Category: Uncategorized

Energy monitoring promotes environmental literacy.

Protecting the environment begins with the realization that our natural resources on Earth are limited. Due to economic and population growth, as well as climate change, resource consumption is constantly increasing. And this is always associated with pollution of our environment. The consequences are the release of pollutants into the water, soil and air, which cause permanent damage to the ecosystem. It is a fact that the current use of our natural resources far exceeds the Earth’s ability to regenerate. The only way to use our resources in the long term is to use them carefully. Only then will future generations be able to benefit from the wealth of our Earth.

What is Energy Monitoring?

Energy monitoring means continuous integration, processing, analysis and visualization of energy requirements. Thus, energy monitoring is the key foundation of an energy management system. By measuring the current of individual consumers, evaluating and comparing the measured data, a detailed analysis of energy consumption and generation can be carried out. Based on this data, the individual and effective savings potential, both in watts and euros, can be determined. Thus, energy monitoring not only helps to reduce energy consumption and costs, but is also an effective measure in relation to the environment to save resources.

Identifying potential savings with energy monitoring.

The protection of the environment begins with identifying the potential for optimization. With the intelligence monitoring platform IDboxRT we monitor in particular the energy consumption of companies as well as the generation of the renewable energy. With our powerful analytics system, we create a universally accessible and user-friendly platform for people who want to actively promote and support environmental protection measures.

Environmental protection begins with everyone.

Small changes in personal energy behavior are often sufficient to significantly reduce energy consumption. The more people participate, the greater the effect of saving energy. Become part of our IDboxRT community and actively contribute to environmental protection!

On September 6, 7 and 8 we will be exhibiting at THE GREEN EXPO® MEXICO with Grupo Tresner. Join us and learn about our broad experience, innovative products and services for digitalizing Renewable Energy with our Technology. See you in Mexico!

Intelligent asset monitoring provides systematic and coordinated activities that can make it easier for the oil and gas sector to manage equipment. In addition, asset health becomes a top priority in the oil and gas business to ensure quality production. Otherwise, operating and maintenance costs increase, which can reduce overall productivity.

Integrating IoT technology into the oil and gas business provides intelligent equipment management that helps reduce the risks of sudden breakdowns. Advanced sensor devices monitor the condition of equipment in real time and send information to a cloud-based platform for further processing. It uses the relevant information and provides actionable insights related to the health and performance of the asset.

Thus, we can say that IoT asset monitoring is most important for the oil and gas industry because it improves machine efficiency and enables better decision making.

Oil and gas companies are digitally transforming by implementing smart asset monitoring to mitigate such challenges and create:

• Operational flexibility
• Timely delivery
• Brand value
• Economic efficiency

The integration of renewable energy and storage generates additional monitoring and control needs, not only to ensure optimal performance, but also for the earliest possible return on investment.

Monitoring is necessary to understand energy production and use, detect problems early and take appropriate action.

To understand how electrical energy is being used and how it can be optimized, owners must:

• Track how photovoltaic (PV) energy produced is consumed by loads, stored, or injected into the grid
• Track and analyze photovoltaic energy production trends along with load consumption
• Calculate the economic benefits associated with reducing energy consumption from the grid

Asset management functions should also be provided by a PV system monitoring system. This should include evaluating the performance of the PV system, detecting offsets or faults, and immediate notification of faults. In addition, since PV inverters can affect the power quality of an electrical installation, it is recommended to measure and monitor power quality disturbances, especially harmonics and imbalances.

When integrating local sources, such as a photovoltaic system, into a building’s electrical installation, control functions are often required. These functions mainly depend on the local sources available, the contract with the local energy supplier and the type of installation: grid-connected, microgrid or off-grid.For example, for an installation with grid-connected PV production, the necessary control functions may include:

• Limiting photovoltaic power generation so that energy is not pumped into the grid
• Control of the power factor at the point of connection to the grid to avoid penalties
• Shifting the load over the period of PV production to maximize self-consumption
• Participating in demand response, especially if storage units or generators are also part of the plant

Advanced cloud-based analytics optimize the use of local power sources, resulting in additional savings.
Considering additional criteria such as changes in electricity rates, weather forecasts and expected consumption, advanced analytics provide the optimal system configuration. The setpoint for each local source is then transmitted to the local control system.

To learn more about PV plant monitoring recommendations, contact us at [email protected].

As many of us already know, information technologies improve management, increase efficiency, reduce losses in supply networks and advance sustainable development goals.

Managing water resources and water services effectively and efficiently remains a major challenge in many OECD member and partner countries, while pressure on water resources continues to increase.

The OECD Environmental Outlook 2050 identifies the main challenges for water management:

• Increased competition for access to water
  (due to population and economic growth)
  
• Continued need to expand access to safe drinking water and sanitation in many parts of the world and to maintain water services in others
  
• Declining water quality
  
• Deterioration of groundwater supplies
  
• The threat posed by climate change

“80% of wastewater returns to the ecosystem without being treated or reused” (UNESCO, 2017).

It is for all these reasons that great challenges arise for us when addressing an Operational Intelligence strategy with our clients in the water sector.

One of the main challenges we encounter is the aging infrastructure, as the distribution networks that are currently installed are quite old and, in many cases, obsolete. This also leads to a series of problems that directly impact other challenges in the sector, which are a direct consequence of their poor condition, such as reducing operational costs and minimizing leakage.

Asset and data management are therefore proposed today as a possible solution to minimize the impact of the aging of this infrastructure, for which ease of access to data and connectivity with different sources of information, as well as being able to access the data in an agile and robust way, will be key.

On the other hand, massive data processing is another important aspect to be taken into account. Our challenge is to solve the problem of controlled management of the massive ingestion of information, its contextualization and the analytical capacity to establish the most appropriate strategies, especially on the operational side.

Information sharing will also be a key aspect of the sector. The different departments of our companies increasingly need good coordination so that data can arrive easily and efficiently in real time, speeding up decision-making, improving productivity and performance.

Finally, despite being in a world of high connectivity and process automation, there is still manual data, so the tools must be able to integrate these data, as well as to debug and treat them and then incorporate them into the system as another signal of the same.

CIC as a Technology Partner

We see the Operational Intelligence Platform as a big DATA HUB of information. At the core we have the data processing, debugging, generation of calculations (from the simplest to the most complex), storage of signals and processes related to artificial intelligence (machine learning algorithms that build consumption models and predictions or early detection of anomalies).

The connectors or drivers are responsible for acquiring the measurement information and contextualizing it with the inventory and the company’s objectives. From here, the platform offers a series of tools to build the different use cases, which will provide value to users and, ultimately, to the efficient management of the complete water cycle.

The use cases can be general in the entire water value chain or specific as we can see in the following infographic on Operational Intelligence as a driving force for digital transformation.

In the framework of Energy Efficiency we have different aspects such as demand prediction according to meteorology or automatic pump optimization. Another example of a use case is the carbon footprint. The Sustainable Development Goals, or also called SDGs, were established in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly with the intention of “achieving a better and more sustainable future for all”. It consists of 17 goals and number 13 corresponds to “Climate Action”, so this point is and will be paramount in the strategies and policies of both countries and society in general, as well as for companies and organizations worldwide. Having a measurement and analysis tool that allows water reuse, carbon footprint measurement and other strategies to minimize climate change will therefore be of great importance.

Conclusions

In summary, we can talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with good technology partners that accompany you throughout the process of digitization of the business, allowing improvements at all levels of companies.

If you have been left wanting to know more, we leave you access to the following webinar: Digitalization of the integral water cycle. Towards a sustainable management.

IDboxRT had a unique opportunity to talk to one of the leading authorities in digital transformation, Antonio Grasso, who has more than 37 years of experience working on numerous IT projects.

An entrepreneur, technologist, founder and CEO of the Italian startup Digital Business Innovation Srl, Antonio is considered one of the leading experts in digital transformation and researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. With his ethical vision of digital transformation, Antonio aims to help spread the concept of digital transformation about new, emerging technologies and their use to ensure a better future.

In this interview, we talked about the differences between loT and IIoT, their main characteristics and the potential impact on the manufacturing world, we also learned from Antonio what the future holds for industrial IoT technologies and how to prepare now for the challenges posed by the digital revolution.

---

IDboxRT: What is the Internet of Things (IoT) and how is it different from the Industrial IoT (IIoT)?

Antonio Grasso: The Internet of Things is a paradigm that describes a world of connected devices (devices that are connected to a network and exchange information) that make the concept of a cyberphysical world real. The main differences between the IoT and the IIoT are in the necessary requirements and expected features.

While IoT mainly refers to domestic devices and things that are used in a consumer environment (a connected car, a connected refrigerator or a smartphone are considered IoT), IIoT – as the name implies – are connected devices that are used in a manufacturing environment to automate production, monitor processes or collect and process data in close proximity to the device.

This infographic will help you understand the key differences between IoT and IIoT:

IDboxRT: How can the IIoT change the world of manufacturing? What are the main challenges and opportunities in this area?

Antonio Grasso: One of the greatest opportunities is the collection of data for processing by new algorithms that exploit the probabilistic capabilities of AI. In fact, IIoT devices, in addition to controlling the transition of signals from the physical world to the cybernetic world, collect data that can then generate new types of insight not previously available.

“IIoT devices, in addition to controlling the transition of signals from the physical world to the cybernetic world, collect data that can then generate new types of insight not previously available.”

Beyond this undeniable advantage, there is also a multifaceted aspect of IIoT devices that can benefit both product development and process improvement. As the following infographic shows, IIoT is present in both scenarios.

IDboxRT:  To meet evolving customer expectations and support the growing demand for services, what key features should manufacturers be looking for in industrial IoT software?

Antonio Grasso: As devices in manufacturing are constantly growing in sophisticatedness, you cannot think to plug and play a device or software without thinking about the architecture. Designing the correct architecture helps you to implement devices and software in the right way.

Starting from considerations about what are my customer needs and what are my objectives could heavily accelerate the implementation. Just think about the layers you need to configure for a mid-sophisticated architecture, could give you a vision of it as you can note from the infographic:

Let me say that the right implementation strictly depends on your industry. For example, if you are in the logistics industry, you should start thinking about connecting your trucks. This is a simple model of what you can manage/gather when implementing IIoT for the logistics and transportation industries:

Thus, determining the right software is not easy. It is better to start with your business model, your strategy, and your goals, and then build a team – perhaps using external experts – to develop your implementation.

IDboxRT: How do the IIoT monitoring solutions benefit the industry?

Antonio Grasso: First, familiarize yourself with the basic concepts of the Internet of Things, as in this infographic:

It all starts with data. Your goal is to manage and interpret the data generated by hardware devices. So, in my opinion, the first thing to do is to define the IIoT operating system, which is just the beginning for managing the incredible flow of data generated by IIoT devices.

“It all starts with data. Your goal is to manage and interpret the data generated by hardware devices. So, in my opinion, the first thing to do is to define the IIoT operating system, which is just the beginning for managing the incredible flow of data generated by IIoT devices.”

Then you have to get to know machine learning in order to analyze the huge amount of data and create insights useful for making business decisions.

The benefits are enormous and tend to be related to your business model. If I have to list some significant ones, I think the ones mentioned in this image are the right ones:

IDboxRT: In conclusion, what does the future hold for industrial IoT technologies, could you give an approximation of what we should expect in the context of the manufacturing industry?

Antonio Grasso: Many technologies are coming together to create value for manufacturing. Imagine infusing AI and Edge Computing into IoT devices would bring intelligence to perform inference locally, without transferring data to servers or the cloud. Many have coined a new term: AIoT to refer to the strict interconnectivity between the two.

But watching communications closely, I think 5G private networks will increase connectivity like never before. Low latency, extreme bandwidth and increased security will create a new production model out of augmented and virtual reality as the new blue-collar companion.

The Digital Twin will become an Intelligent Twin, opening up new scenarios for virtualizing even more complex devices, such as engines, to achieve unprecedented simulation capabilities that will improve products and services.

Overall, I think it’s important to note that financial return on investment is something manufacturers should consider before setting out to upgrade their manufacturing process. Here is some interesting information that shows the expected return on investment (ROI) from IoT projects.

---

We would like to thank Antonio for taking the time to have a conversation with us at IDboxRT.  We certainly learned a lot and hope this information helps our community as well.

You can find more information about the protagonist of the interview and his work in the digital field here:

Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Instagram

If you’re looking for a powerful monitoring solution for your industry, don’t hesitate to Contact us to gain more insights from our IDboxRT experts!

The more complex technology becomes, so do our needs. Two of the essential needs we seek, especially when it comes to business processes, are speed and efficiency. While we meet the need for speed and efficiency, we have realized that there is also another need: entertainment. We want to be entertained, to have interaction during our engagements. The user interface fills that void since our lives have been inundated by digitization. We may not realize how common and crucial its functions are. One thing is for sure: user interfaces make our lives much easier. In this blog, we have discussed the topic of user interfaces with a very basic approach, as this topic can easily become very detailed and technical.

What is user interface?

The term is self-explanatory: user interface (UI) is a tool/object that helps people interact and operate more efficiently and easily. In other words, it enables human interactions to occur with computers, software, applications and websites. There are two aspects that occur when humans begin to interact with the user interface: the ability to command efficiently and easily and to receive instant feedback that aids the decision making process for the operating human.

User interfaces are created with multiple layers, with the goal of appealing to users’ senses, such as touch, sight and hearing. These layers help humans expend as little effort as possible to achieve the expected results when interacting with it. Layers are supported by various devices to increase and facilitate the level of interaction, such as keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch screen, camera and many more.

Why is it important to have user interfaces?

In addition to facilitating and increasing the efficiency of human interaction, user interfaces play a key role in terms of the functionality of computers, software, applications or websites. Functionality is often measured by the speed and responsiveness of the user interface. It is also important to consider the user experience when designing and focusing on the functionality of user interfaces.

Below, we highlight important components of user interfaces. These components provide valuable information about the goals of user interfaces. However, user interfaces, in most cases today, contain multiple components.

Information architecture: Its goal is to provide an easy process, bringing out the most important information with minimum effort for the user. Information architectures can be built in hierarchical, sequential or matrix form. They also include tooltips, icons, progress bar, notifications, message boxes and modal windows.

Visual design: When it comes to visual design, color, contrast, typeface and video play a crucial role in maximizing user appeal. While the goal is to create the attraction, it is also considered mission critical to make the user continue the interaction as much as possible.

Input design: These controls allow users to interact with computers, software, applications and websites to complete the desired action. They include check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down lists, list boxes, buttons, toggle buttons, text fields and date fields.

Navigation components: As you can understand, they are placed in order to provide easy and efficient navigation for the user to interact with. Breadcrumb, slider, search field, pagination, slider, labels and icons are common examples.

User interface on the IDboxRT platform:

The IDboxRT platform is based on state-of-the-art technology and the latest IT security implementations with the ultimate goal of bringing efficiency, security and ease to your production.

Our platform is the ideal place to view, control, compare and analyze everything related to your business processes. We provide all the necessary information with an in-depth view. Moreover, the in-depth view is applied for each component level.

IDboxRT is a platform in constant development and evolution. Depending on the specific needs of the company, the platform can be adapted to the configuration of the operation.

Please contact us for more information on the updates from the IDboxRT team of experts.

How can the IoT marketplace deliver on its promise? Let’s take a look at what it will take to succeed from an enterprise IoT customer perspective. Companies that have been successful in large-scale IoT adoption take five basic steps:

1. Identify who owns the IoT in the organization. Currently, many organizations do not have a clear IoT owner, and decision-making is scattered across functions, business units, and levels. Companies that have been successful in large-scale IoT implementations are addressing this situation by appointing a clear owner who can be representative of different functions and roles.
   
2. Design for scale from the start. IoT should be based on business outcomes. Too often, enterprise customers get carried away with technology and focus only on pilot projects, causing many enterprise customers to suffer as a result.
   
3. Invest in technical human resources. IoT technicians are in short supply. Hiring engineers and data scientists is important, but for organizations to be on the cutting edge, they also need to upskill their current employees in data science.
   
4. Change the entire organization, not just IT. Too often, IoT implementation is seen as a technology project run by IT rather than a business transformation. Technology alone will never be enough to unlock the potential of the IoT and deliver maximum value. Instead, the underlying operating model and workflow of the business must be redefined.
   
5. Monitor your processes. In general, IoT-based remote asset and process monitoring allows companies to reduce the time it takes to detect, analyze and fix problems with critical assets and processes. In addition, they can optimize human resources, improve the security of operations and reduce operating costs.

The IoT market is growing rapidly. Growth may be slower than expected, but that’s not because of a lack of confidence or belief in the impact this technology can have. Rather, we believe that operational factors are holding the market back. As we have seen, there are nuances at the level of customization and use clusters. This applies not only to growth, but also to tailwinds and headwinds. For the IoT to reach its potential, companies and their customers must address these issues.

Want to know more about this topic? Contact us and our experts will be happy to answer all your questions! 🙂

What distinguishes the fourth industrial revolution from previous ones is the convergence and interaction of several technological trends at the same time. Here are some of the main technological trends that that will permanently change our businesses and our lives.

Trend 1: Everything connected and smart

You’re no doubt familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT refers to the growing number of smart, connected devices and objects capable of collecting and transmitting data.

In the future, everything that can be connected will be connected. Not just devices and products – although this is certainly a key factor for businesses – but also the spaces in which we live and work. From smart, connected factories and offices to entire smart cities, the spaces around us will be increasingly equipped to track what is happening and act accordingly.

Trend 2: The datification of the world

Ubiquitous computing and IoT are bringing huge amounts of data being generated every day. But along with this machine-generated data, we humans also generate an enormous amount of data during our daily activities, a process that shows no signs of slowing down.

The good news is that companies can use this data to develop better products and services, improve business processes, make decisions and even create new revenue streams. However, companies also need to be aware of the risks associated with data, particularly data privacy and security.

Trend 3: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

All the data generated is an important tool for artificial intelligence, which has taken an incredible leap forward in recent years.

The result for businesses is that, as our interactions with machines become increasingly intelligent, customers will expect all types of products and services to have some form of AI capability.

Now, following all of these trends, we understand that we are entering an era of rapid and continuous evolution, where multiple technology trends combine and feed into each other to produce major changes. For businesses, this means that the days of incremental technology upgrades are gone forever. Continuous change is the way of the future.

If you want to know more about how technologies can improve your business processes, contact us and our best experts will inform you.

What is Web 3.0?

Although Web 2.0 may seem like an advanced approach to the Internet, it still has many drawbacks. What about the security of your personal data? With Web 2.0, trusted institutions take control of user data, especially because of the need for trusted intermediaries. If two parties want to make a transaction but do not know and trust each other, they will have to resort to the services of trusted intermediaries. However, the intermediary has control over the storage and management of the data, thereby increasing its power over the users. In addition, centralized power has never led to success in times of crisis, which requires decentralization.

Web 3.0 is a promising improvement over Web 2.0, especially given the major transformations in terms of infrastructure. The third generation of the Web, also called the semantic Web, uses an improved metadata system. The metadata system helps structure and organize all types of data, making them readable for humans and machines. The main benefit associated with Web 3.0 is almost the best twist on the differences between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. Web 3.0 eliminates the need for centralized intermediaries and introduces the universality of information.

How revolutionary is Web 3.0?

Understanding the comparison between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 should also focus on the uniqueness of Web 3.0. The third iteration of the Web is a formidable response to Web 2.0’s shortcomings with an emphasis on innovative technology. Web 3.0 uses artificial intelligence to enable machine-to-machine interaction as well as advanced analytics. In addition, Web 3.0 uses a decentralized network to bring data under the control of the owners. As a result, users are able to own their data as well as determine how it is distributed. In addition, the differences between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are improvements in user privacy and security. Web 3.0 uses encryption and distributed ledger technology to address trust issues that were evident in Web 2.0.

Notable features of Web 3.0

You can build a stronger foundation for understanding “What’s the difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0?” by focusing on Web 3.0 features. Here are some of the most important features of Web 3.0 that will help distinguish it from Web 2.0.

• Web 3.0 uses artificial intelligence to deliver the right results at a faster pace along with access to real-time information.
• Web 3.0 also allows users to tap into the potential of 3D images and graphics.
• Web 3.0 has a Semantic Web functionality. This means that Web 3.0 can support understanding the meaning of words. As a result, machines and people can easily find, share and analyze information on Web 3.0.
• Web 3.0 also offers important features such as improved privacy and security.
• Web 3.0 uses improved authorization mechanisms using distributed ledger technology and encryption to protect user identity and data.

If you want to learn all about how Web 3.0 and related technologies can improve your business processes, contact us and our top experts will inform you!