A recent article in IiOT Connection, points out that our current power grid and control systems which were built decades ago simply cannot handle the torrent of edge data headed their way. The International Energy Agency has reported that 11 billion smart energy devices could soon connect to the grid, significantly increasing loads and resources. Data will become a critical enabler for system and network operators to choreograph supply and demand flexibility.
“The future power grid will be built on interrelated, primarily open-source communication networks–the internet and 5G–that will solve hardware interoperability and usher in a time of radical energy efficiency. The grid of the future is distributed, built on a foundation that networks together millions of microgrids. This allows campuses, malls, universities, hospitals, and other institutions to function as self-contained mini grids.”
The challenges of managing the mountains of data that will be generated by these smart energy devices will be exacerbated by the trend towards decentralized energy grids. Electricity and energy will no longer have centralized control but will rely on interconnected devices to actively participate in electricity systems. Many of the energy sources will be different types of renewable energy, which will require customized software, making it difficult to integrate systems with each other and with traditional legacy systems. This is the Primary challenge for IoT.
To tackle this challenge, Hitachi launched “Lumada” in 2016. Lumada is Hitachi’s advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation. Lumada was originally developed for the Internet of Things, IoT, for the integration of Operational Technology, OT, data which manages the operation of physical processes and machinery; with Information Technology, IT, data which manages the flow of digital information. For many years operations technology such as PLCs (Programable Logic Controllers), SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition systems) and MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) have existed to provide operational productivity and improvements to industrial and general operations management environments. Many organizations have these installed today and they are working well within the functional limits that they were designed for. But with the merger of IT and OT solutions, there is a better way with IoT where existing data can be leveraged but also extended with even more enterprise class IT capabilities and availability of more people to help solve problems through open interfaces and open programming languages. This provides even greater flexibility and cost savings over and above what is possible with existing OT technology. You can also get more done and drive more productivity vs older technologies.
This is the typical Lumada Data Services deployment topology (Edge is optional). Notice the prominent role of a data lake… a curated data lake, deployable across preferred clouds and systems. Data is Agile, hence can be accessed and processed by your favorite tools. For example, by AWS services for image recognition, or by GCP cloud for audio file transcription. A key feature is the Lumada data catalog which uses an AI driven engine to accurately identify and tag your data by examining the values of the data. An ML-driven classification engine learns by working cooperatively with business users who curate the data as they complete their daily tasks. The Lumada Data Catalog is built for interoperability, and integrates easily with your business workflows and your software ecosystem.
Lumada Edge Intelligence serves the role of data broker and curator of information at the edge before it is sent to the Data Lake or application environment for further processing. This allows the local operations management team to maintain a data hub of information and ensure quality streams of data going up to the enterprise, which creates a much more sustainable environment for overall data operations management.
Since these two worlds of OT and IT have come together, Lumada now applies to all data management with automation and collaboration. With Lumada, you can: Gain 360-degree views of your customers, products and assets. Streamline your business operations, take out cost, and meet stringent compliance demands. You can accelerate data discovery by on boarding different OT and IT data sources and use data pipelines to deliver insights quickly and collaboratively with self-service.
For more information on Lumada Data Services visit our web page.
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