SMEs and Standards: a Case for Cooperation Massimo Vanetti Consultant, SBS IoT Expert

The Speaker: Massimo Vanetti Digital Innovation, Industry 4 The Speaker: Massimo Vanetti Digital Innovation, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things Institutional Private sector

Index What is oneM2M SMEs cooperating together: a few words on when and why An actual example, also showing what should not be done Why standards matter to SMEs, with focus on interoperability

oneM2M – Introduction – 1/2 oneM2M is a global standards initiative for Machine-to-Machine and IoT technologies. Formed in 2012, it consists of eight of the world’s preeminent standards development organizations, plus six industry fora and consortia and over 220 industrial members. oneM2M specifications provide a framework to support applications and services such as the smart grid, connected car, home automation, public safety and health. It is suitable for use in the industrial domain, providing an interoperability and communication backbone for the “4th industrial revolution”.

oneM2M – Introduction – 2/2 oneM2M is a “cultural product” of Europe, having its roots in ETSI. Also, ETSI and European companies are still the largest contributors to the development of the standards It is largely adopted in Asia, where it is commercially available also to SMEs. Also for this reason, oneM2M Certification Authority is a Korean institution The IoT solution from HPE is in fact a oneM2M implementation There are three open source implementations, two of them from Europe And yet, oneM2M is not well known in Europe

SMEs Cooperating – what usually works SMEs joining together for a given project (typically a call for tender) where parties are complementary to each other It may start as a one-time initiative but sometimes it develops into long term relationships SMEs joining forces to stand in front of large companies that attempt to control some market Cases: SBS: ECAP (anchors) ETSI: SIG on elevators

SMEs Cooperating – a bit of advice There is strong need for coordination and leadership Sometimes, this comes naturally upon recognition of characteristics of the parties involved The leadership often goes to people more than companies If it does not come naturally, it must me enforced somehow, but here may be problems Example: establishing formal SME networks before having a clear project to work at

SMEs Cooperating – what might not work Attempting to put together several companies that are competing on the same market (as opposite to being complementary to each other) This is especially true when commercial/pricing sensitive problems arise Case: window frame makers How is this different from the case of SMEs cooperating for the definition of standards? Here: jealousy and fear arise There: cooperating against a perceived (external) danger

SMEs Cooperating – a Case It all starts with a small company, which develops special testing machines for the semiconductor industry They come up with this idea of a great, innovative design for a new way of testing (MEMS accelerometers) They involve a large customer (as semiconductor manufacturers usually are) They sign an agreement to develop an actual machine and begin setting up a prototype All is well? Yes, but…

SMEs Cooperating – The Need for Help At some point during the project development they realise that The software complexity needed is way beyond their internal capabilities The signed agreement calls for interoperability within the customer’s factory, and they must follow strict standards for that. One thing they are not used to Therefore they involve other parties into the project

SMEs Cooperating Standards in Semiconductors The semiconductor industry is heavily standardised (internally) They have set up their own standards body (SEMI) SEMI standards cover every possible aspect of the industry In the case in study, we are mainly speaking of the standards related to interoperability and machine-to-machine communications That is the E-something series for who might be interested

SMEs Cooperating - Standards Remember to start early in the project SEMI interoperability standards begin by defining a protocol for data interchange But they escalate and cover most of what is in other industries might be called Industry 4.0 (they were doing that for al long time now) Therefore they come to define a model for the operation of equipment This calls for attention since the very beginning of the project, otherwise there is risk of having to do re-adjustments later on Did our company follow this advice? Let’s guess…

Types of Standards – 1/2 Many industrial standards are tied to technologies that are controlled by large companies or groups of them. In many cases these proprietary standards drive the users towards exclusive adoption of the solutions provided by one large provider. IoT and Industry 4.0 projects nearly always involve some form of integration, requiring interaction with several parties at the same time. This may lead to limitations in the reuse of previous investments, reduced economies of scale, and a sort of dependency on the entity controlling the standards.

Types of Standards – 2/2 Some standards are open and not controlled by single big players. They are designed to simplify interworking between different technologies and products. This is the case for oneM2M, which incorporates interworking directly into its specifications. From a technical standpoint, the use of ontologies facilitates interoperability especially in larger projects that must handle data coming from many heterogeneous sources.

The Value of Standards for Digital SMEs Standardization benefits become apparent in all cases when a company must take into consideration the need for multiple editions of otherwise similar projects, perhaps using competing platforms from different vendors Value comes from the ability to connect and work together with the products from other manufacturers, and the ability to share information across whole systems. Standardization helps reducing re-iteration of design and efforts intended to ensure interoperability, allowing SMEs to better concentrate into their core business.

The Value of Standards for User SMEs Users too benefit from the existence of standards, because they can design systems tailored to their needs while standing reasonably assured that the various parts fit together even if they come from different providers. This is especially the case for industrial domain applications, which are currently largely dominated by proprietary solutions.

Thank you for your attention Rue Jacques de Lalaingstraat 4 B-1040 Brussels, Belgium www.sbs-sme.eu info@sbs-sme.eu Small Business Standards is co-financed by the European Commission and the EFTA Member States