Rethinking the Internet of Things

Aug 1, 2018 Ken Hu

Every business in every industry could benefit from advances in digital connectivity, as the "Internet of Things" allows people to manage assets better and make more fully informed decisions. But to realize the potential of IoT, the world must first reimagine how networks are used.

SHENZHEN – At a telecommunications conference hosted by Huawei late last year, I told a group of senior executives looking for growth opportunities in a saturated market that one billion new mobile subscribers were just waiting for their services. Then, I showed them a photo of a cow.

People took pictures of my presentation with their smartphones. Some chuckled; maybe they thought I was joking. But I was dead serious.

Chinese dairy farmers are already connecting their herds to the Internet. Cows wear collars with wireless sensors that collect biometric data such as body temperature and heart rate. Insights from this information are then used to improve milk production, helping farmers earn an extra $420 per cow each year, and increase overall profits by 50% annually.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 8 Comments on this article

Elizabeth Pula Aug 7, 2018

Policy makers need to start addressing critical policies that affect communication systems hierarchies, and laws. In the US, the FCC needs to not just release wireless spectrum to the few who can plop down the millions required to be awarded an auction bid in November. In the US, communities, cities, counties and states need to establish laws that allow for revenue streams to local communities from new networking options. Presently with the drop of 3% of tax revenues, as noted by the US-CBO, new revenue streams need to be developed to STOP the monopolization of the communications systems, and the THEFT of revenue streams at the local community levels. Virtualization of business operations is allowing for THEFT of bottomline revenue streams that have supported local community taxation schemes to allow for growth on the local community levels. A few strategically positioned few cannot be allowed to continue to be the ones profiting from ignorance of the masses of world societies.

Amazingly enough, China, with a governmental system based in principles of Communism may very well be the leading force to offset the monopolization process that is occurring worldwide due to virtualization of business operations.
I am writing these passages, because of the fact that you are Chinese, and apparently have the awareness and decency to even touch on some of the reality that is affecting business operations and communications systems, and communities worldwide.

I am writing my comments well aware that I am ignoring any of the political, national issues. I am only addressing systems functional issues, tax revenue erosion, and future community infrastructure growth due to "virtualization" of "industrialization" of business operations, really globally.

Using the words of "Artificial intelligence" is just a scare tactic. There is no reason to fear "virtualization". It is just changing past business operations practices.
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Elizabeth Pula Aug 7, 2018

You are touching onto some of the real facts that counter and confirm that extensions of broadband definitely need to be addressed by worldwide legislation. In the US, the FCC needs to address the real bottomline issues of the backbone of next-generation networks. Presently, the FCC is presenting lies and supporting confusion to allow profiteering by just a few by deliberately focusing only on basically ignorant "end-user awareness" rather than the real backbone hardware issues of "media" and "networks". The FCC is promoting only the superficial awareness that the end-user, man on-the-street, is superficially acquainted by being a consumer and watcher, using "things". Not only will operating costs skyrocket, consumer costs and limited access will exponentially skyrocket. Essential information access can actually diminish for the citizens, unless there is a concerted effort to increase tax revenues from the local community levels, to maintain viable infrastructures, and revenue flows to support local communities. Present tax bases are being eroded as networking overtakes manufacturing.
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Elizabeth Pula Aug 7, 2018

Your analogy is great. Temperature variance, especially heat, stresses the animal and decreases milk production. Milk production in US is presently a critical factor of US trade imbalance. This issue plays up and down the economic and survival spectrum of people worldwide. Yet, we take a lot for granted, and assume way too much. That cow represents a lot!
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Elizabeth Pula Aug 7, 2018

"Every business in every industry could benefit from advances in digital connectivity, as the "Internet of Things" allows people to manage assets better and make more fully informed decisions. But to realize the potential of IoT, the world must first reimagine how networks are used."

Most important little summary.

I would like to focus a bit on the "managing assets" by people phrase that you mention. People are at extreme risk to manage their assets, specifically financial assets, due to lack of personal security while using any of the present internet platforms.

The issue of personal security is not being addressed at all really, because nobody is addressing the basic protocol standards of data and how it is and has been used to establish any of the present functioning businesses.

The ignorance level of integrated computer network systems of the majority of the worldwide population is presently supported by the total disregard of all internet businesses, especially representatives of MS, APPLE, FACEBOOK, etc.

In the US, the FCC and political functions are doing nothing to explain, nor educate the realities of the business structures of the internet operational platforms.

Only the EU is addressing some of the bottomline aspects of cyber-security and business internet operations issues. THE IOT is actually compounding problems, as will 5G implementation. I pray that the EU does not back down on standards that the public have fought to gain over this last generation.
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Jose araujo Aug 3, 2018

Who is going to service all the devices? Set up the networks, secure them, etc

Problem with tech, is that computers are not toasters. You can't ask a farmer to manage and operate a network of thousands if devices in his farm, a server with all the data, etc

IMHO, the issue with IoT isn't connectivity, networks/infrastructure, but how telco's can set up IoT aaS.
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Michael Public Aug 3, 2018

Advertorial. Of cause we are going to need faster networks.
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Prashant Kotak Aug 1, 2018

"Ken Hu is Rotating CEO at Huawei Technologies"

A vison is conjured:
A definitely not-high-tech musical trinket, a little figurine in a music box, that on close inspection reveals itself to be the CEO of a hardware tech giant. Open the box and haunting music plays, while the figurine rotates.

But what happens when the music stops?
- Michael Public Aug 3, 2018
  
  Lol - Because a little blond baby smashes the figurine. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.
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