The Next Generation Internet of Things Initiative held the latest in a series of workshops, revealing a general consensus that the current shift from Cloud to Edge offers significant opportunities for Europe.
Computing at the Edge has grown steadily over the past decade, driven by the need to support computing and analytics closer to things in the physical world to reduce latency and tackle data deluge due to billions of connected devices and systems. Edge computing lies between physical things in the real world as monitored and controlled by IoT devices (sensors and actuators), via layers of Edge nodes connected to data centres. In addition, the emergence of AI as major force in IoT efforts runs simultaneously with several important IoT-related trends like Cloud-based IoT services and the dramatic increase of AI capabilities in data centres.
Massive IoT data generation is pushing network capacity to its limits across industries; analysing data close to where the data is generated in the physical world reduces network load, saves energy and
costs as well as reducing the time lag (latency) between generating data and acting on it. Time is critical to optimise industrial processes, autonomous driving, mobile health, and integration of volatile energy sources into grid operations. Localisation of data and computation can improve privacy, security, reliability, resilience, and safety, which, taken together, comprise trustworthiness.
Recent workshops contributed to the vision on how to make the most out of European investments in research, innovation and deployment related to IoT and Edge computing in the coming years. A workshop “IoT and Edge Computing: Instruments, Priorities and Partnerships” held on 25 February Hosted by NGIoT with EU-IoT, ARTEMIS-IA, AIOTI, Eclipse Foundation and the European Commission, DG Connect took stock of key positions that have been voiced and consolidated over the last six months.
Programme
9:30 – 9:40 Welcome
- Martin Brynskov
NGIoT coordinator, Prof. Aarhus University, DITCOM - Rolf Riemenschneider (Presentation available here PDF)
Head of Sector IoT at European Commission
9:45 – 10:45 Part I: Strategic Agendas and Positions
NGIoT (Presentation available here PDF)
- Market Analysis and Business Modelling
Francisco Molina
Research Analyst, Archimède Solutions - Trends and gaps
Adriënne Heijnen
Senior scientific advisor & researcher, Aarhus University - Roadmap
Federico Michele Facca
CTO, Martel Innovate
ARTEMIS-IA / ECSEL
- Paolo Azzoni (Presentation available here PDF)
Research Program Manager, Eurotech
HiPEAC
- Marc Duranton (Presentation available here PDF)
International Expert and European Project Coordinator, CEA
Open source
- Gaël Blondelle, (Presentation available here PDF)
Vice President, Ecosystem Development, Eclipse Foundation
EU-IoT
- John Soldatos (Presentation available here PDF)
Senior Innovation Delivery Specialist, INTRASOFT
AIOTI
- Ovidiu Vermesan (Presentation available here PDF)
Chief scientist, SINTEF Digital
Visions and Statements
The second part of the webinar consisted of short pitches from the audience sharing their Vision Statements, access the statements here.
The workshop consolidated input from previous workshops, “IoT and Edge Computing: The Far Edge” of 7-8 December and “IoT and Edge Computing: Future directions for Europe” of 11 September which brought together hundreds of key stakeholders from industry, academia, SMEs, from Europe and beyond. Participants were encouraged to give their views on the NGIoT Strategic Roadmap, which sets the future course for IoT in Europe.
Upcoming webinars will dive deeper into the verticals and address IoT and Edge in specific sectors. Events are scheduled for 30 March “Smart Cities and Communities, Agri-food and Rural Smart Communities”, 27 April “Manufacturing and Automotive/Mobility” and 18 May “Energy and Health”.
Recording
You can review the entire workshop here
Access Passcode: 9Dig^1Y.