Comm. Smart Cities and IoT supplement Smart Cities and IoT | Seite 10

In t e rn a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t s
Ai r l i n e s

  Au to m ot i v e

SITA 2015 Airline
IT Trends Survey
shows strong
uptake of IoT

Huawei collaborates with Audi and
VW on in-car connectivity

A major revolution in the passenger experience is set to emerge over the next three years
as airlines invest in the Internet of Things. According to the SITA 2015 Airline IT Trends Survey, the vast majority of airlines (86 per cent)
expect that the IoT will deliver clear benefits in
the next three years and already more than
one third (37 per cent) have allocated budget
to it. The results of the survey show that IoT
investments will be focused in the areas of
check-in, bag drop and bag collection.
SITA’s survey carried out among the world’s
top 200 airlines shows that airlines are already
considering the benefits of IoT and over the
next three years more than half plan investments in this area. By 2018, 16 per cent plan
major programmes and a further 41 per cent
plan to invest in research and development.
This year’s survey shows that already 94
per cent of airlines are investing in business
intelligence with 74 per cent planning major
investment programs by 2018. While 68 per
cent have a major investment programme
planned for data centres in the next three
years, with a further 14 per cent investing in
R&D or a pilot programme.

Huawei announced two automotive collaborations with Audi Group and Volkswagen to explore the future of interconnected car technology. Creating an enhanced driving experience for
consumers, the separate partnerships will ultimately aim to provide users with Internet-enabled
features in their cars while integrating smartphone functions with vehicle-mounted systems.
The partnership with Audi Group to jointly explore the future of interconnected car technology was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia (CES Asia) 2015. Huawei’s LTE modules provide the new Audi Q7 SUV with the ability to support 2G, 3G and 4G networks, TDD-LTE
and FDD-LTE standards.
Huawei and Volkswagen also jointly demonstrated a series of apps that safely allow drivers
to use GPS navigation systems, play music, send and receive messages, and make phone calls
while behind the wheel. The apps support MirrorLink, an open technology standard designed
to maximise interoperability between smartphones and vehicle-mounted systems. They cover
multiple services including phone calls, SMS, navigation, multimedia, and payment that are all
centred on smartphones.

R e ta i l

Retailers set to ramp up IoT capex
Data from Juniper Research has revealed that retailers seeking to capitalise on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies will spend an estimated
US$2.5 billion in hardware and installation costs, nearly a fourfold increase over this year’s estimated US$670 million spend.
The hardware spend includes Bluetooth beacons and RFID (radio frequency ID) tags. In the first instance, Bluetooth beacons enable
visibility over footfall as well as the ability to push relevant information to consumers’ smartphones. Meanwhile, RFID aids in real-time asset
tracking, reduced labour costs and even dynamic pricing according to stock levels and online pricing.
Additionally, Juniper Research found, with the number of connected units within the IoT forecast to reach 38.5 billion in 2020, attitudes and
methods with regards to cybersecurity will have to undergo fundamental change. Where today’s security is principally focused on access
prevention, the IoT security model will require robust means of identifying inevitable network breaches. Should suspicious activity be detected, parts of the network can then be ‘shut off’ in similar fashion to marine vessel bulkheads to prevent attack spread.
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