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Thomas John , Practice Leader – IoT , UST
What are some of the challenges the IoT solutions industry is facing ?
In my view , the main challenges the IoT industry is facing today are :
In the retail industry , smart watches can help increase productivity by reducing the time and effort needed for processing payments .
Wearables can enhance the in-store shopping experience , streamline instore communication and increase customer engagement – for example through retailers sending real time offers to customers in store .
AIoT holds vast untapped potential , where is it heading next ?
IoT is empowered by three key technologies – AI , 5G and Big Data . The major segments where we will see significant advancements in AIoT specifically are agriculture , robotics , smart industry , autonomous vehicles , Smart Cities , home automation , retail and healthcare .
These advancements will be powered by the next generation of AIoT technologies , namely :
• Edge Computing , where data is analyzed by the end device itself rather than on remote systems .
• Voice AI , which we have already seen car manufacturers develop for in-car AI-based voice assistants .
• Vision AI , which can – for example – enable security cameras to alert on possible threats in real time
• Security : IoT devices significantly expand the attack surface , meaning hackers can more easily penetrate security vulnerabilities .
• Limited bandwidth : Bandwidth is an important factor that allows data to flow seamlessly from IoT devices to backend systems . It must be strong enough to support the trillions of data flowing from these devices ; this has been improved recently by the arrival of narrow band IoT networks .
• Customer experience : When customer expectations and product reality don ’ t match , this can result in system failures , orphaned technologies and lost productivity .
What kind of IoT projects UST has been leading ?
UST has been developing products and prototypes as well as implementing projects for its customers in the IoT space , where we are particularly focused on retail , agriculture , automotive and manufacturing sectors . Voice AI and Vision AI are two areas that are gaining notable traction across these domains .
We have also been leveraging Digital Twins to enable our clients to sell a service alongside a product . Digital Twin systems provide constant data from equipment during its lifecycle , meaning companies can predict issues in the product ahead of a customer complaint . They can also engage the right engineer and charge customers more effectively , rather than on a fixed rate .
Lastly , UST is helping its retail customers with Electronic Shelf Labels ( ESL ), enabling them to incorporate automated solutions to reduce manual labor and operate efficiently . UST ’ s second edition ESL offering will have an energy harvesting solution to extend ESL battery lifetime or even make it energy autonomous , while allowing for new features that enable retailers to provide better customer service . p
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