NTT DoCoMo, GE agree on joint solution for Industrial IoT

Japanese mobile network operator NTT DoCoMo has announced a memorandum of understanding with GE Digital to co-develop a new platform for enabling IoT, specifically industrial.

The MoU will see GE’s MDS Orbit platform, essentially a wireless router for industrial M2M applications, unite with DoCoMo embedded communications module. The telco claims it will enable enterprise and governmental customers to better utilise infrastructure with real-time monitoring of operational data. With a particular slant on Industrial IoT, NTT says the solution will provide data for remote areas on roads and bridges, plants, electricity, gas and water.

NTT also operates a dedicated IoT cloud platform, called “Toami”, which the telco claims will bring mobility to the workforce in industries utilising its IoT capabilities.

“By combining the operation data acquired by the Orbit platform with DOCOMO’s application on the ‘Toami’ IoT cloud platform, users will be able to manage the data on their smartphones and tablets,” the telco said in a statement. “This feature can serve as a predictive diagnostic tool to prevent failures and assist in preserving ageing facilities. With the cloud platform customers will be able to receive added value instantly without having to make any additional capital investments.”

In the IoT Outlook 2015, recently published by Telecoms.com Intelligence, close to 1,000 respondents were asked what they perceived to be the biggest barrier to the wider pervasion of IoT technology, and 42.4% of the audience identified security as one of the two biggest inhibitors. It makes sense, then, given the industry’s wariness towards security, to see GE talking up the secure elements of its Orbit platform. In the same statement, it claimed it’s designed to protect Class I Division 2 authentication in industry, which refers to international standards defining a location where explosive and hazardous materials are treated and kept within an enclosed environment.

“GE’s Orbit platform employs robust housing for industrial equipment data communication, and includes advanced security technology and Class I Division 2 authentication,” it said. “The platform is strongly resistant to environmental barriers, including elements such as location and terrain, to ensure communications are secure.”

The Telecoms.com Intelligence IoT Outlook 2015 is available to download, for free, from http://telecoms.com/intelligence/IoT-Outlook-2015