What is the Internet of Things? IoT is one of the new buzz words floating around in the technology space. It basically refers to any device that can send or receive data via the internet in an automated manner.
These devices tend to be centred around a singular purpose. Think of a tyre pressure sensor or temperature sensor in a refrigerated compartment, it allows for the acquisition of up-to-date information, that would not readily be available without human interaction.
What is IoT used for?
There are 2 main purposes:
- Gathering data to centralise and aggregate the information to create a larger system.
- Facilitating several IoT devices to talk to each other to create more functionality.
In the transport world, an IoT device is something on the vehicle that can transmit and receive information, such as sending vehicle location or receiving routing information.
DriveCam is an example of an IoT device. It collects data about the vehicle, driver and its environment and sends this back to a central point via a secure and encrypted mobile internet connection to provide a holistic view of on road and in-cab operations. DriveRisk aggregates the data and use analytics, machine vision and artificial intelligence capabilities to provide risk analysis to present meaningful reports and insights to improve driver safety.
Why would you use IoT?
It’s a great way to manage remote assets. Be that from an operational performance perspective – on time delivery, route optimisation and maintaining schedules etc. DriveRisk’s perspective is IoT allows our advanced technologies such as Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence to manage and monitor driver performance and behavioural aspects of the driving task. This means addressing on-road risk to improve driver safety. This aligns with Safety Management Systems enabling you to meet your Chain of Responsibility (CoR) obligations. This is a great demonstration of the value the IoT can provide a transport operator.
Security is a big issue for IoT devices. It is reasonably easy to get a device connected to the internet, provide data and be controlled, but it is an entirely different matter to ensure that only the appropriate people have access to it. DriveCam manages the required security and DriveRisk can assist your business to set up the appropriate policies around this to complete the picture. The previous issue of Power Torque on cyber security provides details.
How do you benefit from IoT?
The “value to noise” ratio needs to be considered. In other words – is this giving me useful information that I can use in a meaningful way to enhance the safety and profit outcomes of my business? If there is a data overload, will this information provide a value proposition or will the value be lost in the overwhelming volume of information. This is the critical element to be considered in the decision-making process.
In a valuable system, the data gives you real time insights and tangible gains in safety. Your IoT data feed now uncovers potential hazards and risk that you would be historically blind to. This new capacity to reduce your risk footprint will automatically improve profitability. The decision-making process to invest in IoT changes as you are now dealing with valuable information that will have immediate and long-term impacts on operational safety outcomes. This allows you to differentiate your business from competitors giving you an edge in the transport game.
DriveCam as an IoT device provides insightful data in a secure fashion that allows you to make better decisions about your business – improving the safety and profitability. DriveCam maximises the signal to noise ratio by using intelligent predictive algorithms that provide insightful data specific to the human aspect of your transport operation.
IoT has an important place in transport now and in the future, but like all technologies, selecting the right one that provides real value and does it in a cost and time effective manner.
