Simplify to create value in the IoT

I recently re-read a post on Medium titled “Why the Internet of things is going nowhere.”  When I first read this I expected to read another techno-skeptic piece on why connecting toasters and refrigerators wasn’t going to change the world.  But the post, written by Pat Burns of Haystack Technologies, is an excellent piece on how and why the Internet of Things needs new approaches to gathering data from “things that move.”  I like the article because it relates the technology challenges of the IoT, connecting and monitoring “things” in an effective and cost effective manner, to the value propositions for connecting those things.  However, when I finished reading the post I felt like I often do when reading about IoT applications – “Wow, this is complicated.” 

Complexity is a hallmark of technology discussions and it often inhibits adoption.  I have often been a guilty party.  I remember the first time I encountered “things that move” or what I call Things-without-Wheels (TWoW).  It was the mid-1990’s and I was at Honeywell.  The project objective was to present refinery control room information to operators in the field as a commercial spinoff application of the full color, high resolution head-mounted displays we were developing for DARPA.  I was explaining the idea to a refinery manager.  I could see he was skeptical of our ability to put control room screens in front of a field operator.  Google Glass was still 15 years away.  “But”, he said, “if you could tell me where our pipe flanges are that would be great!  We lose so much time trying find those *&#! things during repairs and change overs.”  Wow. Talk about simplifying things.  Here I’m worried about HD screen presentations of cracker status and set points and my customer just wants to know where some pieces of metal are in the plant.

So what do we really need to know from TWoW to create value for operations and logistics leaders.  I propose that most TWoW applications need only three pieces of data.

1. Who am I – What is this thing’s unique identifier that in turn defines it.
2. Where am I – Where does this thing live at this point in time?
3. How do I feel – What is the state of the thing? Is it in good shape or failing? 

Things-without-Wheels don’t have much to say.  

The implication of this realization can be profound.  All we need to answer these questions is a simple radio, a few solid state sensors, and a battery – a small battery.  The entire data packet of a TWoW report-in can be less than 50 bytes.  And since they don’t have wheels they either don’t move very often, i.e. don’t require frequent updates, or they are moved by something with wheels that already has its own connectivity and can report for them.  This is why Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networking solutions like LoRa are so attractive for the IoT and particularly for TWoW.  TWoW’s don’t have much to say and they don’t need to speak very often.  Simple.  LPWAN’s convert this simplicity, this low bandwidth requirement, to both low power and high link budget making tracking TWoW technically feasible and economically viable.

But the great thing here is what I learned from the refinery manager – simple data can have great value.  Such is the case for TWoW applications like  Food safety, retail inventory management, and manufacturing logistics where the three simple pieces of information above can dramatically improve business outcomes.

Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Words to live by to create value from Things-without-Wheels in the IoT.