Did you know that one in seven people in the U.S. depends on food banks to survive?Or that one out of six children—roughly 100 million—in developing countries is underweight?Hunger is a global problem.Natural resources are limited. How do you grow more food on the same amount of land? Lower the cost of food production?Lane Arthur tackles this challenge every day for John Deere's Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG). Arthur is ISG’s director of digital solutions, and his team develops IoT and data driven solutions for farmers. Arthur is amazing! He has a Ph.D. in genetics and development from Columbia University in addition to a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Georgia. He recently explained how IoT-based precision agriculture increases crop yields by optimizing land, seed and fertilizer usage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Personalized vitamins? Sneakers that tell you how to run better? T-shirts that request help if you collapse while running?Welcome to the future where products both help and watch out for you.How are such products designed? How can thousands of products be personalized?How do such hybrid products impact the bottom line and improve customer retention?Designing the next big hit
Consumer goods have changed. The old approach of mass production is changing to mass personalization. Discrete products are provided in the form of services instead. When you do that, customer loyalty and retention improves.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Could you captain a supertanker—a ship longer than five football fields and 16 stories tall?In addition to navigation, you would have to stay abreast of thousands of sensor readings from across the ship that monitor spills, explosions and fires. You may need some help to cope with the data overload.You'd need a captain’s console with 3D IoT visualization.Essential components of an IoT data solution
It’s difficult to process the enormous volume of data generated by IoT systems. Monitoring multiple real-time data feeds adds to the complexity. Automated data filtering helps. How can human intelligence be applied to very large, complex datasets?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A pulse is missing. Is it the patient? Or is the pulse monitor not functioning?Life-and-death IoT systems literally have no margin for error.How are readings from health sensors merged and analyzed immediately?How can single point of failures be eliminated?An IoT backbone to connect sensors, apps and analytics into a responsive system is needed. It has to be secure, flexible and scalable. The challenge of combining data from multiple sources
Medical errors are the third leading cause of death.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Missile defense is hard.Attacks can come from anywhere. There are seconds to respond. Multiple incoming missiles can overwhelm defenses. Mistakes result in huge damage.There is no margin for error. Military strategists have refined missile defense systems over decades. Early attack visibility and fast countermeasures are essential.When it comes to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, Arbor Networks has found the lessons from missile defense apply. Missile defense
The Department of Defense describes missile defense protection :To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
What do you do after your firm gets bought for $32 billion?For Zach Shelby and Jonny Austin, the answer was clear. They’d give back and help others. They decided the most impact could be made by engaging more young students with technology.How can kids without technical backgrounds be taught how to invent with technology? How could teachers be enabled to support their students? How could the program be made affordable and scale globally?Their approach is simple and impactful.How the Micro:bit Education Foundation started
Shelby and Austin worked at ARM Holdings until its acquisition by Softbank in July 2016. They left to found the Micro:bit Education Foundation, which builds upon a proven BBC micro:bit program. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Surgery requires steady hands—and power.How do hospitals make sure they always have life-saving power? Or that standby generators and switches kick in when needed? How can patient safety be preserved during a power outage?Sprawling hospital campuses, large power needs and zero downtime tolerance make it difficult. It’s so important, though, that there are even federal regulations for hospitals to ensure they’re prepared for potential outages.With IoT-based facility management, though, hospitals concentrate on saving lives and worry less about power issues.The challenge: maintaining equipment
Emergency power supply systems (EPSS) are the critical power infrastructure that supports hospitals during a power outage. This standby network of generators and switches ensures critical, life-saving power for equipment is always available. The systems have to be regularly tested and monitored to make sure they are in good working order.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Helping people in a crisis is always hard. It’s even harder when those people in need are on the move.How can they learn about resources available nearby to help them? How can volunteers be assigned to where they can help the most? How can supplies be ordered to meet the demand for meals, blankets and medicine?The Refugee Aid app from Trellyz and the StockVUE inventory management system from LoadStar Sensors can help. Movement on the Ground
The challenge: Finding and helping the homeless and refugees
Finding and communicating accurate information about groups in need is difficult. This applies to both the homeless and refugees. Their need is immediate, and they’re on the move. It’s hard to provide them with help that may be available from multiple non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Finding a parking space is like a treasure hunt. Lots of aggravation for a few moments of joy.Parking is a challenge for city officials, too. How do you maximize both parking revenues and driver convenience?+ Also on Network World: Smart City Challenge: 7 proposals for the future of transportation +Is there a better way to mark parking spots without installing meters? How can drivers be charged automatically for parking? How can cities struggling with tight budgets afford such new services?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Pocketknives are amazing! All the tools you need in one handy form.Designing products to easily adapt to the need isn’t easy. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are no exception. How can they be designed to connect regardless of their location?Wivity, the pocketknife for IoT connectivity, has the answer.Its compact IoT modems readily adapt to connection as needed. Wivity modems work worldwide across different networks—without requiring different designs for every region. They support Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, LTE, SIGFOX, LoRaWAN and satellite connections.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the movie The Manchurian Candidate, two soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed into sleeper agents. Later the soldiers become unwitting assassins when activated by a handler. Sound familiar? It should.Hackers use a similar model for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks using IoT devices. This process has four phases.
Capture: Identify and take over control of IoT devices
Subvert: Reprogram the device to conduct malicious acts
Activate: Instruct the hacked device to launch attack
Attack: Launch the DDoS attack
Why are such attacks increasing? How can IoT device security be hardened? What DDoS protections are available? What advisory resources are available? Let’s take a look.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the movie The Manchurian Candidate, two soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed into sleeper agents. Later the soldiers become unwitting assassins when activated by a handler. Sound familiar? It should.Hackers use a similar model for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks using IoT devices. This process has four phases.
Capture: Identify and take over control of IoT devices
Subvert: Reprogram the device to conduct malicious acts
Activate: Instruct the hacked device to launch attack
Attack: Launch the DDoS attack
Why are such attacks increasing? How can IoT device security be hardened? What DDoS protections are available? What advisory resources are available? Let’s take a look.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
No man is an island.Neither are enterprise IoT projects. Enterprise technology is meant to enhance customer service and improve business efficiency. Internet of Things (IoT) projects have to integrate with other business applications to make this happen. How do you bridge IoT islands to mainland business applications?A recent project by Ephlux with Oracle IoT Cloud Service shows the way.
The need
The project involved a commercial HVAC contracting service that handled the installation and repair of several thousand air conditioners. The company was struggling to provide good customer service without eroding their profit margins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Christopher Reeve is famous as Superman in movies. As the man of steel with amazing superpowers, he was unbeatable.In real life, though, a bad fall from his horse left Reeve a quadriplegic. How suddenly life changes. One day you’re a hero with superpowers. The next day you’ve lost control of your body.The loss of control over their bodies is devastating for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. An Israeli startup now offers the hope to regain some of the lost control with its app, Sesame Enable.Background
The spinal cord is the main pathway for transmitting information between the brain and the nerves that lead to muscles, skin, internal organs and glands.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Did you know that over 75 million tourists visit the United States every year? Or that the Transport Security Administration (TSA) screens over 2 million people daily?
The TSA processes 150 passengers per security lane. Imagine the public outrage if it took 20 minutes to screen a passenger and the process publicly disclosed personal information. That’s the average time and result of installing an IoT device today.
What lessons can be applied from security screenings to accelerate IoT device adoption? How can the authentication and installation of new IoT devices be streamlined?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Did you know that over 75 million tourists visit the United States every year? Or that the Transport Security Administration (TSA) screens over 2 million people daily?The TSA processes 150 passengers per security lane. Imagine the public outrage if it took 20 minutes to screen a passenger and the process publicly disclosed personal information. That’s the average time and result of installing an IoT device today.What lessons can be applied from security screenings to accelerate IoT device adoption? How can the authentication and installation of new IoT devices be streamlined?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The military knows how to operate in chaotic situations.Where should resources be deployed? How should isolated platoons be managed? How should field units and central command coordinate activities when communication lines are broken? How can communications be secured? How can systems be made more resilient? Many military techniques can be adpated to enhance IoT resiliency.Lessons from the Art of War
Military communications or “comms" are activities, equipment and tactics the military uses on the battlefield. They include measurement systems, cryptography and robust communication channels. Military doctrine combines centralized intent with decentralized execution. Four key design principles are applied:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
With each head of cattle costing more than $2,000, care for the herd is important. Tracking individual cows moving over large areas is challenging, though, especially when they all look alike. Harsh farming conditions and limited budgets add to the technical hurdles.Cattle Traxx, which recently exhibited its system at TechCrunch Disrupt, has an answer. Livestock monitoring that includes an IoT solution of ruggedized sensors, LoRaWAN mesh networking, geofencing and cloud-based analytics.Solution design
SensorsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Choosing the right wine for a meal takes both skill and a little luck. It’s an area where many wine drinkers could use some help.Sommely wine caps help when a sommelier isn’t available.This elegant IoT-based solution combines wine recommendations, inventory management and the ability to physically locate wine bottles. It addresses a need that’s common in managing other perishable inventories, such as:
What is in the inventory?
When are the items in inventory about to expire?
Which items in the inventory best meet the demand?
Where is the physical location of the items so that they can be easily retrieved?
Wine selection is a complex decision with dozens of wine varieties and thousands of brands. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Necessity is the mother of invention.So, it’s no surprise that the best solutions are designed close to where they’re most needed. How do you empower people in remote parts of the world to develop their own solutions? How can their best solution be shared globally with others to maximize the benefit?Responding to disasters in El Salvador
Floods and mudslides regularly devastate El Salvador. Villagers can identify impending floods and mudslides, but they are unable to warn others in time. Rugged terrain, lack of power and cellular networks present a formidable communication challenge. Reacción, a team of El Salvadorian experts in electronics, community development and disaster relief, decided to do something about it. Working with local villagers and global experts, they developed an IoT-based early warning system for disasters that’s now shared globally.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Deepak Puri