原创 Presenting the Internet of Heavier Things

There are times when I feel as though I'm walking around with blinkers on, because I discover there are all sorts of things going on around me of which I'm blissfully unaware (if the saying "ignorance is bliss" is true, that would go somewhat to explain why I'm such a jolly happy chappy).

As an example, I just discovered that there's an organization called Energy Huntsville here in town. My understanding is that this initiative was launched by our mayor, Tommy Battle, around three and a half years ago. Since its inauguration, Energy Huntsville has grown from being a local industry organization to a regional organization, and is now moving to having a "national footprint."

The goal of Energy Huntsville is to establish this community as the go-to technology center for solutions to energy programs and projects. They have a meeting on the third Tuesday of each month, and I was fortunate enough to be invited to this month's assembly.

This is a fantastic organization for anyone from an individual contractor to a major player if you want to be involved in the spectrum of energy sectors, including renewables, fossil fuels, power generation, energy storage, transportation, building energy efficiency, and energy management. In the meeting I attended, for example, the attendees were informed of a new $990 million business opportunity. It seems that over 60 local companies have been identified as being eligible to act as prime contractors and sub-contractors. I also discovered that members have access to a spreadsheet containing thousands of energy-related opportunities nationwide.

There's a keynote speaker at each meeting. This month's presenter was Stephen Bates, who is Director, Advanced Analytics at OSIsoft. As an aside, I met up with Stephen for breakfast before his talk, and was delighted to discover that he is a fellow beer quaffer, horologist, and Saddleback Leather junkie, but we digress...

Stephen's talk was titled "IoT Primer," so I'm afraid I went into this thinking "Ho Hum, I'm pretty sure I know all this stuff." Boy, was I wrong. The thing is that my expertise is more in the nitty-gritty implementation details. By comparison, although Stephen did introduce some key concepts, his talk also spanned current and future trends and business opportunities.

Quite apart from anything else, Stephen proved to be a very engaging speaker with lots of interest and fun in his slides. For example, after explaining how important it is to gather data, he pointed out that having reams of data is meaningless if you can't understand it.

(Source: OSIsoft)

 

Stephen also introduced me to a number of concepts I'd never heard of in these terms, such as The Industrial Awakening: The Internet of Heavier Things. The idea here is that there's around $6.8 trillion of existing "dumb" fixed infrastructure and machinery in the USA alone.

(Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)

 

This equipment needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, either by being replaced or by being retrofitted with a wide range of capabilities and functionalities, including communications, networking, security, and... the list goes on. According to a report generated by the World Economic Forum, this "Industrial Awakening" will generate $14.2 trillion of global output by 2030.

I tell you, my head is still reeling by everything I heard at this meeting, I can't wait to hear what the Energy Huntsville presenters have to say in the 2016 get-togethers.