With experience of more than 25 years in IT and as head of the IoTsens R&D department, Manolo Gasch explains what his IoT vision is, what role he has in the digital transformation process and what are the challenges he faces every day.
- What is the IoT for you?
The IoT is a set of technologies that have been applied in the elements that surround us for some years and that is experiencing an increasing growth.
With the idea of connecting the things around us to the internet, a wide range of possibilities open up in different applications: domestic, industrial or product transformation, among others. These solutions facilitate the use of information to the user as well as to the manufacturers or equipment managers.
- What new technologies do you think will have a relevant role in the future and how do they relate to the development of the IoT?
In my opinion, the main technologies that will have an important role in the future of the IoT are all those that on one hand improve communication, both in speed and costs, and on the other hand those that improve the presentation and exploitation of the information that the devices generate. We could highlight technologies such as:
- Virtual reality or augmented reality that will facilitate users’ understanding of the information.
- Artificial intelligence, which will help the management of teams and decision making.
- The Big Data that favors the storage and processing of all the information generated by the devices, taking into account that the amount of data to be managed is increasing exponentially
- From your technical and business position at the same time, what is the understanding of the importance of digital transformation in organizations? What is the role of the IoT in this process?
Nowadays we are in competitive world which makes companies need to adapt and incorporate added values to their products, as well as achieving the optimization of manufacturing costs, management or handling of each of the elements that we have around us.
This situation forces companies and individuals to raise and start a digital transformation. But this process does not have to be traumatic, but it can be carried out progressively with the incorporation of technological components to the different elements related to the daily activity of the organization. IoT technologies facilitate the possibility of connecting these elements and therefore obtain information on their operation, use, breakdowns, etc.
Having all this information about the operation of the devices can have a direct impact on many of the company’s activities such as knowing the costs of operating the equipment, analyzing preventive maintenance, improving response times or minimizing stop times among others.
- What are the challenges you face when starting a customized project based on the client’s needs?
The main challenges when starting a project are always linked to the internal organization and the objective of the project. Incorporating technologies into the lives of people or companies implies a change in the organization and habits since suddenly new information appears and, therefore, it is necessary to carry out an exhaustive analysis and observe in which parts of the organization affects in order to improve or change them.
In the case of companies, organizational changes can affect, among other areas on production, commercial actions -as the product has added value-, maintenance or analysis of data.
On the other hand, it is important to be clear about the objective that the client wants to achieve with the IoT solution – improving sales, improving management, minimizing time … – in order to know with precision their need and the result that pretends to reach to be able to focus all the resources and efforts for achieve it effective and efficiently.
- What is the process and what are the key phases for the development of these solutions?
First, it is necessary to do an analysis and detect the needs that a specific area has.
Once these are identified, it is essential to define clear objectives.
During the development process it is crucial that the staff feel involved into the project and face it in order to meet the requirements established and it is also a way of learning and improvement.
Likewise, I would mention that introducing a technological partner that can bring experience and knowledge to the development of the project would be a key point, like IoTsens
In summary, the key phases for the development of personalized IoT solutions are:
- What projects would you highlight as the main professional challenges that you have faced in IoTsens?
I would highlight two projects that have been a challenge at a professional level:
The project of our client Iberital, which involved the development of a solution to connect the coffee machines, the main challenge was to develop a team that would be integrated into a product already existing in the market and that would be a solution that would work globally anywhere. of the world.
The remote metering project for our client FACSA covering several cities in the province of Castellón, the main challenge we faced was the integration of different water meters from different manufacturers that work with different communication technologies under one solution. In particular, the challenge was to manage a large volume of devices and data and make everything appear in a uniformly to simplify the client’s management of the devices information.
- In conclusion, and based on your experience, what role do you think the data has in the digital transformation?
In general, we have observed in all the projects in which we have been involved that there is information that until then was unknown, both of the use and the use of the devices.
For example, in the remote sensing project, the national water company of Saudi Arabia found that domestic water consumption was much higher than expected, reaching 30 times higher than estimated. This information is essential for the government of a desert territory where water is a scarce resource. The government will launch awareness campaigns on the use of water.
