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EDITOR’S QUESTION
LOUKAS TZITZIS, CHIEF
PRODUCTS & MARKETING
OFFICER, NEXIGN
T
he deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT) in enterprises
allows for significant optimisation of relevant business
processes as well as the creation of new value for the
enterprises’ end-customers by providing them with IoT-driven brand-
new products and services.
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While this sounds like an attractive business opportunity, it does
require a comprehensive and intelligent approach.
IoT infrastructure is a complex ecosystem that involves a variety of
components – devices, applications, processes and all the generated
data – that are very different by design. Not only this but these
components can differ even if they fall within the same broad
category. For example, applications can be built at different times,
by different developers, or in different programming languages. This
inequality makes it more complicated and challenging to manage
the IoT infrastructure efficiently, and furthermore, extract value for
business development.
Here is where one of the most progressive IoT technologies – Digital
Twins – comes in. Digital Twins provides a unique capability to create
digital models of the physical processes, which enables efficient
management of the components via a single interface and in a single
digital environment, regardless of the difference in components.
Moreover, the technology includes a capability to create a variety of
different models, in line with the industry specific requirements that
the enterprise operates in. This provides enterprises with obvious
benefits in terms of meeting their specific needs.
An example use case of Digital Twins’ implementation is predictive
analytics. Imagine a hydroelectric power station. Myriad pumps are
working every day with a specific rate of pressure, but suddenly a
pump starts pumping faster or slower, which is abnormal.
Without IoT it would be difficult to spot this issue, and this could
have far reaching consequences, anywhere from disruptions in
internal manufacturing processes all the way to a power outage in
the entire region, where the station is located. But by using Digital
Twins technology, the station can create very detailed digital
models of all the pumps and reflect the models on the screen of a
responsible specialist.
The specialist can see the functioning deviations instantly and in this
event, trigger countermeasures to prevent the issue from spiraling
out of control. This application has tremendous value when we talk
about Smart Cities. In addition to averting catastrophe, with Digital
Twins, the data about the abnormal functioning becomes part of
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a Big Data set which can be used to prevent such fails across many
hydroelectric stations and other industrial companies.
Another application for IoT is security. Digital identity is gaining
relevance and consequently attracting more interest from hackers,
who are keeping pace with technologies and constantly searching
for vulnerable links as new opportunities for data breaches.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data analytics, powered by
sophisticated Machine Learning algorithms, will not only help timely
detection, but also predict and prevent a hackers’ fraud attempts.
Even if hackers steal a phone or sim-card, they will remain
unsuccessful, as the confidential information of the user will be saved
with a smart combination of modern IoT technologies. Moreover, the
information about the fraudulent activities will go further to the Big
Data core, turning into useful knowledge for fraud prevention across
millions of other devices.
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