The data goldmine – Rachel Cooper
The world’s largest taxi company owns no vehicles (Uber), the world’s most popular media owner creates no content (Facebook), the world’s most valuable retailer has no inventory (AliBaba). How we interact with the world and each other is changing and developing everyday.
How we interact with “things” is evolving. Information technology is revolutionising business. Standalone products from our vehicles to our refrigerators are now connected to the Internet and have smart technology built into them. The Internet of Things goes far beyond smartphone-enabled refrigerators, though. In 2014, IDC reported about 9.1bn IoT units were installed by the end of 2013, and estimated some astounding numbers for 2020 – no less than a projected 28.1bn connected units and a market revenue of about £4.7tn.
Not only that, but more than 8m building energy management systems will be integrated with some form of Internet of Things platform, application or service by 2020, according to an ABI Research report. This explosion in the Internet of everything creates huge amounts of data; whether it be tracking where things are, or how they are performing or counting number of occupants in a building.
This can be a huge benefit in how we manage and operate buildings. Building energy management systems have long connected many devices. The best-managed buildings reflect usage and rhythm so that lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning adjust to occupancy levels, external temperatures and lux levels.
A BEMS is a mass of data, and much of that data is currently wasted. Connected services are finally starting to utilise this untapped gold mine and are able to analyse data to identify issues and opportunities. This is when the human element entes the equation. Engineers that understand the building and the customers’ needs can identify, quantify, prioritise and recommend improvements. Where possible, remote fixes can be made to the software or the system itself.
However, human interaction is still needed to make physical adjustments and troubleshoot.
To read the full article see the latest October edition of EiBI.
