Industrial Internet

Build a Smarter Future on the IIoT

 - Overview

The industrial internet is a network of devices that are connected by communications technologies. These devices include smart sensors, actuators, and other devices, such as radio frequency identification tags. The devices are networked together to provide data collection, exchange, and analysis. 

The industrial internet is defined by GE as "the convergence of the global industrial system with the power of advanced computing, analytics, low-cost sensing and new levels of connectivity permitted by the internet". The industrial internet is used in industrial sectors and applications, including manufacturing and energy management. 

Industrial IoT is an ecosystem of devices, sensors, applications, and associated networking equipment that work together to collect, monitor, and analyze data from industrial operations. Analysis of such data helps increase visibility and enhances troubleshooting and maintenance capabilities.

- The Industrial Internet

The Industrial Internet is the integration and linking of big data, analytical tools and wireless networks with physical and industrial equipment, or otherwise applying meta-level networking functions, to distributed systems. 

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be used to connect business systems with automation and control.

The Industrial Internet incorporates ideas of intelligent machines, or specific pieces of equipment, with embedded technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

Examples are pieces of machinery or vehicles that are equipped with intelligent technologies, including machine to machine (M2M) technologies that allow manufacturing equipment or other types of equipment to send data back and forth, or "talk among themselves." 

The Industrial Internet also is applied to transportation projects, such as driverless (or autonomous) cars and intelligent railroad systems.

- The Industrial Internet of Things

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) is an extension and use of the internet of things (IoT) in industrial sectors. 

IIoT has a strong focus on machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, big data, and machine learning.

Here are some examples of IIoT: 

• Predictive maintenance: Sensors embedded in equipment monitor system performance and the condition of components. This information is combined with software to help operators anticipate and schedule service needs before equipment failures occur.
• insights: The systems can monitor, collect, exchange, analyze, and deliver valuable new insights like never before. These insights can then help drive smarter, faster business decision-making for industrial companies.

- Industrial Campus Networks

Industrial companies must continuously improve the flexibility, adaptability and efficiency of their business processes. In today's business world, digitized and automated workflows are an important basis for agile production processes and beat international competition. 

Connecting production sites wirelessly by extending a special mobile network, the so-called campus network, is the key to the digitization of business. It can provide predictive maintenance of machines or make necessary changes to the production process online, just to name a few.

Campus networks are versatile in industrial sites of all sizes. 5G technology offers many of the required features such as extremely high bandwidth, short latencies and improved availability. Campus networks are exclusive mobile networks for a defined local campus, a university or individual buildings, such as an office building. They are tailored to the individual needs of users and meet future requirements in the area of Industry 4.0.

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- The Goals of The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) brings instrumentation, connected sensors, and data analytics to industrial machines and processes very simply. 

The IIoT leverages future technologies such as machine-to-machine communication, edge computing, distributed ledger technology (DLT), robotics, and artificial intelligence to enable unimaginable levels of automation and actionable intelligence. 

By combining disruptive technologies with data, the IIoT is optimizing industrial equipment and processes to increase productivity, reliability and profitability. 

The goal of the IIoT is to create an environment where hyperconnected networks can be used to instantly monitor, collect information, analyze data, and make decisions in a very efficient manner.

IIoT solutions have been adopted by thousands of production plants around the world in a wide range of sectors including retail, healthcare, energy, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and automotive.

- The Industrial Internet Consortium

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) is a nonprofit, open-membership organization established with the goal of accelerating the development and availability of intelligent industrial automation systems for the common good. 

It was founded in 2014 by AT&T, Cisco, GE, Intel and IBM to further the development and global adoption of interconnected machines and intelligent analytics, and, especially, to enhance collaboration between people in different industries (Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Mining, Retail, Smart Cities, Transportation).

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