The network comes first

The natural evolution of the internet has made data the new power source. Networks, and the infrastructure and services associated with them, are pervasive and relevant with more data, or weaker and irrelevant with less. In a world where data, not electricity, powers the network, IoT devices are the key ingest mechanisms for this invaluable resource. IoT is the means to instrument the world, and reduce it to a data set, the right data set, that can be studied, modelled, manipulated, and made actionable. Evolving AI techniques will unlock the value in this data, delivering breakthroughs in autonomy, longevity, prosperity, capacity, production, leisure, efficiency, safety, and security. IoT everywhere is a watershed event for the future of technology, given its unique ability to enhance ourselves and the world we live in.

There are significant challenges along the way to this vision: barriers to widely distributing IoT devices; roadblocks to interpreting data recorded among different sources and ecosystems; threats of bad actors hiding in the stream with nefarious intent; and frustration of analysing the right data, but not acting in time. These challenges can be overcome, and the solutions have a common origin - the need for better infrastructure. The right network, platforms, and services are needed to support the massive growth of IoT. In the world of IoT, the network must come first.

Before IoT can be everywhere, it’s got to be easy. Many IoT devices are consumer-centric. When we talk about “installing” devices, our words reveal a conceptual impediment to adoption. Consumers and enterprises may suffer through “installing” one or two devices, but not 20, 100 or more. The process of on-boarding devices should require nothing more than turning them on. Network infrastructure - in support of on-boarding, security management, and billing - evolves to deliver this use case simplicity by incorporating programmability, block chain techniques, and AI. The key to frictionless IoT adoption is banishing the word “installation” from the conversation.

No man is an island, and this is also true for IoT. Data from a single device is often useless until analysed in the context of data from other sources. These sources may come from different manufacturers or ecosystems. The ability to produce useful analyses and actions is predicated upon considering all the data, regardless of human-made divisions. Operator platforms and services must be uniquely positioned to grant developers this global analytical capability, while simultaneously ensuring privacy at scale. As the network becomes full distributed, network topologies will play a great role not only with its ability to analyse complex data sets, but also its ability to externalise and publish information in a ubiquitous manner.

Increasing the number of devices connected to the network by many orders of magnitude increases its vulnerability. The network should be prepared for this challenge, scaling autonomous, continuous security to match the growth of connected devices. Threat actors must be detected and isolated at the edge, preventing global impact. Once more, the distributed network execution and actuation becomes the key to these challenges.

Effectiveness is the synergy of knowledge and timing. AI techniques like deep learning and re-enforcement learning may find the right pattern, but the network plays a critical role in translating knowledge to action, just in time to make a difference. This is especially challenging in cases where the loop of collect/learn/do happens at the limits of network latency. The answer: a lower-latency, predictive AI at the edge, supporting real-time analysis and intervention. This is the future of network.

We believe the key to a better world is driven by data and amazing networks. IoT is a vital means to harvest this precious resource. The infrastructure and software we dream, design, and deploy today will be the essential accelerant for IoT everywhere, not just as a technical architecture, but also as a value chain for creating data-driven value. We are redefining programmability, performance, security, intelligence, and business models and we call this network-first innovation. Are you ready?

Hear more about our network-first innovations from our IoT team.

By Diomedes Kastanis, Head of IoT, Singtel