Advantech announced at its Embedded World Partner Conference held this month that it's planning to work with Intel to develop Smart City and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. The two companies will work together in the development, manufacturing, testing, marketing and selling of computing platforms for the IoT industry.
Chaney Ho, president of Advantech says, "As the number of Internet-connected devices tops 15 billion nodes by 2015 and exceeds 50 billion by 2020, we will see huge opportunities for computing platforms in the market, which will help make the Internet of Things a practical reality."
Chaney adds, "To cooperate with Intel is a great honor for Advantech. We're now working together toward a common goal—to realize the era of the Smart City."
The Internet of Things is the latest buzzword that refers to the trend toward connecting a myriad of everyday appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, cars, air conditioners and medical devices to the Internet. The "smart cities" notion refers to visionary ideas of exploring the implications of using IoT for urban development and city planning.
Intel has set up a new business unit, called the Internet of Things Solutions Group to broaden its reach in this segment, particularly in markets such as India, China and Indonesia, where booming populations put a severe strain on current urban and manufacturing infrastructures.
Rick Dwyer, vice president of sales and marketing and general manager, Worldwide Embedded Sales Group at Intel, explains that in markets such as India, Intel expects to see the emergence of "smart cities," where intelligent devices with embedded chips become critical components. "It's hard to say how big the Internet of Things business is going to be for Intel, but every source suggests the growth is going to be in the billions," Dwyer says. "Intel is working to accelerate the development and deployment of the Internet of Things to drive business transformation. The development of gateway platforms, like those in development with Advantech, will help to seamlessly connect the more than 85% of existing legacy devices to enable the aggregation, filtering and sharing of data from the devices up to the cloud."
