Barbara Ruhmann, Research Associate at the isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development
OK, I know, the headline is a little bit of a tease. However, USA Today titled an early June story »How women are changing the tech world« – so I am safe, right? When I recently did some research on some of the key people in the internet of things and services (IoT), I discovered that only a few of them are women, but they are influential figures. Neelie Kroes, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Christine Outram – just to mention a few. And I added two to my list: Sirkka Freigang, one of the authors of an IoT skill study (read our recent interview with Sirkka here) and Barbara Ruhmann, working for the isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development, and managing the »Female Smart House Professionals« project. We invited Barbara to introduce this IoT venture here in our blog.
Read more…
RESTful web services and the associated Resource Oriented Architectures (ROA) have received plenty of attention lately. Even though REST and the underlying technologies are not exactly new, their usage to build distributed systems has gained in momentum only recently. Many corporations offer their services using RESTful web services, today. Examples are Amazon, eBay, Yahoo (including Flickr) and DropBox. REST will most likely play a central role in building the Internet of Things.
What is REST?
The term REST stands for Representational State Transfer and identifies an architectural style for building distributed systems. In essence, RESTful web services use existing, proven web standards – most prominently HTTP – and adhere to a number of principles for using these standards. Stefan Tilkov summarized these principles as follows: Read more…
Stefan Ferber, Bosch Software Innovations, riding our first prototype, an e-bike as mobile advertising space. The displays are mounted on the sides of the bicycle and can be controlled over the internet, making it possible for instance to change the advertising display to a message that is especially relevant for a particular neighborhood when the cyclist rides into it.
The Bosch IoT Lab at University St. Gallen, Switzerland, took off! The Lab is a cooperation between Bosch Software Innovations GmbH and the Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG) at the University of St. Gallen. Currently we are a team of seven – university and Bosch employees – working on topics related to connected mobility and smart home. On September 13, 2012 we held our official opening ceremony.
Many guests from Bosch, the University of St. Gallen and politics made use of the opportunity to discuss the changes the internet of things will induce. And I really had the feeling that all participants had good conversations and made interesting new contacts.
A number of speeches addressed the role of the internet of things and of our new lab from different perspectives.
Read more…
In one of my last blog posts I asked for examples of SMEs going electric . Also on our website I am asking readers to contribute good ideas on how they would bring eMobility a step forward. Earlier this summer I received a very good example, not directly from our neighbourhood but from Down Under. That makes it even more interesting.
Read more…
Benjamin King, Environmental Innovations & Standardization Manager at BSH Home Appliances Corporation
This is the second part of my interview series with Benjamin King, Environmental Innovations & Standardization Manager at BSH Home Appliances Corporation. If you are interested in the difference between the meaning of »smart« and »connected« for appliances in the Internet of Things and Services (IoT) and some deeper insights in US electricity tariffs, please also read the first part of our interview. Today, Benjamin will bring us up to speed on trends and technology that a North American appliance manufacturer needs to embrace in the light of IoT and the challenges it brings for interoperability, data, and network security.
Read more…
Benjamin King, Environmental Innovations & Standardization Manager at BSH Home Appliances Corporation
A German electronics and appliances magazine recently interviewed representatives from all leading appliances manufacturers on the status of their smart grid product portfolios. Answers for Europe showed, that the market is not yet ready (e.g. lacking variable electricity tariffs and technology standards). However, the North American market seems to be more mature. I wanted to get some first-hand insights and spoke to my colleague Benjamin King, Environmental Innovations & Standardization Manager at BSH Home Appliances Corporation. The first part of the interview series focuses on the distinction between »smart« and »connected« as adjectives for appliances in the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as the electricity tariff landscape in the US. The second part, which will be posted next week, is around trends impacting North American appliance manufacturers and technological challenges such as interoperability, data and network security. Read more…
Sirkka Freigang, deputy project manager at isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development
When you google »Internet of Things« (IoT), you receive lots of statistics about market potentials, the number of connected devices, or the amount of data. Also, there are many stories on how we can benefit from IoT in different aspects of our lives: mobility, energy, health, industry, etc. However, only after a few months I came across a research body assessing a central human and socio-economic perspective – key skills needed in IoT. The study I refer to originates in Germany and is around the smart house as a real-life IoT application. The potential of the German market is 41.5 million households by 2020. I had the chance to talk to Sirkka Freigang, one of the five authors of the study, working for the isw Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development.
Sirkka, what was the jump start for this IoT study, which was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and why did you choose the »smart house« as application area?
In Germany alone, the potential of the smart house market is 41.5 million households by 2020.
As one of the major technological and social trends, the Internet of Things will have a significant impact on key skills of people working in adjacent environments. Read more…
Are you also chased by the fridge that does your grocery shopping? I am. Whenever I open a newspaper these days, it’s there. LG even has a fridge that helps you diet. So, what is this fuzz on smart appliances all about? Let me discuss a few aspects that I came across – no claim to be complete!
Why do we need smart appliances?
In a German home, approx. 50% of electricity is used by household appliances. A recent study of the German Institute for Applied Ecology shows that it is likely that energy consumption of white goods will have decreased by 33-51% in 2030. Smart major appliances support this trend: They not only provide users comfort, but use energy more efficiently and have the power to shrink a household’s electricity bill. Read more…
