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....Q&A oneM2M

The importance of IoTstandardisationFounded in 2012, oneM2M is a global partnership project comprising eight of the world’s leadingICT standards development organisations. oneM2M has developed and continues to evolve abody of technical specifications for a set of common service functions to support scalable andinteroperable IoT applications across different industry sectors. Developers can embed oneM2Mcapabilities within various hardware and software components to connect the many devices in thefield with IoT gateways and application servers worldwide. Ken Figueredo, one of oneM2M’scontributing members and a Market Development Consultant for Chordant Inc., outlines theimportance of IoT standardisation and oneM2M’s actions towards that goal.

Question: What are the driver s fordigital transformation, and wh y isdata management a fundamentalcapability for digitally enabledbusinesses?Ken Figueredo: A large part of digitaltransformation is to use data morequickly to make business decisions.Data is fundamental because we’removing into an era where we haveaccess to so much more data, not justdata about people, but data from

Amy Saunders, Editor, Satell iteEvolution Group

connected devices, smartphones, andsensors. Many organisations arelearning how to adapt their operationsnow that so much more data is available.The scope is broader than static orsnapshot data, because IoT devices aresources of time series data feeds.

We can break the digitaltransformation challenge down intoseveral steps. The first involvesmanaging the devices that supply thedata. That is why we hear a lot oforganisations talking about devicemanagement. Over time, many moreIoT devices will be deployed and asignificant proportion will be low-cost

constrained devices. These devicesdon’t run continuously, but gather data,wake up from a sleep state, and passthe data on before going back to a sleepstate in order to conserve energy. Indata management terms, the entity thatcollects the data needs to recognisewhen devices are awake and ready totransmit their data, collect that dataefficiently and quickly let that device goback to sleep.

Once you are handling a pool ofdevices, the next step is to figure outhow to manage the data they generate.What is the data source, and what is itsintegrity? How do I pass data on to

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....Q&A oneM2M

users and exercise security and privacypolicies over downstream users? Withina large organisation, how do I sharedata across different departments? Thewhole idea of sourcing and supplyingdata between different parties becomesvery important.

These examples illustrate the layersof complexity and define thefoundations on which digitaltransformation depends. They are thekinds of issues that oneM2M isaddressing by creating an openstandard for the IoT ecosystem.

Question: Operational boundariesare often repor ted to be one of themajor factors in hindering datasharing and management; what is thesolution to this challenge?Ken Figueredo: We need to considerseveral different boundaries in practice.In the industrial sector, there is aboundary between operationaltechnologies (OT) – all the devices,sensors and controllers that managethe processing environment in amanufacturing facility, for example – andinformation technologies (IT) - forenterprise resource planning andaccounting, for example. Manyorganisational structures operate withthat distinction, and that’s one of theboundaries to span in making datadriven decisions.

A public sector example is wheretransportation and welfare-servicedepartments can collaborate to improvecitizen services. Take the case ofshuttling house-bound patients forappointments at clinics or doctors’surgeries. By using capacity planning

and live data to coordinate schedulingbetween a regulated taxi fleet andwelfare services schedulers, bothdepar tments can embrace digitaltransformation to improve resourceutil isation and deliver a betterexperience for patients, care workersand taxi drivers.

Chordant’s experience falls more inthe area of data sharing, often acrosspublic and private sector boundaries. Acase in point might be an organisationwhose data is valuable to anothercompany, and they want to find adependable way of sharing that data.One example we are working on in theUK involves testing of connected andautonomous vehicles (CAV). Vehiclesproviders recognise that they canimprove the quality of testing bycombining CAV data with data aboutactivity on the transport network andlocal weather data. A use case mightbe a road test that is run in Februarywhen it’s dark and raining. With datasharing, can a tester evaluateperformance under simulatedconditions for the month of June whentraffic levels and the weather conditionsare completely different? For that kindof testing to work and for eachorganisation to get value from their data,there is a need to share data. Thisscenario involves multiple data sources,many different technologies, andrequirements to apply privacy controlsfor selective data sharing. It is ideallysuited to using an IoT platform built onthe oneM2M standard. The open

standard approach means thatChordant’s platform operates as aneutral data exchange that differentpublic and private sector organisationscan rely on. It also demonstrates thevalue of reusability as the same set-upis being used by Transport for WestMidlands (TfWM) and other organis-ations to create a market for connectedand autonomous mobility data services.

Question: The IoT is e xpected torevolutionise the w orld, spanninggovernment, commercial andconsumer sectors alike. What routedo you expect this re volution tofollow?Ken Figueredo: IoT is an attentiongrabbing label in marketing terms, but Ithink that we can expect to talk lessabout it over the coming years becauseit will just blend into the background. IoTwill become a part of everyday life andeveryday operations. The focus will beon services and benefits rather than thetechnology.

Look at this in the case of studentsin the pre-Internet era. They would haveto go to libraries, find a librarian andnavigate through a catalogue ofpublications. That process has largelychanged. Through digital trans-formation, we take it for granted that youcan access much more information andfar more easily from our computers andphones. The emphasis now is on howwe use that information.

The bigger picture is to think moreabout how we’re gathering and sharing

Ken Figueredo, one of oneM2M’scontributing members and a MarketDevelopment Consultant for Chordant

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data, and how we’re using data to makedecisions.

For the last five or so years we’veseen a lot of market forecasts fromanalysts talking about the numbers ofconnected devices; it ’s relativelystraightforward to count and to forecastnumbers of devices. It’s also easy toproject the amount of data that thesedevices will generate. The change weneed to see happen is to think aboutdifferent metrics for the value of data –it’s not just in the volume; there can besmall quantities of quite valuable dataand large quantities of invaluable data.A shift away from forecasting device anddata quantities will drive differentbehaviours in the way companies shareand use data.

Question: Let’s talk aboutstandardisation. How important is itin IoT applications?Ken Figueredo: Some companies wantto launch products quickly, and they’llbuild something independently usingproprietary technology to go to marketin as little time as possible. There’s animplicit trade-off about long termviability. As organisations deploy newsolutions it becomes a challenge tomaintain them if only one companyprovides that solution. Once there’s a

standard other vendors can be abackup.

Another consideration is that the IoTis helping organisations do new thingsthrough digital transformation so thereis scope to add new standards toexisting ones. For example, there areseveral standards such as Bluetooth,NB-IoT and Wi-Fi for connectivity aswell MQTT or COAP for data transfer.They solve different parts of the IoTproblem. The bigger IoT challenge is toconnect any device, to collect data fromthat device, to supply data to anapplication that makes some sort ofdecision, and for that application tointerrogate or remotely control thatdevice. The more devices, applications,vendors and technologies that areadded to the workflow, the morecomplex and interwoven thisarrangement becomes. Also, each timea developer adds a new device or newapplication there is a cost of integration.

This is a new paradigm – the abilityto simplify the process of connectingany device to any application – and whatoneM2M set out to solve when itlaunched in 2012. oneM2M standardsdefine a middleware layer, betweenconnected devices and applications,that masks technology complexities forapplication developers. You can think of

oneM2M as a standard that solves anew problem but leveraging existingstandards. oneM2M can use cellularconnectivity with COAP or MQTTprotocols; it does not displace existingor established standards. Instead,oneM2M provides a better way of usingthose standards to connect applicationsand devices with the added benefits ofinteroperability and scalability.

Question: The IoT famously requiressecure, reliable and al ways-onconnectivity. What roles do y ouexpect 5G, satellite and terrestrialnetworks to play?Ken Figueredo: I’d qualify the firstasser tion because there will bescenarios where connected deviceswon’t always be on. This will be the casefor large numbers of low-power, power-constrained devices that are only onmomentarily to transmit the data. Thiscalls for some kind of intell igentmiddleware between these dataproducing devices and the applicationsthat depend on their data.

Different applications will rely ondifferent connectivity solutions. If youconsider forestry management oragriculture, satellites might provideconnectivity for remote and mission-critical areas in conjunction with cellular

....Q&A oneM2MP

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connectivity for more accessible areasand building locations. There aredrawbacks in building a data gatheringapplication twice, once for cellular andonce for satellite. It is better to beconnectivity agnostic. This approachallows organisations to use differentconnectivity options – 5G, satellite andterrestrial - without having to invest inmultiple silos.

Beyond connectivity, there is valuein having a common framework fordevices and applications to interact. TheoneM2M standard defines theseadditional capabilities that add value toconnectivity standards, all within acommon framework.

Question: What role does oneM2Mhave to play in the IoT agenda goingforwards?Ken Figueredo: There is a veryimportant role in the sense that the IoTopens the field for organisations to donew things through digital trans-formation. That calls for a new way ofdoing things, with open standardisationdelivering economies of scale.

oneM2M stands out for itsstandardisation track record. Its

members began early and invested asignificant effor t to analyse therequirements for IoT solutions inmultiple industry verticals and to identifya set of common requirements. To putthis in perspective, each of the previouscellular standards – 2G, 3G, 4G etc. –required around one million man-hoursof effort via the 3G Partnership Project(3GPP). The corresponding level ofeffort for oneM2M is about 500,000man-hours. There isn’t that level ofinvestment elsewhere.

oneM2M saves organisations thetime of having to reinvent the wheel.Having established the foundations forinteroperable and scalable IoTsolutions, the issue now is to spreadknowledge more widely beyond theearly set of users; anyone can accessthem and contribute to them. oneM2Mpublished a joint white paper with theIndustrial internet Consortium to helpindustrial organisations.

There is a liaison framework in placewith the Internet Connectivity Alliance,an IoT developer community thatAlibaba launched for the Chinesemarket and oneM2M is a candidate forIndia’s smart cities initiative.

A final observation is the concernthat small and medium sizedenterprises (SME) find it difficult or lackthe resources to par ticipate instandardisation activities. I heard aninteresting story recently from Europewhere a group of lift manufacturerscollaborated on a proposal tostandardise how data is collected onlifts to transform maintenanceprocedures.

The idea is to standardise datagathering from any kind of connectedlift, regardless of the manufacturer.These businesses see IoT technologiesas a means of digitally transformingtheir monitoring, predictive analysis andmaintenance operations. The grouppresented a technical requirement toadd to the oneM2M standard. Onceapproved, this will become a part ofoneM2M’s Release 4 standards. It’s agreat example of reusing the basicfunctionality in the oneM2M standardand adding new capabilities within acommon framework. It proves thatoneM2M is an active and evolvingstandard and that all organisations,small and large, can contribute toprogress!

....Q&A oneM2MP

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