There Are New Markets for Industrial IoT Data
visibility into the provenance of everything
from agricultural foods to diamond
necklaces. And, full visibility into supply-
chain transactions will unleash new industry
dynamics as competitors analyze ledger
histories for market-intelligence insights 6 .
acquisitions, joint-ventures or data sharing
initiatives.
Data-sharing Business Dilemmas
Jeff Travers is the Head of IoT for Ericsson, the global
telecommunications equipment supplier. He
describes the data dilemma for a mining company. It
is frustrated because the company supplying its
trucks, as connected vehicles, is failing to share a rich
stream of data it is gleaning about their usage.
There is considerable promise from exposing
proprietary,
operational
data
if
organizations can find ways to control access
and capitalize on potential opportunities.
The business choice to share data is not
straightforward and will pose significant
dilemmas for many firms in the coming
years.
Should it be obliged to share that data?
“That’s the question,” Travers responds. He points
out that “both sides need to understand the business
has changed – if you don’t go into this with open
eyes, then you get this skewed situation where the
truck maker has deep insight and the mining
company doesn’t.”
Nevertheless, there are examples of its
benefits. In 2000, Goldcorp, Inc., a Canadian
gold producer, gave worldwide access to all
geological data for its mining properties for
a prize of $575,000. More than 1,000
prospectors studied that data to identify
promising sites. Eighty percent of these sites
yielded significant gold reserves, exceeding
$6 billion in value 7 .
Enterprise IoT Insights interview,
https://enterpriseiotinsights.com/20180413/channels/new
s/business-has-changed-for-both-sides-ericsson-tag40
John Deere, the agricultural and
construction equipment manufacturer,
offers a slightly different example of
innovation. Its application of IIoT
technologies illustrates the opportunity for
manufacturers to add services to their
portfolio of offerings with IIoT data. One
element of John Deere’s precision
agriculture strategy involves connectivity in
If we fast-forward about 20 years, the
current challenge is arguably about handling
time-series data for the purposes of pattern
recognition and predictive applications.
Much of this expertise exists outside of large
industrial firms so these organizations will
need to find ways to collaborate via
6 Blockchain and the Mobile Industry – http://www.more-with-mobile.com/2018/03/blockchain-and-mobile-industry.html
7 Open Innovation: Goldcorp Challenge - https://www.ideaconnection.com/open-innovation-success/Open-Innovation-
Goldcorp-Challenge-00031.html
IIC Journal of Innovation
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