Smart manufacturing sector could benefit from collaboration.

Ericsson and Telenor Sweden have signed an agreement making Telenor the first mobile network operator worldwide to join the Ericsson Industry Connect partner program and become a reseller of Ericsson Industry Connect.

Industries and enterprises are transforming as the digitalization of their processes, products and services accelerate. Highly reliable mobile broadband with the capabilities of 4G and 5G is becoming increasingly more important for industries to improve efficiency and flexibility in their operations, drive innovation and to stay competitive.

With this new agreement, Telenor Sweden’s industrial customers will now be able to explore and utilize the full potential of IT-centric LTE networks customized for smart manufacturing applications. This agreement is a significant step, paving the way for future 5G applications across the sector.

Ericsson’s partner program provides a vehicle for communications service providers to resell connectivity technologies to their customers. It also enables independent software vendors, system integrators and tech device partners to offer software, services, and devices as part of the Industry 4.0 ecosystem. 

Kaaren Hilsen, CEO, Telenor Sweden, said: “We are proud to be the first operator joining Ericsson´s Industry Connect partner program and are ready to play a pivotal role in this exciting sector. The manufacturing industry is one of the first to truly reap the benefits of 5G, and this partnership extends our portfolio with a solution that allows Telenor Sweden to capture new opportunities in industrial verticals and improve business outcomes for our customers.”

Åsa Tamsons, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Technologies & New Businesses, Ericsson, said: “Industry 4.0 needs secure, reliable, wireless connectivity. By leveraging our 4G and 5G capabilities and adopting Ericsson Industry Connect, Telenor Sweden can now offer its industrial customers a unique cellular connectivity solution that increases efficiency and productivity for the smart factories of the future.”

Study shows Machine Learning, Cloud and Process Automation key part of software.

The application software sector is undergoing profound and rapid change, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report ‘Tech, Media, & Telecom Trends 2020 – Thematic Research’ reveals how the value was historically all in the application itself but is now driven by the integration of software. Listed below are the top application software technology trends, identified in the study:

Cloud Computing

The cloud is an important model for IT resource delivery. The growth of application programming interfaces (APIs) has made sharing data easier and encouraged the development of new applications. A new wave of platform services will use artificial intelligence (AI) to increase operational efficiency and automate workflow controls. Advanced platforms will enable intelligent apps and improve user experience. 

Process automation:

Process automation refers to robotic process automation (RPA), in which new developer technologies will help shore up various phases within the application lifecycle. RPA uses AI, low-code platforms, and software robotics to automate manual processes. Industrial IT providers will continue to invest in RPA innovation.

Machine learning:

Machine learning is a high priority for businesses everywhere. There are relatively few AI specialists, and developing a model is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. As the market matures, enterprises will incorporate data from a variety of sources into their machine learning models.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) libraries:

To overcome the skills gap, vendors are designing products specifically for people without data science skills. Vendors are offering translation services, speech-to-text, natural language generation, image recognition, and video analysis to non-AI specialists. 

Data will become a key differentiator, and an enterprise’s ability to manage and glean insights from it.

Conversational platforms:

Conversational platforms employ a variety of technologies to enable human-like interactions with computer systems. Virtual personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant can schedule appointments, provide weather updates, and play music based on voice commands. In 2020, application platform providers will develop user interface (UI) tools to support advanced conversational platforms.

Open source AI:

AI relies heavily upon open source (OS) technologies. Google's machine learning framework, TensorFlow, is a prime example of this trend. Released via the Apache OS license in 2015, TensorFlow is currently available to developers across most public cloud platforms. Investment in OS AI technologies will proceed apace, particularly among vendors selling both open and proprietary technologies.

Augmented reality (AR):

AR allows the user to see the real world overlaid with a layer of digital content. Having come to worldwide attention in 2016 with Pokémon Go, the next two years will be pivotal for AR. Its chances of crossing over to the mass consumer and corporate markets will be determined by the richness and variety of AR content, the development of smartphone applications, and the arrival of all-in-one glasses. 

IFS’s business applications for FSM, ERP and EAM can now connect large and fast-changing data pools using Boomi’s integration capabilities, global enterprise applications company says.

Ericsson has launched two new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered offerings in its Network Services portfolio, enabling communications service providers to secure always-on networks and deliver optimal user experiences.

The two new portfolio additions — Network Intelligence and Omni Network Channel – are part of  Ericsson’s Network Services offering. They employ AI, automation and predictive analytics to address the complex reality faced by communications service providers: exponential data growth and the continuous introduction of new technologies such as 5G, digital transformation, and scattered information sources and insights.

Network Intelligence is an AI-driven preemptive support service that allows issues to be identified and resolved before they impact network performance. The service prevents critical outages and delivers the network stability needed for service continuity and optimal end-to-end performance.  Ericsson research shows that Network Intelligence reduces critical incidents by up to 35 percent by carrying out selective data collection, and automatically resolves issues within an average of five minutes from data collection.

Omni Network Channel is a unified digital workspace for interaction between the communications service provider and Ericsson, providing easy navigation, self-help and smooth collaboration. The workspace enhances network performance and consumer satisfaction through faster resolution of both the communications service provider and Ericsson operations’ issues. It also facilitates the adoption of new technologies such as 5G and supports communications service providers with the competence development of their personnel.

Roger O’ Hargan, Head of Service Area Networks, Ericsson, says: “Our core value is ‘Technology enhanced by people’ where people, framework and technology are our main assets. These new offerings are all about putting the service provider in the center by enabling self-help as well as smooth collaboration, co-creation, and easy access to data – all of which will help secure an always-on network experience.”

Justin van der Lande, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, says: “There is a demand among service providers for a more transparent interaction with their vendors when dealing with network issues. Ericsson’s intelligent workplace technology, boosted by the expertise of their people, addresses this well. This approach leverages the scale of Ericsson’s operations, its well-established frameworks and its wealth of industry knowledge to bring significant benefits to the service provider. Ericsson’s AI-powered Network Services are now readily accessible with shared data insights that put the customer experience front and center.”

Network Intelligence is built for product-near use as a natural extension of the Network Services portfolio. It is complementary to the Ericsson Operations Engine, Ericsson’s offering for managed operations, design and optimization launched in January 2019.

Companies create innovative solutions to complex problems for enterprise users.

Parrot, the drone group, announced it is partnering with RIIS, a leading provider of mobile app, web development and IT consulting services, to develop custom applications of artificial intelligence for Parrot’s popular ANAFI drone platform. Parrot and RIIS are focused on exploring the use of artificial Intelligence and computer vision technology, combined with drone data capture, to solve countless industry challenges using an efficient and cost-effective approach. 

To help demonstrate the promise of this technology and allow developers to start creating innovative apps, Parrot and RIIS have released a technical whitepaper, which provides step-by-step instruction to add AI and computer vision to the ANAFI Drone using Parrot’s open source Ground SDK.

"We are excited to explore the immense capabilities AI and drones will deliver to our clients through our ongoing partnership with RIIS,” said Jerome Bouvard, Parrot Director of Strategic Partnership. “At Parrot, we are always looking for innovative solutions to solve for our enterprise partner’s every-day pain points.”

Parrot and RIIS are actively exploring use cases which could include municipal use of drones for assessing parking lots, public parks, and streetlights; crowd monitoring; warehouse inventory counting; automated inspection of cell phone towers and solar panels; property surveillance for real estate professionals and developers, and much more. This technology is expected to significantly enhance the often-tedious processes required to complete professional projects across a variety of industries and sectors.

“Our recent collaboration with Parrot perfectly illustrates the immense potential of developing apps for Parrot’s ANAFI drone platform,” said RIIS CEO and Founder Godfrey Nolan. “Leveraging the power of AI and machine learning apps with Parrot drones promises to provide previously impossible solutions to costly and time-consuming challenges.

Through its SDK Partner program, Parrot is working to create a global ecosystem of drone apps to serve the unique and ever-evolving needs of its enterprise and professional users. Through this program, Parrot is working with partners, like RIIS, to create and bring to market new applications, software and hardware that seamlessly integrates with Parrot ANAFI and ANAFI Thermal drones.

Revenue expected to reach $25.1 bn in 2020, growing 4.8% year-on-year.
The rising number of data breaches and cyberattacks globally, as well as the increasing awareness of the state-sponsored cyberattacks, have led to an increased demand for cybersecurity software solutions.

According to data gathered by PreciseSecurity.com, the overall cybersecurity software revenue is expected to reach $25.1 bn in revenue this year, growing 4.8% year-on-year. The rising trend is set to continue in the following years, with the entire market reaching $27 bn worth in the next three years.

Cybersecurity as Global Concern

Cybersecurity has become one of the biggest concerns for both citizens and businesses all around the world. The growing demand for eCommerce platforms, technology developments including AI and IoT, and the rising number of connected devices have led to the massive adoption of cybersecurity solutions.

The cybersecurity software market refers to all software solutions aiming to protect individual computing devices, networks, or any other computing-enabled device. It includes antivirus software, management of access, data protection and security against intrusions, and any other system-level security risks, both in local installation and cloud service.

In 2012, the global cybersecurity software market reached $17.5 bn worth. In the next seven years, the market revenue grew by nearly 40% and reached a $23.9 bn value in 2019. The statistics indicate that the entire market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% in the next three years.

The US is the Leading Cybersecurity Software Market

In global comparison, the United States is the leading cybersecurity software market in the world. The statistics indicate the entire US market is set to reach $10.1 bn value this year.

With $1.5 bn value or 6.5 times less than the US market, the United Kingdom ranked as the second-biggest market globally. The 2020 data show Germany is expected to reach $1.1 bn market value this year, followed by France and Canada as other leading markets.

Fitting even into the tightest vehicle cabins, the new ultra-compact rugged VERSO™ 10 computer is ideal for space-constrained applications in mining, agriculture and other demanding environments where high performance is required...

JLT Mobile Computers, a leading developer and manufacturer of reliable computers for demanding environments, announces the launch of an addition to its popular VERSO™ Series of high-performance vehicle-mount computers. The new VERSO 10 computer provides customers with the industry’s most compact, highest-performing rugged fixed-mount terminal and is perfect for installation even in the tightest spaces.

Featuring the smallest footprint in its class, the fixed-mount VERSO 10 is even slimmer than JLT’s existing cradle-mount VERSO+ 10. With all connectors integrated into its casing, the VERSO 10 is also significantly lighter and comes at a lower cost. Secure fixed-mount installation addresses safety concerns inherent in certain vehicle types and deployments.    

“Available space in a driver’s cabin is a challenge in many industrial vehicles,” explains Per Holmberg, CEO of JLT Mobile Computers. “That’s why we designed our new VERSO 10 computer to fit virtually anywhere. It is the smallest rugged vehicle terminal on the market, giving customers the highest performance regardless of space limitations.”

The ultra-compact VERSO 10 computer comes with a standard (400NIT) or high-bright (800NIT) virtually unbreakable 10-inch LED display with JLT PowerTouch™ technology and is designed to withstand the harshest environments. With an IP65 ingress protection rating it is impervious to dust and highly resistant to water, can be used in extremely cold and hot temperatures, offers a wide 9-36 VDC power input, and has an internal battery for graceful shutdown in case of an unexpected vehicle power outage.

The high-performance VERSO 10 comes with an advanced Intel© Kaby Lake Core™ i7‑7600U processor with Turbo Boost, or the optional Core i3-7100U processor. Both are optimized for Windows 10 LTSC and come with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support. The computer also features integrated dual-band WLAN 802.11ac with integrated PIFA antennas, Bluetooth, and optional GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou and 4G LTE mobile broadband to ensure reliable connectivity and positioning over large areas.

Customers with maximum performance requirements will benefit from up to 60% higher CPU performance with the Intel Core i7 option, making it possible to run advanced thick-client applications such as HD video streaming, positioning calculations and real-time video analysis or high-resolution graphical representations, as well as creating advanced new user interfaces for improving overall user productivity. Even with the Intel Core i3 option, customers with lesser performance requirements will see the same or better performance than was offered in older high-end VERSO models, but with lower power draw and lower cost as additional benefits.

JLT created the VERSO 10 for customers with high demands on computing power as well as the need for reliable, trouble-free operation in vehicles where space may be limited. Target customers are found within industry segments such as mining and drilling, forestry and agriculture, GIS, and defense.

Industry and academia combine for new servitization event.

Rolls-Royce, Goodyear and Alstom will share with share their experience of growing business through services at the inaugural World Servitization Conference in Birmingham in May.

The World Servitization Convention, organised by The Advanced Services Group, part of Aston Business School, will see industry experts join academics to demonstrate the way that servitization can be used to transform the future of manufacturing through keynote speeches, developmental workshops and live demonstrations.

Some of the keynote speakers attending the event include Andy Harrison, Engineering Associate Fellow for Life Cycle Engineering at Rolls-Royce, Marc Preedy, Managing Director of Truck Replacement Sales in Europe at Goodyear, Mike Hulme, Managing Director of Trains and Modernisation at Alstom and Antony Bourne, President of IFS Industries.

Professor Tim Baines, Director of The Advanced Services Group and regular Field Service News’ contributor said: “What will set the World Servitization Convention apart from other conferences is the exhibition – or as I like to think of it, ‘Servitization Live’ – with demonstrations from businesses at the forefront of the business model.

“We will bring servitization alive with exhibits and demonstrations of advanced services and the technologies that enable them.”

Keynote speaker Andy Harrison, from Rolls-Royce, said: “The World Servitization Convention provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to network and learn about the benefits of advanced services from those already offering them.Servitization is quite prolific in the business world, but relatively few people recognise what it is. This event will be a great way to address that and encourage more companies to adopt the model.”

The three day event, sponsored by IFS, Blueprint AMS, DLL, Servitly and Field Service News, will take place on 5, 6 and 7 May at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, UK.

As official media partner of the event, Field Service News are able to offer our manufacturing audience complimentary admission by quoting code WSC20-FSN during the registration process which you can find here.

UK Drone Delivery Group makes urgent ‘call to action’ for property owners and influencers to provide testing areas for drones - to prevent ‘bottleneck to growth’...

One of the UK’s leading drone experts today urged British property owners and business leaders to leverage the opportunity of their under-used land for drone testing, to help accelerate the rate of growth of the UK drone industry, in the face of what he described as ‘an emerging ‘bottleneck’ to growth’.

Robert Garbett founder of the UK Drone Delivery Group, which is the first industry initiative to provide guidance on the steps required to enable accelerated commercialisation of the UK Drone Industry, stated “There is a current unnecessary ‘bottleneck’ in the evolution of the drone industry and this primarily lies in the lack of controlled testing locations which can provide trial areas and safe environments to accelerate the development of drone technology, help to shape its standards, and ensure appropriate but non constricting regulations”.

He commented “The British Government has played a constructive role to date and the UK is a world leader in drone technology… but to stay ahead in this fast moving game, then business, local authorities, police, fire & rescue services and even members of the public, must work together in a partnership of participation and cooperation.

Examples of desirable drone technology testing locations include not only large airports and aerodromes that may already be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, but also forests, remote coastal areas and ports, through to residential areas and other dense urban environments.  Testing will need to include everything from simple potential drone tasks such as parcel delivery, to much more complex applications such as smart motorway monitoring, law enforcement rapid response and search and rescue.”

The economic benefits offered by drone technology are estimated to be massive, with significant growth expected to accelerate across surface, underwater, air and space, as well as emerging hybrid drone applications.   In November 2019, analysts at Barclays predicted that the commercial drone market could grow tenfold from $4bn in 2018 to $40bn in five years, resulting in efficiency cost savings of some $100bn… and these predictions relate to solely air drones. If you add on the fast-growing possibilities for surface, underwater or space drones then the potential growth is substantially greater.

“However,” says Robert Garbett “these predictions of the astonishing potential for growth, are dependent upon the business community and wider public recognising the important part they can play regarding potential testing locations and trial areas.

“The opportunity for the commercial drone market is vast, but with such a fast-growing emerging technology we have to ensure we act quickly, lest our ambitious international competitors overtake our lead.

“My ‘call to action’ is to say that I’d like to hear from those who feel they can contribute to this aspect of this exciting fast growth industry, which is expected to be of vital future importance to UK plc.”

Robert Garbett’s ‘call to action’ and expansion of Drone testing in the UK comes a few days before the House of Lords debates a Government bill on Monday 10 February to update the licensing regime for airspace use, together with greater police enforcement power to ensure safe and responsible use for drones.

Those interested in participating in the UK Drone Delivery Group’s initiative to provide testing areas for drones should contact: https://www.dronemajorgroup.com/drone-delivery-group