German telecoms giant is working with a number of research labs to develop NB-IoT solutions for large-scale industry.
The security of the internet of things (IoT) was in focus this week, with a new report published by security firm Corero linking its rise to a surge in DDoS attacks.
According to its estimates, there are now an average of eight attacks per day, and they have become much more sophisticated and commonplace as cyber-criminals seek to find new ways to wreak havoc.
Meanwhile, a report from the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) announced the ban on children’s smartwatches that have one-way monitoring functions.
The German agency described the particular models of smartwatches as “spying devices” and urged parents who have bought such devices for their children to destroy them.
Deutsche Telekom co-founding NB-IoT lab
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) is considered to be one of the technologies that will take the IoT concept and expand it to wirelessly connect millions of devices that have low bandwidth requirements.
Now, German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom has revealed it is teaming up with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics research labs to launch the Open IoT Labs project.
Based in Dortmund, the labs’ goal is to optimise IoT processes in the manufacturing, logistics and aviation sectors to make them market-ready.
Initially, the team plans to concentrate on solutions based on NB-IoT, as Deutsche Telekom is already running an NB-IoT network commercially throughout Germany.
“The logistics sector is moving very rapidly on digitisation. With IoT solutions, companies will be able to achieve high added value in the short term, in a number of business processes,” said Anette Bronder, head of the digital and security department of Deutsche Telekom.
Germany IIoT to double in five years
Sticking with Germany, a new report into its uptake of industrial IoT (IIoT) finds that it is expected to double in the space of just five years.
According to Telecompaper, a report from the digital consultancy firm Eco predicts that the IoT economy will grow by 19pc year on year. By 2022, it will bring in revenues of €16.8bn, with the automotive industry leading the charge thanks to a growth rate of 20.2pc per year.
The next-largest sector will be machinery and plant engineering, at growth rates of 18.9pc per year.
Volvo to provide Uber with autonomous cars
Despite the ongoing issues Uber is having from a public relations standpoint, Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has agreed to provide the ride-hailing company with tens of thousands of autonomous cars.
In a statement, Volvo said that the cars will be delivered between 2019 and 2021, and will be developed on its modular, in-house developed Scalable Product Architecture.
“The automotive industry is being disrupted by technology, and Volvo Cars chooses to be an active part of that disruption,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo.
“Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for ride-sharing service providers globally. Today’s agreement with Uber is a primary example of that strategic direction.”
Volvo added that it still plans to develop its own separate autonomous car strategy to have its first fully autonomous car in 2021.
Dublin ranks 42nd in Smart Cities Index
A new Smart Cities Index compiled by research group EasyPark has ranked the top 100 smartest cities in the world. Sadly, Dublin finds itself far from the top echelons around the world.
Ranked 42nd, Dublin finds itself just ahead of Stavanger in Norway and just behind Perth in Australia, based on a metric that accounts for their transport and mobility, sustainability, governance, innovation economy, digitisation, and living standards.
In a quite damning reflection of the Government, Dublin is ranked the worst in terms of the digitisation of government, with a score of 1.09 out of 10. Another factor contributing to Dublin’s middling score, according to the report, was its traffic scoring just 2.04 out of 10, while Mumbai scored 2.38.
Dublin’s highest-performing metric was its adoption of smart buildings, scoring it just above London in these stakes.
“Without better solutions, global urbanisation would lead to problems such as traffic congestion, housing shortages and pollution. By using big data, we can help tackle these important global issues,” commented Mauritz Börjeson, chief business development officer of EasyPark Group.
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