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Public utilities are in a sorry state in many U.S. cities, no more so than in the water and wastewater sectors. Due to restricted spending and the “invisible” nature of the problems related to the water industry, investment has been deferred for years and the infrastructure has been bereft of the care and attention it so desperately needs. One recent study revealed water loss as high as 46% between the water source and its destination – an alarming figure by any measure. If towns and cities in the United States are leaking almost as much water as they are supplying, what is is to be done to secure a more sustainable future for this precious resource? The savior of the water and wastewater industries? The light at then end of the tunnel is the  real-time data and analytics  provided by the Industrial Internet of Things (the IIoT). With a straightforward installation of sensors in key locations and connection of these sensors to the Cloud, real-time data can be analyzed to identify the infrastructure’s main leak points. Once identified, the municpiality’s limited resources can be focused to address the issue: budgets can be alloted, upgrades can be scheduled and maintenance teams deployed. More than preventing leaking wastewater But introducing the  IIoT into water and wastewater infrastructure   goes far beyond this “plugging the holes” remedial work. Additionally, sensors can gather data on water quality, flow rates and equipment performance. If problems arise, the near real-time data can be acted upon more swiftly, allowing engineering teams to respond faster to remedy leakage, loss of pressure or to mitigate the risk of catastrophic failure. How IIoT deployment becomes the industry’s crystal ball As well as a faster reactive model, the IIoT offers the additional and much greater benefit of predictive insights. Component parts all have a pre-determined working life and by monitoring the data on their working hours, spares inventory procurement and part replacement work can be scheduled in a far more efficient and cost effective manner. Read:  The completely overlooked but drastic cost savings municipal water departments can achieve with this simple IIoT application Moreover, the predictive advantage of IIoT pretty much guarantees indefinite continuation of service. Additionally, over time the data can be used for longer term improvements like more accurate usage forecasting or for system expansion planning. Easy of use by monitoring using existing devices Remote monitoring of the water/wastewater system using IIoT is simple because it requires no custom hardware or dedicated devices. Public works departments can monitored their system from every day devices such as tablets and smartphones. The IIoT is also flexible enough to provide different users with different levels of access to cater for the specific and varied needs of everyone from C-level executives to maintenance teams. The IIoT road ahead for water/wastewater departments Although many public works professionals are aware of the benefits of deploying the IIoT, there is some way to go before awareness of the enormous advantage of IIoT reaches the mainstream and the ears of the voting public. Full adoption requires bold decisions from city and municipal leaders to make IIoT a priority on their planning roadmap, commit to an overhaul of current infrastructure and to make the right investments to ensure an intelligent and robust water/wastewater system is in place for the future. Taking your first steps towards IIoT deployment? Check out the  Nimbus IoT Cloud Gateway  for a simple way to begin connecting your equipment to the Cloud.

As the Industrial Internet of Things marches forever closer, companies are looking at tangible ways to their improve their workflow, productivity and efficiency. However, unsurprisingly, businesses are not adopting radical internal re-engineering as a reaction to the IIoT – it’s simply too disruptive and expensive to throw out the old and embrace the new. Companies actively engaged in the Industry 4.0 vision are taking a far more conservative and gradual approach. While commentators evangelise the Brave New World that the IIoT will deliver, those in industry are asking “what steps can we take while we wait for this new reality to become commonplace?” The Unconnected Billions of industrial machines lay strewn all over the globe in factories and production facilities. These behemoths, never designed to “talk” to each other, have proudly stood alone for decades. But the times they are a-changing. While our domestic world becomes more and more connected, the world of industry remains for the most part, fragmented and discrete. So what is to be done? A tidal wave of IoT data threatens to swamp business operations Connection of these standalone machines and equipment to the Cloud is the first priority and also it seems, the first problem. The blanket connection of billions of industrial machines to the Cloud would generate a massive volume and variety of data. It is estimated that around 20 Billion devices will be online by 2020. These devices will generate several exabytes of data every single day. How can one business successfully manage and analyze this unprecedented amount of data with its existing resources? Read:  The completely overlooked but drastic cost savings municipal water departments can achieve with this simple IIoT application Of course, moving this data from these previous standalone machines to the Cloud will also require vast amounts of bandwidth. In this case, a way of regulating the amount of data would make this more manageable for the business in question. Additionally, evaluating which data is useful and which can be discarded would also help with operational practicalities. Survival of the fittest defined by the quickest The second problem is the agility of a business to respond this data. In any market, responsiveness is a key component to success. Faster response time can improve output, boost service levels, increase safety and reduce maintenance requirements, and urgent action can be taken for mission-critical events that need immediate attention to prevent costly downtime or catastrophic failure. The traditional Cloud model would have this data sent to the Cloud and processing would occur minutes, perhaps hours later. This is far too late. Enter a solution from the Cloud Edge. But Clouds don’t have edges Forget soft, fluffy clouds, the Industrial Internet of Things Cloud has a very definite edge and one where much activity is occurring. The term Cloud Edge merely indicates a near proximity to the Cloud rather than being within it. The IoT Cloud Edge is also referred to as “the fog” with the processing of data at the edge of the Cloud often described as  Fog Computing, Edge Computing or Edge Processing . A middle man between machine and IoT Cloud By placing an intermediary device between the industrial machine and the Cloud, one immediately solves the two problems outlined above. The device has the capability perform calculations on the data it receives, and it is this ability to “do Math” that frees a business from data avalanche. Functions can be written into the device so only vital and meaningful data is filtered to its final destination in the Cloud, thus solving our first problem. Additionally the device can be programmed to respond to results of data immediately it falls outside normal parameters. Alarms can be triggered, pumps turned off, email alerts sent to tech staff and any other corrective action required. By siting the device close to the industrial machine, all this is enacted with minimal latency. A feature vital for almost any industrial business. Read:  SCADA systems vs IIoT Solutions – a comparison of future scaling Beyond the event itself lies the ability to access and study the data in the lead up to the event, offering opportunities to fault detection, improve maintenance and service cycles, and other efficiencies of a reactive workflow. On an even longer timeline, there is also scope for identifying patterns within bigger data sets. Another important benefit of locating the device near the machine is of  security . Analyzing data close to where it is collected means sensitive data is kept inside the network. IT teams can monitor this as they would any other part of their IT environment and in line with existing company cyber-security policies. First steps to connected ecosystem inside industrial businesses All this makes Cloud Edge Processing a viable bridging step for almost all industrial companies. It is straightforward to implement, it is affordable and can be managed by an existing workforce. Additionally, it will provide good data and is scalable in the future. In Summary Processing data at the Cloud Edge (i.e. before it is transmitted) holds the most promise for industrial companies as they transition to becoming fully IIoT equipped. IoT Gateways  that support Cloud Edge Processing provide transitioning businesses with the ability to stem the flow of data to a manageable and useable amount. In turn bandwidth costs would be reduced Cloud Edge Processing has the following advantages: Allows response to data at the Cloud edge (i.e. before it is transmitted to the Cloud) Provides faster (often real time) response to this data Can move specific data to other locations or systems Sends only meaningful data to the Cloud Reduces security issues Why Cloud Edge Processing is the future of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Aug 31, 2012 is a day that one Arizona company will never forget. Events of that day are now clear but for many weeks following the incident, staff and investigators alike drew a blank. A Friday like any other… It was the Friday before Labor Day and business as usual for the 36 workers present. The morning passed uneventfully and during lunch their thoughts naturally turned to the long weekend ahead of them. “We talked about our plans for the weekend”, remembers Amber Brennan-Eisner, office manager at the time. “The weather was great and everyone was looking forward to it.” Some were heading off to the White Mountains for camping or fishing trips, others were staying closer to home to host family picnics or barbecues. All were making the most of the last long weekend before school started. After a scorching summer (July had been the hottest month in U.S. history), the company’s air- conditioning had been worked hard. Earlier in the week the strain had caused several units to fail. That Friday, HVAC engineers were working frantically to remedy the stifling temperatures in some parts of the building. Unfortunately, due to the long weekend, the data breach wasn’t discovered until late on the following Tuesday A devastating security breach In the last hours before this business closed to enjoy all that the 3 day weekend would offer, it suffered one of the most devastating and embarrassing events in the company’s 42 year history. It fell victim to a massive breach of security: the company was hacked and the credit card details of all their recent customers were stolen. Unfortunately due to the long weekend, the data breach wasn’t discovered until late on the following Tuesday. Initial suspicions were of high tech and complex cyber attack from off-shore – perhaps China or Eastern Europe – but the reality turned out to be something far more grass roots. An overseas cyber attack? Like many similar businesses in the area, the company had a Genset (generator) in the basement of their building. To comply with regulations, the emissions from this generator had to be monitored and logged to a data logger computer a short distance away. When the Genset was installed it was just out of range of the company’s wi-fi network router, so a high gain router with a 12db aerial was used to bridge the distance. The installation engineer wired the Ethernet ports: one Modbus TCP at the Genset and the other in the control room which was connected the company network. At the time of installation the IT team ensured the solution complied with the tight security on the company’s wi-fi network, so when the breach happened many were left scratching their heads. They investigated whether network security could have breached by an individual from that basement location Investigators pored over hours of security camera footage, server logs and other technical data attempting to pinpoint the breach. A simple oversight causes havoc Eventually, CCTV footage revealed an individual dressed in a similar fashion to the HVAC engineers making a detour towards the basement. His destination could not be confirmed as unfortunately no security cameras existed in the basement. They then investigated whether network security could have breached by an individual from that basement location. IT pointed out that this made no sense as the company’s network data was encrypted and a high level of security was maintained on the network at all times. However, it turned out that down in the basement this individual had simply plugged a laptop into the extra Ethernet port on the router by the Genset. Of course, data is encrypted while traveling through the air but is decrypted in the router itself and its Ethernet ports were open and transparent. This hacker had hit the jackpot. He was straight in to the company-wide network and accessed the secure customer database. Nowadays the company is connected to the Cloud and has employed robust IoT technology to plug this vulnerability. Security and Industrial IoT Gateways They use the  Zen IoT gateway  which has its own wi-fi port and connects to the Cloud with an extra layer of security: Transport Layer Security (TLS) Additionally it has an ethernet port which uses only Modbus TCP, so the port cannot be hijacked for any other communication uses. The company chose the Zen IoT for its size and simplicity. It offers 3 options to connect their previously discrete hardware to the Cloud, only requires the skills of a local electrician for installation and measures just 4” x 1.4” x 4.7”. As a  Cloud Edge Processing device  the Zen performs calculations on the collated data prior to transmitting to the Cloud. It also features a flexible logic engine which can programmed with a powerful scripting language for custom applications. With the Zen IoT and its built-in security measures in place, if a cyber attack did occur today, the only thing it might achieve would be to corrupt the generator data to the Cloud by simulating a Genset controller. This would be unlikely (as the hacker would have nothing to gain) and the impact would be small compared to the magnitude of a credit data theft. Privacy and security surrounding the IoT is of primary concern to all planning the connection of their legacy equipment and a transition to the Cloud. The Zen IoT addresses these concerns and simplifies the connection process.

How clever implementation of  Industrial Internet of Things (IioT) devices  like the Zen IoT Gateway generated thousands of dollars and helped an industrial company to upscale. EmissionGuard Inc provides a service to companies enabling them to comply with regulatory requirements for emmissions from Genset generators. Their service comprises of: Dispatching an engineer to install monitoring and logging hardware on-site installing software on-site providing ongoing support post-installation Before the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) 2 years ago EmissionGuard had over 100,000 customers. This meant during their growth period to achieve this number of customers, they regularly engaged a highly skilled (high level of knowledge) network of systems integrators and partners to travel the country to install 100,000 devices that were configured with 100,000 pieces of software (on various PCs with a myriad of different operating systems). After installation the support helpline often dealt with unrelated customer issues like “I replaced my printer with a different brand and now it doesn’t work with your system” and “Windows 12 has heightened security and now won’t connect to your unit.” A significant amount of support time was eaten up on these calls. Business was going well but as EmissionGuard grew they needed more support engineers and required them to do more travelling to meet customer demand. Scalability was an issue. A significant amount of support time was eaten up on these calls. Scalability was an issue. How IIoT devices helped this business upscale This year, thanks to it’s use of IoT enabled devices, things look very different for EmissionGuard. Now when a customer places an order – no engineer is dispatched, just the product as the installation can be conducted by a regular household electrician. The product is the  IoT enabled G3 IoT Edge Controller . After installation, the customer plugs the Modbus port into the GenSet, connects the additional sensors, applies power to the unit and walks away. The unit automatically connects to the internet using a 4G modem. One which Verizon have guaranteed will work on their network for a minimum of 15 years. The unit begins dumping data to a single server, the same server that all the other units are now connected to. With this added load EmissionGuard occasionally have to update their server but this also has its benefits. In their last update they added a new feature which predicts catastrophic failure in the GenSet units. They offered this to their customers and the majority were happy to pay an additional charge for this peace of mind. Scalable numbers after IoT implementation EmissionGuard pay: $4.00 per month to Verizon $0.50 per month to Xively to run and maintain the Cloud application EmissionGuard charge their customers $11.00 per month for their standard service $15.00 per month if customers opt for the additional catastrophic failure protection How application of Industrial IoT kept profits in the business EmissionGuard now have only 3 support engineers and no longer have to rely on their network of expensive systems integrators for installations. This staffing reduction alone has dramatically reduced their operating costs which has in turn improved profits. Read:  The completely overlooked but drastic cost savings municipal water departments can achieve with this simple IIoT application EmissionGuard is looking forward to their next 100,000 installations and have found a new niche: replacing their competitors non-connected units. How does the future of business look with the IoT? By moving data to the Cloud your business can hand off the cost and responsibility of maintaining servers, security and backups to a Cloud service provider, freeing you to get on with the business of business. Such has been the reduction in cost for these Cloud services that even heavy duty datalogging applications look set to move to dedicated servers on site to the Cloud. As the IoT grows: Cloud service costs will fall further Your company’s issues associated with maintaining software and PC hardware will be greatly reduced Your company will require less time and staff resource for new installations/expansions Tech issues will be simpler to fix and less daunting