No longer a nice-to-have: IoT solutions monitor the quality of the air we breathe to keep us safe, healthy and productive.

Indoor concentrations of some pollutants are often two to five times higher than typically outdoors’. Indoor air pollution has increased in recent decades as a result of reduced mechanical ventilation in the interests of energy efficiency, and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides and household cleaners.

Worse still, it has been found these materials release toxic substances (PFAS) — so-called ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not break down. They accumulate in animals, as well as humans, and are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease, decreased immunity, hormone disruption and a range of other serious health problems. Researchers with the University of Rhode Island and Green Science Policy Institute recently tested indoor air at 20 sites and detected the “forever chemicals” in 17 locations.

According to The Guardian, the study published in Environmental Science & Technology used a new PFAS measurement technique for checking air. It found particularly high levels in several kindergarten classrooms and also checked the supply room of an outdoor clothing store, offices, several university classrooms, university labs and an elevator.

In recent months the ease in which the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads through the air created huge awareness on indoor air quality and made improvement a global priority. The World Green Building Council cites an academic study that found enhancing indoor air quality could be as effective in reducing aerosol transmission of viruses as vaccinating 50-60% of the population.

COVID-19 has changed the way we think about and value clean air

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released in March 2021 the “Roadmap to improve and ensure good indoor ventilation in the context of COVID-19.”

“Understanding and controlling building ventilation can improve the quality of the air we breathe and reduce the risk of indoor health concerns including preventing the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading indoors.”

Scientists lead the way for change

Lidia Morawska, Distinguished Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Queensland University of Technology, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the impact of airborne particles on human health and the environment.

She says it should be mandatory that building occupants get real-time information on the quality of the air they are breathing.

“Wide use of monitors displaying the state of indoor air quality must be mandated because the general public currently have no way of knowing the condition of indoor spaces they occupy and share with others. Visible displays will keep building operators accountable for air quality. The public should be made aware and demand safe environments.”

She is leading an international call for a ‘paradigm shift’ in combating airborne pathogens such as COVID-19, demanding universal recognition that infections can be prevented by improving indoor ventilation systems.

Testing for specific atmospheric pollutants, or pathogens like COVID-19, can require complex and costly technology, but a good proxy for indoor air quality that can be easily measured is the level of carbon dioxide (Co2). We exhale CO2 when we breathe. So the higher the concentration above the outdoor level, the poorer the ventilation, and hence the greater the potential for pollution from other sources.

In addition to CO2, humidity and temperature are also strong indicators of the potential for an indoor environment to spread COVID-19.

An in-depth modelling study in China and the United States conducted in 2021 investigated the impact of temperature and relative humidity on the transmission of COVID-19. It found “Higher temperature and higher relative humidity potentially suppress the transmission of COVID-19.” The study found even a 1% variation of both measures could impact transmission rates.

Indoor air quality is a global priority

The achievement of good indoor air quality is a global priority, one of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce inequality and mitigate the effects of climate change. Goal No 11 is focussed on sustainable cities and the environment. It calls for a reduction in the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including paying special attention to air quality. According to the WHO, tackling both outdoor and indoor air pollution is crucial to the achievement of these goals.

The mandate for clean indoor air is gathering pace

Legislators are starting to take action against poor indoor air quality: it is a question of when, not if legislation will be widely introduced.

Belgium holds employers accountable for ensuring safe air quality. “The employer is now required to carry out a risk analysis of indoor air quality and take into account the different sources of pollution: presence and physical activity of persons; presence of products and materials in the workplace; maintenance, repair and cleaning of the workplace and air quality provided by infiltration and ventilation, pollution and operation of ventilation, air treatment and heating systems. The employer must take the necessary technical and/or organisational measures to ensure that the concentration of Co2 in the workplace is generally less than 900 ppm.”¹

The business benefits of clean workplace air

In most workplaces, unless there are specific sources of atmospheric pollutants that can be dealt with, maintaining good air quality largely means maintaining adequate ventilation. However there is a cost. Air needs to be pumped, and depending on the outside temperature, heated or cooled. So building managers aim for a compromise between cost and quality.

However research is increasingly revealing the impacts on worker productivity and wellbeing of poor air quality, suggesting that compromising on air quality could represent a false economy, but the costs are born, in most buildings, by tenant organisations, not building owners or managers.

Workers’ health and productivity can both be compromised by poor air quality in the workplace. And as modern buildings have become more efficient, they have also become more airtight, increasing the potential for poor air quality.

A 2015 US study, The Impact of Green Buildings on Cognitive Function, found employees’ cognitive performance doubled in green building environments with enhanced ventilation compared to a conventional building environment. “These results … suggest that the levels of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds that we commonly encounter in conventional office buildings are associated with decreases in worker performance compared to when those same workers are in green building environments. … When we enhance ventilation and optimise indoor environmental conditions, we see improvements in the cognitive function of workers.”

In depth research by leading indoor air quality expert Joseph Allen, Harvard University, in 2015, demonstrated the impact of indoor air quality on worker productivity. “The results were dramatic. When volunteers worked in well-ventilated conditions (which lowered the levels of Co2 and VOCs), they scored 61% higher than when they worked in typical office building conditions. When they worked in the cleanest conditions, with even lower Co2 levels and higher ventilation rates, their scores climbed 101%.”¹²

“One of our biggest frustrations over the past year is that we knew enough to act early on.” Joseph Allen, Harvard University

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found “If 20% of the work force has symptoms — including watering eyes; hoarseness; headaches; dry, itchy skin; dizziness; nausea; heart palpitations; miscarriages; shortness of breath; nosebleeds; chronic fatigue; mental fogginess; tremors; swelling of legs or ankles; and cancer — the building may be labelled a ‘sick building’. The telling factor is if the symptoms ease when workers are at home or on vacation.”¹³

Living with COVID

Countries have adopted different strategies to handle COVID-19, striving to balance its impact on people, the load on the health system and the impact of lockdowns on the economy. However, even those administrations that have been very successful to date in eliminating the virus or keeping infection rates very low now acknowledge that with the delta variant, elimination is impossible: we must learn to live with the virus. For employers, this will mean ensuring workplaces are safe and that everything reasonably possible is done to minimise spread. Maintenance of good air quality will make a significant contribution, and those employers that fail to address air quality will face consequences on multiple fronts:

• Failure in duty of care to employees, leading to possible damages claims
• Business disruption if large numbers of employees fall sick
• Significant adverse publicity with the link between indoor air quality and infection rates is well-established and well-known.

Depending on the nature of the workplace, ensuring good air quality could be as simple as opening windows or adjusting the heating/ventilation/air-conditioning system. But none of these things can be done without some means of monitoring air quality and raising an alert if it deteriorates beyond predetermined limits.

Breaking the trade-off between low cost and good health

Building management systems (BMS) that control air quality in many workplaces are not the answer. These control heating, cooling and ventilation systems, and many offer air quality monitoring as an option. However, these are not optimal for occupants.

Most businesses operate out of leased premises, so building management is not under their control: it is the responsibility of the building owner/operator. These systems are designed to be monitored by building managers through specialist building management systems, not via a user-friendly smartphone app designed for use by anyone.

Furthermore, there is little incentive for building owners or operators to install air quality monitoring as it brings them no direct benefits and, until recently with low awareness of the importance of air quality and lack of data on air quality, there has been little pressure on them to monitor or improve it. And revealing poor air quality will drive demand for improvement, which could require costly upgrades to building ventilation and heating/cooling systems.

The spread of COVID-19 by airborne viruses has raised the profile of air quality enormously. It is highly likely that building operators will be under increasing pressure to pay attention to air quality, and that it will become a factor in the decision making of organisations seeking to lease premises.

In many BMS, monitors need to be hardwired into the building management network, and upgrading a BMS to provide air quality monitoring would mean contracting the system provider. This would be much more costly and take much longer than installing 0G Network connected air quality monitors.

But perhaps most important is control and ownership of data. Building management is rapidly shifting to becoming a data-driven industry. Data and the insights that can be gained from data are increasingly valuable. And those who own and control access to the data will seek to realise that value by building revenue-generating services around it.

Making the invisible visible and take control – monitor your indoor air quality

If you work in a building where you are concerned about the air quality and the level of ventilation or are accountable for the safety of people it is possible to instal and connect within minutes Co2, humidity or temperature sensors to monitor the actual air quality levels in rooms and send threshold alerts so immediate action can be taken to ensure readings are within recommended limits.

You should feel just as safe about the air you breathe as you feel about the water you drink. So it is essential for building occupants and operators to be able to monitor indoor air quality in real-time. And that is what IoT solutions deliver.

Tenants and stakeholders will increasingly demand indoor air quality assurances from building owners and operators because the potential health impacts of indoor air pollution represent a non-negotiable condition of employment.

Healthy buildings – with an IoT solution

Astute property owners and facilities managers (operators) have embraced the clear advantages of IoT enabled smart buildings that collect powerful data sets that enable them to operate buildings at optimal performance: buildings that are energy-efficient, yield longer equipment lifespans, enjoy a better property profile and improved tenant comfort and safety.

IoT enabled solutions liberate the building data and give much needed insights and control to the right person at the right time, enabling them to take the right action.

At the simplest level, an IoT solution to monitor indoor air quality consists of three key components: the battery-powered IoT hardware device and sensors monitoring continuously the air quality, the communication network, and the data platform or application providing real-time information anywhere and anytime.

The right solution requires no technology knowledge and minimal infrastructure. It can be deployed in minutes and does not need access to the building’s network or power supply. Its monitoring devices are highly reliable and provide accurate data. And the data they provide is accessible and available in a timely manner, delivered directly to the people who need it: via notification or application, anywhere, any time.

For speedy and safe deployment the IoT monitoring devices should simply connect to a public, reliable IoT network such as the 0G Network, powered by Sigfox technology and maintained by 0G Network Operators who assure high service levels.

Monitoring devices must be cost-effective to acquire and maintain. To minimise maintenance and avoid operational headaches, they must operate for years on a single battery.

Such a solution truly empowers the tenant to assure the health, wellbeing and safety of occupants and helps them manage the chain of responsibility.

This will become increasingly important for organisations with indoor workplaces around the world as administrations progressively implement different guidelines and regulatory requirements.

The writing is on the wall. The ability to monitor and manage indoor air quality will be at centre stage in post COVID-19 lock downtimes: for operational, health and safety; for risk management; to ensure business continuity.

No matter how you fix the problem – a monitoring solution will give you the facts and peace of mind that the chosen solution truly maintains the right air quality.

About 0G United Nations

0G United Nations is the international association of more than 72 0G Network Operators. Together they provide the only global 0G network, dedicated to the IoT and powered by Sigfox technology, the world-leading IoT communication service provider.

0G Network members are dedicated to helping organisations adopting IoT solutions at scale. Their more than 2000 employees create together the largest body of knowledge for choosing the right IoT technology, deploying it with speed, and delivering measurable business outcomes at the lowest total cost of ownership, and in the most sustainable way.

0G UN members and their partners enable customers to accelerate data-driven business efficiencies by seamlessly connecting millions of sensors through the 0G network. They leverage scale to accelerate global IoT market adoption and unlock opportunities in a unified, efficient and effective manner. They are committed to ensuring IoT reaches its full potential and works in the most efficient way possible.

0G Network operator Connected Finland makes indoor air quality monitoring easy and globally available for any indoor environment.

The 0G Network operator Connected Finland operates nationwide 0G Networks in Finland and Estonia. It offers an indoor air quality monitoring service using AirWits air quality monitors that connect over its 0G Network. AirWits monitors, available through 0G network operators in more than 50 countries,  can provide data to any preferred data platform or application, or can be delivered with Connected Finland’s FoxerIoT platform. It analyses data from the monitors and supports a dashboard that presents information to occupants over the web in a browser, or via a mobile phone app, or made available to any data platform.

Markku Patronen
Founder of Connected Finland
Sigfox 0G Network Operator

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As technological innovation advances, it is common for prices to drop and products to improve and the Internet of Things (IoT) has followed this common global trend. For the supply chain and logistics industry, IoT solutions promise endless innovative applications that deliver operational efficiencies, create business opportunities and support competitive advantage. Yet, despite widespread IoT interest, debate and many trials, it is rare to find industrial IoT projects that have reliably scaled.

In our experience of working with many different organisations in this industry around the world, the biggest challenge for scaling occurs because most IoT trials and Proof of Concepts (PoCs) aim to only prove the technology’s capabilities. Most don’t seek to prove, validate or understand the business benefits that could be unlocked by the data insights IoT solutions can deliver. Many don’t explore deeply enough the operational requirements and cost impact when it comes to connecting hundreds of thousands, even millions of assets through attached battery-powered IoT devices. 

The key for successful fit-for-purpose industrial IoT solutions at scale, in a national or global context, lies in the ability to translate the data into actions that ultimately realise the value, regardless of the technology choice.

Six Key Considerations

1. Technology Agnostic Approach

It might come as a surprise as we are talking about technology, and despite what many may claim, there is no single IoT technology, solution, or standard that can solve every business problem. In fact, the opposite claim is probably more accurate: the business requirements, operational and cost constraints will eventually lead to the right technology choices. 

Every IoT technology brings different strengths and weaknesses. They only emerge when data requirements are mapped to specific operational needs, may they be at local or global scale.

The plethora of IoT solutions available in the market can be confusing and challenging to navigate. Successful industrial IoT projects are technology agnostic, and need to easily become a natural extension of day-to-day operations. This means the solution needs to be  easy to implement and maintain, be robust, reliable and scalable wherever the business operates, regardless of the underlying technology.

2. Clarity of The Business Problem or Opportunity

Instead of seeking the latest bright new shiny technology to adopt, the best starting point for leaders is to ask what business problems IoT technology needs to solve and bring the right stakeholders together. Like any transformation project, the adoption of IoT solutions requires a holistic view to orchestrate changes across multiple functions in any organisation.

For example, if the customer experience needs to  be improved to maintain competitiveness, or operational costs can be lowered, gathering accurate location or condition information of assets as they move through the network could enable these outcomes to be achieved.

If the objective is to support growing demand whilst minimising additional capex expenditure,  increasing asset utilisation through data insights can enable the reduction of loss rates, remote asset visibility and therefore faster asset rotation.

Increasingly we see innovative IoT solutions not only solving known problems with generating the necessary data. More and more we see new disruptive business models entering markets that are led by principles of traceability, usage based pricing models and principles of the circular economy.

3. Ultimately it is all about Data: Requirements and Value

IoT is more about data than the name suggests. Data from connected devices help run and optimise a business by enabling faster, better quality decision-making. Devices attached to the assets you monitor share updates on key tracking criteria, such as location, temperature or humidity, at regular or event-driven intervals. Imagine your asset “could tell you” when it is staying for more than the contracted 60 days in a clients warehouse, or sends an alert when it leaves a defined area.

Data produced from devices can trigger automated workflows or alert stakeholders to take action, faster and more efficiently than through traditional, manual information flow. For example, if a device monitoring temperature inside a truck transporting chilled goods between cities indicates the temperature is rising above approved levels, an automated alert notifies the Logistics Manager, or truck driver, of the problem. Corrective action occurs based on data produced in real-time.

Once the data requirements, production methods, processing and management costs are defined, the project team can focus on designing the best fit-for-purpose solution, across devices, data, connectivity, digital platforms, process flows and operational support.

4. Fit-for-purpose Solution Requirement List

Although many business environments may seem similar, no two businesses are identical in their business offering or operational practices.

These differences mean it is rare to deploy an IoT solution out-of-the-box without the need for some customisation. For example, IoT devices must be attached to physical assets in a way that won’t hinder existing operations.

The logistical cost of attaching thousands of devices onto assets also means the device must be durable, quick to install, and able to withstand different weather, temperatures, humidity and vibration, all the way down to the choices of the right screws, material or brackets.

Similarly, the length and predictability of the IoT Device  battery life has a very significant impact on ROI as it impacts the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of maintaining the IoT solutions once it has  deployed.

Ideally, it supports the lifetime of the asset, which can be many years, and delivers a set-and-forget deployment. Every business has different asset types, from wooden crates, beer kegs, shopping trolleys, baggage trolleys, vehicles, and even livestock. Considering all these variables means that you are served best by a fit-for-purpose solution that is configurable and flexible with minimum changes to be made.

5. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of an IoT initiative is a key decision factor for every organisation and must include the operational BAU impact and required changes across the business.

A holistic approach is needed to consider all cost drivers for the IoT project deployment, and on an ongoing basis. Critical to include in TCO calculations are costs of:

• purchase, or design and development of the right IoT devices to produce and communicate the required data.
• quality, reliability and life of the battery to run the IoT device.
• installation, deployment and maintenance costs.
• customisation for efficient operation.
• reliable communications of the data.
• the digital platform enabling workflows that use the data to create operational efficiencies.
• change management to nurture and sustain adoption.

Successful IoT solutions create significant business value to justify the investment costs of transformation and beyond.

6. The Business Case –  Small Data

To find the right business case formula it requires an iterative process to reach the right balance between the key ROI inputs:

• Value of Data
• Operational Feasibility
• Total Cost of Data Production

To design a solution that is financially viable and operationally scalable  calls for a close examination of an asset’s operational and data requirements, throughout its lifecycle, alongside a comparative analysis of data production cost. From there we discover possible viable solutions and then adjust data production requirements, based on the data value proposition, to find the best fit-for-purpose solution that delivers optimal business benefit.

Sam Sharief
COO and co-founder of Thinxtra, The IoT Telco
Sigfox 0G Network Operator in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong

About Thinxtra

Thinxtra, The IoT Telco, accelerates business efficiency by connecting assets and making them work smarter. We provide fit-for-purpose Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and solutions that are economically viable and operationally scalable.Thinxtra owns and operates the Sigfox  0G Network in ANZ & HK and  is a member of  0G United Nations, the global association of 0G Network Operators and is exclusive distributor of Soracom cellular IoT services. Visit thinxtra.com for more information.

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The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in a 2020 report, The Internet of Things: Applications for Business: Exploring the Transformative Potential of IoT, proclaimed the Internet of Things (IoT) to be “at the centre of the digitalisation of the world economy” along with artificial intelligence and big data.
Citing a GSMA report, the EIU said: “IoT will generate $US1.1trn in additional revenue for companies across the world by 2025, representing almost one percent of projected global GDP.”
According to a McKinsey report from July 2019, Growing opportunities in the Internet of Things, “Implementing IoT solutions often generates efficiency gains of 20–30 percent by improving performance in areas such as delivery time and pricing for tailored opportunities.”

Adopt IoT or be left behind

After reviewing potential IoT applications across multiple industries the EIU said business leaders “need to consider if they should be using this technology,” because: “Those who do not may miss out on tangible benefits, or be left behind by competitors who have realised IoT-enabled gains in productivity or consumer experience.”

The specifics of IoT implementations will vary enormously across different industries, but to realise the benefits of IoT organisations must overcome its challenges. These include identifying IoT use cases, sourcing the sensors and other IoT devices needed, finding the most appropriate network to connect them and then building a solution to manage and monitor them and extract maximum value from the data they generate.

One thing almost all IoT implementations have in common is a wireless communications network to monitor and control IoT sensors and other devices.

Networks, the heart of IoT

Many organizations gain significant benefits from IoT by analysing and acting on data from their operations that was previously uneconomic, or impossible, to gather. To do this they need IoT devices that are low cost, robust and battery-powered and a wireless communications network that is low cost and highly reliable.

Cellular networks, with variants such as NB-IoT, LTE-M and 5G, are already ubiquitous and have variants to support IoT. They generally support high bandwidth applications at incremental cost for the volume of data. Other technologies have been developed specifically to support IoT applications where cellular may not be the best solution. 

The main alternatives being the Sigfox 0G Network and LoRaWAN. Any organization can build and operate a LoRaWAN network for its own use, use it to provide IoT communications as a service, or to offer a complete IoT solution. As a result there are multiple LoRaWAN networks in every country, and network operators compete to provide the communications component of IoT implementations. Ultimately LoRaWAN is a solution for limited geographic areas, like individual manufacturing plants, whereas the 0G Network can cover large geographic areas in addition to limited geographic areas.

0G Network: supporting IoT globally

Sigfox is the world’s leading IoT service provider. It pioneered and patented the 0G Network technology dedicated to IoT, with the vision to power a global network. The 0G Network provides ultra-low power consumption, long-range and low-cost connectivity, unlocking the value of IoT use cases that demand long battery life, national public coverage with global scale and predictable cost. 

Exclusive Sigfox 0G Network Operators in 72 countries have seen the need, and the opportunity, to build, operate and commercialize wireless networks for IoT. They have chosen Sigfox 0G as their preferred technology. Between them, Sigfox and the 0G Network Operators have invested more than $US1bn, and their networks cover an area home to more than one billion people, and counting.

0G Networks are able to provide reliable communications to power hundreds of millions of IoT devices designed to send small amounts of data. A stringent focus on developing low-cost, high-quality solutions ensures 0G Networks will be the most competitive solution for any low bandwidth application.

Sigfox’s policy is to licence only one exclusive operator for any country. Licenced operators commit to maintaining global standards and service level agreements. This model for 0G Network operation brings two important benefits for customers: global connectivity and global co-operation.

0G Network means global roaming and global collaboration

All 0G Networks are interconnected enabling an IoT application to operate seamlessly across any of the 72 countries with 0G Networks. And because 0G Network Operators do not compete with each other, they are able to share knowledge and details of practical applications to help customers overcome the barriers to IoT adoption, and to help IoT solutions developed in one geography gain traction in others.

With hundreds of IoT deployments supported on 0G Networks, whatever use case a customer can envision, there is a good chance somebody, somewhere on the 0G Network has already developed and deployed something similar.

0G United Nations accelerates global IoT adoption at lower cost

To leverage their individual experiences for the benefit of customers, 0G Network Operators have come together to form 0G United Nations (0G UN). This association enables customers and potential customers of any 0G UN member to tap into the combined knowledge and experience of all members when developing solutions, and enables solution developers to identify and take advantage of opportunities globally.

0G United Nations is the only not-for-profit IoT association supporting local, national and global IoT applications in a truly collaborative way, because individual members have exclusive rights within their country. This unique structure enables members to freely share application best practices relating to customer solutions, operational costs, network optimization and many other areas, with the shared objective of rapidly accelerating adoption of IoT around the globe, and reducing costs.

So, for example, if a water utility in one country is looking to develop and deploy an IoT solution that combines smart, remotely readable meters with remotely controlled valves, 0G UN would be able to help it identify similar applications deployed by any of the 72 Network Operators that were supporting such a system. At a more granular level 0G UN is able to provide feedback on how 0G enabled devices have been deployed and configured for specific use cases, solve specific problems, and on how overall costs have been minimized.

Opening up global IoT opportunities

0G UN is also able to help developers take their solutions to global markets. Konvoy is an Australian company that supplies beer kegs on rental to more than 200 brewers in Australia and New Zealand. Being able to track kegs is fundamental to the viability of its business.

Konvoy worked with Thinxtra, the Australian 0G Network Operator, to take traditional RFID keg tracking to the next level. IoT device manufacturer UnaBiz, which is also a 0G Network Operator in Singapore, was commissioned by Konvoy to develop a device able to report, via the 0G Network, the location and temperature of beer kegs, along with impact and other movement data.

Thanks to the low power requirements of the 0G Network, the devices are able to send this data several times each day and still operate for seven years on an internal battery. 

This innovative and game-changing service offering is now being marketed globally. As a global company, Sigfox is always on the lookout for IoT solutions with global potential and is able to use its resources to assess the potential for any use case in any of the markets served by 0G Networks.

Organisations around the world realise the value of IoT

ALPS Electric Europe GmbH partnered with Sigfox to deliver an IoT-enabled solution for DHL connecting 500,000 roll cage trackers to integrate location monitoring and analytics with its existing business processes to minimize loss of roll cages, ensure fast, reliable delivery, and seamless customer service. The solution has global traction and scale for improved supply chain efficiency.

In a similar use case scenario, Irish Sigfox 0G Network Operator VT – IoT worked closely with Irish postal company AN Post and the Danish Post Office to track thousands of roll cages, carts and containers for parcel processing and distribution.

An example in the utility industry is the collaboration with Tecsys, an IoT solution provider for powerline monitoring. It enables the powerline operator to quickly and easily find fault points in the power grid. Sigfox 0G Network Operators WND LATAM and Things-on-net, Thailand have been helping local utilities to improve operational efficiency and customer service with Tecsys’ 0G enabled solution. 

IoT is still a rapidly evolving area, but one with enormous potential. Many organisations are aware of its potential but struggle both to identify the use cases that will bring the greatest benefit, and then to identify, source and deploy the technologies necessary to achieve their chosen deployment model.

Customer Benefits of 0G United Nations

In summary, once an organization has identified a use case, it then needs to determine what data it must collect, devices to collect that data, a network that will support the constraints of its solution, such as low power, long-range, long battery life, and find a system capable of gathering and analysing all the data and of managing the connected devices.

IoT adoption is increasing rapidly and there are no standard solutions to many of these challenges, but neither are they unique. Someone somewhere has faced and overcome most of them. 0G UN embraces the most experienced body of IoT knowledge and represents the broadest ecosystem in the global IoT market and is able to provide unique support to help organisations overcome the challenges of IoT and realise the business value. 

0G UN combines local expertise and customer focus with global reach. It spans multiple industries and an enormous range of IoT applications, all built on robust standards to ensure future proof applications.

Any member can be a trusted advisor that organizations are able to tap into for solutions rather than re-inventing the wheel themselves. Each 0G UN member is able to leverage the power of the alliance to help customers and IoT application developers maximize the enormous potential of IoT.

Kent Rawling
President and CEO of Sigfox Canada
Sigfox 0G Network Operator

About Sigfox Canada

As the exclusive Sigfox 0G Network Operator in Canada, Sigfox Canada builds, owns, operates and commercialises the global 0G Network in our region. We provide coast-to-coast IoT connectivity and offer technology solutions for a wide variety of use cases across many industries.  The global 0G Network is designed to connect billions of devices to the Internet of Things while consuming as little energy as possible. Sigfox Canada is 100% Canadian owned and is headquartered in Toronto. For more information visit sigfoxcanada.com.

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The pandemic sharpened the understanding that supply chain industry leaders and global corporations already had, to varying degrees: supply chain disruption that has been growing in frequency and magnitude for 10+ years is not going away.

And according to Bain & Company’s Expert Partner Gerry Mattios, speaking at the global Sigfox Connect conference in Nov 2020. “Industry leaders are prioritising risk mitigation as much as cost reduction. Increasing resilience is almost three times as important a priority for supply chain leaders in the next three years, compared to the last three years.”

Don’t Predict: Plan

You can’t predict an oil crisis, you can’t predict a war, you can’t predict another pandemic, and you can’t really predict a security hack. All you know is that any one of these, or any number of other challenges, is at some point likely to happen. Supply chain managers can, though, focus on what they can control, rather than on what they can’t predict.

As we navigate our way towards the post Covid era, we need to consider what supply chain organisations can do differently to manage crises and build resilience for the future.

1. Build in Redundancy to Your ERP System

Cyber attacks on supply chains are on the rise. According to Symantec’s latest Internet Security Threat Report, attacks on supply chain have increased by 78%, and ERP systems are a prime target.

Mitigating ERP cyber attacks has become a major board issue as executives now understand where that sits on the risk register. Hint: it’s ‘catastrophic impact’ and ‘likely’ to occur.

What happens when you can’t access the ERP system that is the lifeblood of your business? Your business stops.

To help mitigate this risk, supply chain leaders need to be working closely with IT security and risk management leaders to develop joint cybersecurity risk management approaches to their business and consider alternate solutions that do not rely totally on core IT/ERP systems for critical data transfer.

What if you had a separate system to tell you where your assets are? A system independent from your traditional transactional core systems. Then you have a way to control, mitigate and compartmentalise-risk.

Boards around the world are talking more about mitigating the impacts of cyber attacks on supply chains particularly sensitive to DDoS attacks (in which the network is overwhelmed with so many messages that it shuts down) on ERP systems. We see accelerating adoption around the world of IoT solutions that allow supply chain operations to deploy asset tracking and condition monitoring solutions offering independent access to essential information via the public, secure and global 0G Network.

If your ERP system gets hacked, you’d see value in knowing where all your shipments , containers or assets are across your national and global supply chain, literally 24/7 without any manual reporting.

It’s one way to build in much needed redundancy.

2. Improve Connected Visibility Now

Knowing where your assets are is a very quick way of mitigating risk.

What could supply chain leaders have done differently this year, had they known more about their supply chain assets location and condition?

Investing in secure, effective tracking technologies is imperative because it means identifying risks and stopping them in their tracks.

It means faster reaction times when things go wrong. It means you can rapidly identify disruptive demand and supply situations and secure alternate suppliers. Visibility builds resilience.

In many ways, this is the promise of IIoT. And it’s being realised by more and more global supply chain businesses around the world, especially through 0G technology.

Unfortunately, marketing around 5G has become so inflated that it is seen as a ‘silver bullet’. 5G has become a ‘catch all’ term that promises to deliver a long awaited utopian future of economic prosperity. But it’s not a silver bullet. Different technologies are fit for different purposes.

The technologies that have activated most large-scale IoT sensor networks for asset tracking in the supply chain, to date; are inexpensive non-cellular low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies like LoRaWAN and Sigfox, not 4G LTE, and not 5G at all, yet. Sure, these technologies are coming, and they will compliment existing connectivity approaches and expand the market, but smart businesses won’t wait for that day.

While 5G is intended to bring faster speeds, Sigfox 0G technology is designed to serve distinct use cases where communication range must reach further, penetrate dense physical structures, and allow battery-operated infrequent communication devices to last in the field for extended periods of time.

While 5G may be optimal for video calls or smart goods in the home, the 0G Network is ideal for supply chain asset tracking, water, gas metering, agriculture, smart building, and smart park applications among others – IoT is already revolutionizing so many of these industries.

3. Reduce Human Error – Invest in Automation

Tracking and tracing assets is the first step in improving supply chain visibility and lifting resilience.

But as we explored earlier, a core system going down can compromise that data access.

If you can get your assets to tell you where they are, there’s less reliance on systems, and on humans running around gathering data.

In the case of Asia Pacific leading asset pooling company Loscam and their partner ACTIVE , finding lost assets scattered across Australia took “a massive amount of work”. They were manually tracking them down, even physically putting employees on planes to fly interstate and retrieve returnable packaging units that had been lost in transit. This was before they deployed a successful IoT asset tracking project.

Within four months of ACTIVE deploying Loscam’s end-to-end IoT-enabled solution operating long range, long battery-life 0G-enabled devices, it discovered 5% of units were incorrectly delivered to a competitor’s warehouse and 8% of units moved outside the customer’s logistics provider network. Although it is a common industry issue, seeing the actual data of the assets as they move between networks was a true light bulb moment.

The technology brought a much needed increase in visibility and control of assets, operational efficiency and asset utilisation. In one customer scenario, namely Mitsubishi Motors in Australia, it reduced the number of units needed by 30%, bottom line savings that were passed onto a delighted customer.

Track, Trace and Tell technology also improves efficiency through automating manual tasks. If nobody has to scan packages anymore, because the asset has become “smart” and can inform you of its location, human error is eliminated. There is less loss, less untraceable theft.

It’s all about enabling you to do less and get information with more accuracy, and faster.

In Europe, German-based DHL international courier parcel and express mail service deployed 250,000 logistics trackers in only six months to locate their postal roll cages. These insights mean that DHL can optimise asset utilisation and mitigate risks of shortfalls or bottlenecks due to unforeseen events or cyclical demand peaks.

When it comes to intercontinental shipping examples, Michelin transformed its tyre shipment efficiency with IoT -enabled containers across 170 countries. Other than gaining crucial transparency for better decision making across a complex supply chain to mitigate risks, other benefits include better route planning, less complex administration across many network partners and a much enhanced customer experience.

4. Screen Suppliers & Document High-value Data Flow

Supply chains are highly vulnerable due to the fact that they are, by nature, interconnected. Third-party suppliers can create something of a weakest link if not inspected properly for their commitment to security -an Opus and Ponemon Institute study showed that at least 59% of organisations have suffered from cyber attacks through third-party companies.

Competitive supply chains need a flexible system of suppliers and partners that offer the ability to swap input materials and components and rapidly introduce new products.

Dun & Bradstreet researchers found that 51,000 companies worldwide, 163 of which are in the Fortune 1000, had one or more direct or “Tier 1” suppliers in Wuhan, China, the city where the coronavirus hit first, while at least 5 million — 938 in the Fortune 1000 — had one or more “tier 2″ suppliers there.

There is no easy solution to ensuring end-to-end security, but organisations can start by defining their security requirements and thoroughly vetting each supplier before bringing them onboard as a regular partner.

A recent Gartner report on supply chain cyber security also encouraged supply chain leaders to research and document the flow of high-value supply chain data and information across systems outside core IT systems.

Ensuring regular communication and a strong cyber-risk management program can help companies gain a deeper understanding of suppliers and enable stronger collaboration.

Use the Lessons of 2020 to Plan for the Future

Creating a multifaceted supply chain strategy will cost money, but investing in strong risk management could save your company and your business. Those who use a crisis to make investments and accelerate change come out better off. Resilient supply chains not only recover from disruption, with the right level of investment, they can become a source of competitive advantage.

As the year comes to an end, it’s worth reflecting on what you could have done differently with greater visibility and data in 2020, and use those lessons to plan for next year.

Our future looks to hold just as much uncertainty and upheaval, but armed with the knowledge and insight from 2020, plus innovative technologies and strong board appetite for change, supply chain leaders can succeed in building greater resilience.

Loic Barancourt
Co-founder and CEO of Thinxtra, The IoT Telco
Sigfox 0G Network Operator in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong

About Thinxtra

Thinxtra, The IoT Telco, accelerates business efficiency by connecting assets and making them work smarter. We provide fit-for-purpose Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and solutions that are economically viable and operationally scalable.Thinxtra owns and operates the Sigfox 0G Network in ANZ & HK and is a member of 0G United Nations, the global association of 0G Network Operators and is exclusive distributor of Soracom cellular IoT services.
Visit thinxtra.com for more information.

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