Interoperability of IoT Platforms With Site 1001
On this week’s episode of Real World IoT Podcast, Eric Hall, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Site 1001, discusses how interoperability among connected devices will really make our cities smart with our host Ken Briodagh. Site 1001 is the developer of an intelligent facilities management IoT platform that uses core building information, building systems, and sensor data in combination with a powerful machine learning engine to put the “smart” in “smart buildings.” Cloud-based, mobile first, and location-aware, Site 1001 helps building owners, operators and facilities managers improve whole building performance by delivering detailed operations and maintenance information on every building component, from the major mechanical and electrical systems down to the wall and floor finishes, when and where it’s needed.
The Key to Coordination
IoT deployments get thwarted by the 700+ IoT platforms and dashboards that the data can be fed into. The biggest hurdle in this stage is the proliferation of the product-specific dashboard. Coordinating everything together is a daunting task, so what is needed is the hardware manufacturers must have a more open-minded approach to allow the information to be widely shared. People seem to be more worried about monetizing the data being collected than the revenue generated by the sale of the sensor. This leads to more problems as well as issues with security. Utilization of Blockchain It seems as if many are waiting for a time in which the many platforms may work together. The idea of creating a standardized protocol that everyone must follow could work but is wishful thinking at its best; however, just like anything else, there should be a balance, and a middle-ground approach could answer the questions we are looking for. In an approach like this information would be displayable, but could also be thrown in the back door of an administration platform. Security is important in IoT and should be the top priority when making decisions or implementing new ideas. Of course, since the security of the data is more important than the ease of getting to it, a solution to this balancing act is providing parallel networks in a building like Site 1001 presents. This creates a blockchain approach to the issue. Setting systems up like this will ultimately make it easier for them to track data, as well as provide it to many IoT platforms as securely as possible.
Looking Ahead
The future of IoT in building and automation is an exciting thought, but to what extent will we see this go? Eric talks about how over time we have seen a change from automation leading to a decrease in jobs, but an increase in prerequisites needed for those positions. "Your building is never going to be a robot if it became one it would jump off its foundation," Eric stated. The point is that there will always be some kind of human oversight, it's just a matter of how much automation is below that human.
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