Catapult is a Technology Strategy Board programme

Ecosystems, platforms & openness in the #IoT

Accelerating the Open Source IOT ecosystem22 October 2013

Dr. Maurizio Pilu

Connected Digital Economy Catapult 2

• Set up by the Technology Strategy Board• Applied R&D&I centre in the digital economy• Non-for-profit, based in London, national remit• Focussed on data value chain• Deveop enabling capabilities and projects for wider UK

innovators benefit• £10m p.a. of core investment from TSB + matched

funding • Critical mass: overtime 100+ technologists

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WHAT IS AN

ECOSYTEM?

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I will take one particular angle (that I like)

throughout the presentation …

….but there are others!

A way to look at it:Platforms as the foundation of ecosystems“Industry platforms are technological building blocks (that can be technologies, products, or services) that act as a foundation on top of which an array of firms, organized in a set of interdependent firms (sometimes called an industry ‘‘ecosystem’’), develop a set of inter-related products, technologies and services” (Gawer, 2009)

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Where do platforms emerge?

Common features (Gawer 2009):

• Complex technological systems

• Fast evolution of technology

• Importance of interoperability and integration

• Require collaboration among several firms

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Sounds familiar?

Ecosystems as two-sided markets

“…economic platforms having two distinct user groups that provide each other with network benefits …”

“…Products and services that bring together groups of users in two-sided networks are platforms…“

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Examples of platforms & two sided markets

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Advertisers Eyeballs

Retailers Customers

App developers

Users

9On ecosystems, killer apps and the “A” word

[Apple] “found that the killer app wasn’t a single service, it was theecosystem. Apple introduced that ecosystem, and changed the game completely” (1)

(1) Nesta: What’s a App, 2010

10Not so simple ….

• Guess what? Lots of people trying ….

• Many companies try to build ecosystems around their (sometimes proprietary) platforms (e.g. with subsidies)

• Winner take-all dynamics and ecosystems wars (e.g. ebay: network effect hard to replicate)

• BTW, two sided-markets can have multiple platforms!!

• Or there can be one (e.g. a standard) which can spur innovation and competition on both sides (e.g. the PCI board)

• What does it mean for long tail?

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SO, WHAT IS AN

IoT

ECOSYTEM?

12IOT Ecosystem?

Pervasive Internet

Connected Environments

Smart Places

Smart Cities

Connected Cars

Ubiquitous

Computing, Everyware

Connected World

Physical Internet

Smart Homes

Smart Meters

Wireless Sensor Networks

Ambient Intelligence

Machine to Machine

Web of Things

The Future Internet

............

Multiple identities …

14 … and personalities …

It’s about sensors & devices

It’s about M2M

It’s about a big IT system that controls stuff

It’s all about data value chains

It’s about new services

It’s the Internet – no such thing as IoT

It’s about the user experience

It’s about growth-opportunities

It’s about new business models

15A traditional technology “Stack”:(not necessarily and ecosystem!)

End users

Business sectors & application

areas

£ ££

Apps & services

Solutions, Infrastructure

& platforms

Technologycapabilities

£

£

£

What are the two sided markets in IOT? 16

Tech providers Developers

Developers Developers

Developers End users

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A bit to early to say: ecosystem immature

• There is no dominant platform/player in IoT• But it’s normal of early markets: fragmentation,

lack of standards, bespoke solutions, etc.

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO

Accelerate

AN ECOSYTEM?

First: it’s about people

Second: business models and incentives are crucial

21On a more technical level …. “network effect” enablers

DOING THINGS “INTERNET STYLE”

• ACCESS TO DATA

• OPEN SOURCE

• OPEN APIs

• INTEROPERABILITY

• STANDARDS

• RAPID PROTOTYPING

22Computers, Internet: intrinsic interoperability problems and opportunities?

Computers!

Interoperability references in literature (Philip Parker, INSEAD)

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Open APIs and Interoperability:

an “Internet style”

example

24Example: IFTTT tools

• Connect different web services from competing organizations

• Based on publishing metadata catalogues and APIs to data

• Simple rules: If This Then That (IFTTT)

• Example used here: Zapier

• Example of service construction: Email me every time a note is created in Evernote with the tag #cdecatapult

25e.g. Zapier: select services

26e.g. Zapier … select rules

27e.g. Zapier: Select actions

28Zapier: service directory …

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Imagine

something like this in the

IoT

30Low moisture in my flower pot? Send me a whatsapp message and turn down heating

31This “deverticalizes” …..

• Open source, APIs, access to data, interoperability help to abstracts role & enable scaling

• Hardware developers • Middleware / platforms• App developers

• Which is broadly how modern “Internet style” ecosystems develops

32

Open APIs and Interoperability across platforms was

broadly the approach followed when

architecting the £6m TSB IoT Ecosystem

investment

TSB’s IoT ecosystem investment33

• Develop a network of Internet of Things clusters

• Incentivize more accessibility to IoT data

• Adoption of ‘information hubs’

• Interoperability between hubs

• Become a platform for collaboration

The Internet of Things Demonstrator34

• Results of £6m investment announced by David Willetts on 11 March 2013

• Investing in 8 IoT clusters to demonstrate ecosystems in specific application areas

• >40 organizations involved, including Intel, ARM, BT, IBM, NEUL, Cisco, EDF, Carillion, LivingPlanIT, and many SMEs

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Hypercat

http://www.slideshare.net/1248_io/hypercat-introduction-15-mins

Basic interoperability profile agreed and developed by the 8 #tsbiot consortia

© Pilgrim Beart, 1248.io

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And finally a few more words about the

Connected Digital Economy

Catapult in the IoT context

The data value chain – our ‘field of play' 37

38CDE Catapult: Our #IoT angles

• Cities & communities – it’s where lots of data, verticals, people come together, in high density

• Data, data, data - #IoT will generate huge amounts of data (e.g. “cities generate more data they know what to do with”)

• Next generation infrastructure, in particular• M2M• Whitespace communication

• Connecting & supporting existing investments (e.g. from TSB, EU, RCs)

39Some open questions

• How do we all drive forward an “open” agenda for IoT• Interoperability, open source, open access• But keeping in mind sustainable business

models!• What capabilities & facilities UK’s innovators

need?• What strategic (i.e. for wider benefit) projects

does the UK need to move forward?

Catapult is a Technology Strategy Board programme

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Thank you!

Dr. Maurizio PiluPartnerships DirectorCDE CatapultMaurizio dot Pilu at cde.catapult.org.uk@maurizio_pilu@cdecatapult