Arduino’s MKR family of products got two new wireless connectivity boards added to its range of products. These include MKR WiFi 1010 and MKR NB 1500, both aimed at streamlining IoT product/service development.

Arduino’s blog notes that “the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 is the new version of the MKR1000 with ESP32 module on board made by U-BLOX.”

MKR WiFi 1010: For prototyping of WI-FI based IoT applications

The core difference of MKR WiFi 1010 compared to MKR WiFi 1000 is that the former can be put to use in production-grade IoT apps and it has ESP32-based module manufactured by u-blox. The former enables to add 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth capability to the application. Additionally, it comes with a programmable dual-processor system (an ARM processor and a dual-core Espressif IC).

MKR NB 1500: For on-field monitoring systems and remote-controlled LTE-enabled modules

The Arduino MKR NB 1500 is based on new low-power NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) standard. This makes it appropriate for IoT apps running over cellular/LTE networks.

Key use cases of this board are remote monitoring systems and remote-controlled LTE-enabled modules. It supports AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Telstra, Verizon over the Cat M1/NB1 deployed bands 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 20 and 28.

Arduino also pitches this board to be used in IoT apps which used to rely on alternative IoT networks such as LoRa and Sigfox. It promises to save power compared to GSM or 3G cellular-based connections.

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Siemens Building Technologies division announced it will acquire Enlighted Inc., a smart IoT building technology provider. The transaction is expected to close in Q3’18.

Enlighted Inc.’s core element is an advanced lighting control application. It is based on a patented, software-defined smart sensor that collects and monitors real-time occupancy, light levels, temperatures and energy usage.

The sensor can gauge temperature, light level, motion, energy, and has Bluetooth connectivity.

The Enlighted system works by collecting temperature, light and motion data via its smart sensors. A gateway device carries the information to Energy Manager, a secure browser-based interface to create profiles and adjust settings of the entire Enlighted Advanced Lighting Control System. The Energy manager operates as an analytics device.

The whole system consists of multi-function sensors, distributed computing, a network, and software applications run by Enlighted Inc.

Enlighted Inc.’s main target market is commercial real estate. Key use cases of its intelligent Lighting Control System are energy efficiency, controlling heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and building utilization reports.

Use the Postscapes ‘Connected Products Framework‘ to understand the smart home and buildings eco-system.

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By admin

Blockchain : Hype vs Reality

There’s so much hype centred around blockchain technology. Most of it has grounds in reality. At its fundamental core, blockchain technology ensures provable data immutability by using deal signatures and hash functions. Blockchains are like distributed databases in some ways. But private blockchains are more than that.

Demystifying Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology was announced through a paper on “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” in 2008. The pure peer-to-peer version of electronic cash where network timestamps transactions through hashing these onto an ongoing chain, forming records which cannot be changed without undoing proof of work was the first mention of blockchain technology. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency running on the bitcoin blockchains. The blockchain is essentially permission-less meaning anyone can spin up the node and begin mining bitcoins.

Private Blockchains Exist Too!

Many private blockchains are set up with permissioned features in which random strangers cannot become a part of it. Some popular blockchain platforms are Corda, Credits, BigChain DB, Quorum, Iroha, Stellar, Hyperledger Sawtooth and many more. Most blockchain use cases include lightweight financial systems, multiparty aggregation, provenance tracking as well as inter-organisational record-keeping.

Financial Use Cases: Are Blockchains Really So Widespread in Application?

The answer to that question is a resounding yes. Financial use cases for blockchain technologies include the banking and insurance sectors too. Asset registry, tracking, KYC, payments, smart wallets, trade finance and syndicated loans are blockchain use cases in banking.

Insurance sector applications include agent details registry, national policy, and claim records, verified KYC data and fraud repository. Other financial use-cases include clearing and settlements, asset-backed virtual currencies, corporate finance book running, escrow, fund portfolio management, depository receipts, payment gateway, etc.

Verification of academic records, record authentication, account records, birth certificates, health records, identity documents and regulatory/property/vehicle records are some areas where governments use blockchain. Other areas for blockchain application are as diverse as identity management, supply chain management, contract management, and voting.

Blockchains Offer a Lot of Value: True or False?

Blockchains can actually minimise frauds and increase efficiency, transparency, and security in healthcare, supply chains, global money systems, democratic elections and even energy trading and IoT to name just a few. Blockchain-as-a-Service or BaaS is already being provided by top tech majors such as Microsoft and IBM.

Full stack offerings of BaaS are available on the cloud platforms of these companies. The blockchain technology is moving from single use case like payments to inter and intra-company scenarios such as trade finance, farm-to-fork etc.

The value of blockchain has businesses interested in how they can develop new opportunities using distributed ledger technologies. Blockchain has surely made the shift from disruptive to foundational.

Concluding Thoughts

Blockchain-based solutions have the potential to increase efficiency across an array of use cases. Living up to the hype, blockchain technology in all its forms, from private to public, permissioned to non-permissioned, offers a range of possibilities. In that sense, it is the immense potential of blockchain technology that makes it live up to the hype surrounding it. With a wide range of protocols, quality data amassed, unimaginable security and a wide range of applications, blockchain is used by governments, businesses, groups and individuals the world over.

To learn more about blockchain technologies and digital currency, follow Phillip Nunn at phillipnunn.co.uk. He is an authority and a thought leader apart from being the CEO of the Blackmore Group as well as a cryptocurrency, fintech and blockchain expert.

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By Alex Woodie

Finally, after years of waiting, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect tomorrow, dramatically changing the rules for what you can and can’t do with the personal data of European citizens. Here are some final thoughts on the state of readiness, the scope of the impact, the biggest challenges, who will come out of this looking good, and who will not.

We’ve had years to get ready for May 25, 2018, the day selected by the European Union government back in 2016 to put GDPR into full effect. The law has far-reaching consequences into how organizations can collect, store, and process the personal data of EU citizens. Companies everywhere must abide by GDPR to protect data of all EU citizens, no matter where in the world they happen to be.

The GDPR requires companies to:

• Spell out clearly how they intend to use people’s private data;
• Get permission (or consent) to use it;
• Take pains to store data securely;
• Notify people promptly when data is lost or breached;
• Promptly fulfill requests for data collection and usage from EU citizen; and
• Delete data at user’s request, per the “right to be forgotten” rule.

Fines of up to 4% of the company’s annual revenue can be levied for each violation, not to mention possible criminal charges, which gives companies ample incentive to comply with GDPR. But despite the financial motivations and the copious lead time, many companies – particularly those outside of Europe — are not ready for GDPR. In fact, many are now scrambling to make progress in a short amount of time, in the hopes that auditors, should they come around, will see they’re making a good-faith effort to comply.

Final Countdown to Preparation

How many companies will be ready for GDPR tomorrow? Several surveys paint a picture of big gaps in readiness. According to a March survey of 302 C-level security execs by London-based security software firm Netspaker, 49% of the respondents are at least three-quarters of way through the process, while a little more than one-third are halfway there.

A survey last month by IASCA (formerly known as Information Systems Audit and Control Association) found that than only one in three organizations in the EU would be ready on May 25. Companies in the pharmaceutical and advertising/media sectors were furthest ahead with their GDPR compliance efforts, the IASCA’s GDPR Readiness Survey found.

In the last week, companies have scrambled to assess their vulnerability to GDPR, says Brian Vecci, a technical evangelist at Varonis. “While some companies have prepared for the GDPR for months and even years, others have only recently realized they need to comply and have to scramble a bit to catch up,” he says. “A county police department that issues a traffic ticket to a French citizen, a hospital that treats a German patient or a university enrolling students from the EU — all could be held accountable.”

Varonis conducted a recent survey that found 58% of companies have more than 100,000 folders open to everyone in the company. “It’s clear that a lot of companies aren’t even doing the basics and are setting themselves up for problems later this summer,” Vecci writes.

Because GDPR is such a far-reaching law that requires companies to make changes to their internal business processes, it’s not surprising that some companies have made more progress in building GDPR compliance into some business processes than others.

According to a February survey of 1,200 IT executives and personnel by Commvault, only 18% of organizations said they had the capability to delete personal data from all data stores when a EU citizen requests it. The survey also found that only 8% of respondents believed that could collate and export data from their organization to a third party at the request of individuals. Data discovery and mapping was the biggest area of concerns for executives, according to IASCA’s GDPR Readiness Survey.

Market Opportunity for Vendors

GDPR is also providing a fertile ground upon which data management and analytic tool vendors can build products that purport to help companies with complex compliance requirements.

For example, Arcadia Data this week claimed that its flagship Hadoop-based analytic software is helping companies comply with the regulation by implementing certain data management standards, such as granular access controls and column-level security controls.

Arcadia co-founder and chief product officer Priyank Patel says GDPR will not be kind to companies that use “legacy” BI and analytic practices. “Legacy processes can increase the risk of failing to meet compliance standards, especially because data is often moved from silo to silo within those environments,” he says. “As a result, businesses must turn to modern data solutions with built-in compliance standards that make the data analytics environment less complicated.”

Another vendor hoping to leverage GDPR preparedness as a differentiating factor is C3 IoT. Yesterday the company announced Trūata, which was established by IBM and Mastercard earlier this year as a “GDPR-compliant data analytics services company,” has selected C3 IoT as its primary technology provider.

CARTO, a a data analytics startup based in New York City and Madrid, Spain, is hoping to capitalize on a need to protect location data. “Not all data is the same!” states CARTO, which is based in New York City and Madrid, Spain. “As location data becomes more prevalent, organizations will need to develop a plan for responsibly collecting, storing, and using it.”

A Silver Lining for Data

There has been much discussion about whether GDPR is good public policy that will protect individual rights or regulatory overreach that will stifle innovation in the emerging data economy. There is certainly a cost to becoming GDPR compliant – 37% of firms spent $5 million or less, while 27% spent less than $1 million, according to IASCA’s GDPR Readiness Survey.

(By AjayTvm/Shutterstock)

Considering how much freedom companies historically had with big data projects and how little regulatory oversight there has been up to this point, it’s reasonable to assume there will also be lost opportunity costs associated with GDPR. The

“Prior to GDPR, savvy marketers decided what customer data was appropriate and how much of it they wanted to use…often to the consumers’ detriment,” says John Timmerman, a global industry evangelist with Teradata. “After GDPR goes live, the consumers decide what data the marketers get to use and how much of it they get to keep. This is actually a good thing for both the consumers and the businesses, although it represents the biggest immediate challenge for the latter.”

Regardless of who it benefits, GDPR is now the law, and data-loving organizations flout it at their own peril. The best course forward for companies that expect to do business with European Union citizens anywhere in the world is to ensure their data management and analytics processes match up to GDPR expectations. The good news is that treating GDPR as a best-practice will have long-term benefits to an organization in the form of better customer relationships, according to Matt Bertenthal, a senior privacy counsel at Medallia, which develops a customer experience management platform.

“The more an organization can do to demonstrate that they are being responsible and transparent about collecting, storing and using consumer data, the more willing consumers will be share it to enable a richer experience,” Bertenthal says. “GDPR creates a model for more responsible data collection, but following these general principles, regardless of regulation, is a best practice for creating and maintaining long-lasting relationships with customers.”

Regardless of whether or not your company is ready for GDPR tomorrow, it’s more important to consider the wider arc of history that’s currently playing out with regards to the collection and use of data early in the 21st century. “What we have to remember is that May 25 is not a ‘pencils down’ moment,” says Jen Brown, Sumo Logic‘s data protection officer. “It’s the opposite — a continuation of our new era of digital privacy and awareness.”

Related Items:

Behind on Preparing for GDPR? Three Things to Prioritize

The Enlightening Side of GDPR Compliance

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