an with a stror
DNA In software, MT, services & data analytics,”
oints out Somshubhro Pal Chou
jury, manage
Figatector-Rnaloy Devices tag.Immediate challenges
It would be too simplistic to assume that some-
thing that is shaping as a global revolution will
‘not have its share of bottlenecks. And lot does
hhave quite a few ~ of serious kinds, in fact. The
primary issue is that of lack of a standard plat-
form. “The tor ecosystem requires interopera-
bility to create the ‘seamless’ programmability
Of the very devices or sensors that enables the
full potential of a connected experience. This
‘means lof requires standards to enable horizon-
tal platforms that are communicable, operable,
and programmable across devices, regardless of
make, model, manufacturer, or industry. The
vision is that connectivity between people, pro-
‘cesses, and things works no matter what screen
type, browser, or hardware is used. The reality,
however, is that the lor is fragmented and lacks
interoperability; disparate or overlapping solu
tions can't easily ‘talk’ (connect) to each other,”
points out a research paper.
The practical problems which emanate out
Of this scenario include devices or equipment
made by different OEMs not readily integrat-
{ing with each other and use of different Oper
ating Systems making it difficult for machines
to talk to each other. The evolution of standard
format would entail tech giants like Microsoft,
IBM, Apple, Google, etc. agreeing to a common
platform which has the inherent risk of them
Josing their competitive advantage. “I don’t see
a standard format happening In the near run.
At best, they could agree on some de facto stan
dards. So, it will largely grow as open ended plat-
form,” says.a senior official of an Indian rr major
‘who did not wish to be named, It is important
‘to note here that major global tech and telecom.
firms have formed consortiums in the past to
tackle with this issue but so far it has not yielded.
any result
Data security is probably a more serious issue,
“With lot explosion, every year, we will be gen-
«rating more data than in the past fifty years and
‘that makes security a major issue,” says Gupta of
IDC. *Earlier, the technology was implemented.
in a ring-fenced manner ~ between data centre
and servers. In foT, | am expanding to every pos-
sible envionment and exposed to it. There are
millions of attacks happening every day, And
there is no solution provider who can ensure
end-to-end security”. According to a report by
Gartner released early this year, firms spend-
{ng on tor security is growing significantly and
1s projected to reach $547 million in 2018 from
$231 million in 2013,
‘The manpower issue is another major concern,
From the standpoint of an emerging economy
like India, the internet enabled automation vis-
‘vis manpower has two-fold dimensions. Firstly,
‘he low rank 870 kind of jobs will go away and,
secondly, the lack of manpower with adequate
skillsets to support 1oF systems, “tis true that lot
‘may result in the end of many set of low-skilled
jobs,” points out Manish Gupta, director, Xerox
Research Centre, India. “But it would also create
‘opportunity for various segments like data scien-
tists and social scientists. In India alone, we will
‘need 20,000 data scientists in the next two-three
years’. For preparing the lo? specific work pool
for the future, Rishi Bhatnagar suggests academia
and companies in the fray to come together and.
ut in place right curriculum,
‘These are as much open-ended Issues today
s tot as a platform, but enthusiasts appear out
to be unperturbed, calling them minor or inte
esting twists and turns in a great unfolding
story. “Historically speaking, each time there
hhas been a technological disruption, such con-
cerns have emerged. But over a period of time
such concerns get addressed. As far as standards,
are concerned, they are evolved, but as we move
forward, based on requirement of time, they will
evolve further. In case of security, it evolves by
the minute. Cost implications and other stum.
bling blocks too will be addressed as we move
forward in this space of tot,” observes Kenny Ng.
of Alcatel Luicent. And he is not alone in express
ing this sentiment. There are clearly quite a num-
ber of people out there, who are excited with the
beginning of the show.
ay
Shalll Gupta,
oc