Marco's thoughts

  • The blurring line between real and virtual

    The blurring line between real and virtual

    As hyperconnectivity turbocharges our digital interactions today, the question is what next. One of the most significant innovations that the imagination of science has inspired is that of the metaverse. This word has now come to mean a shared virtual environment created by the intersection of a physical reality that is enhanced virtually and a physically-persistent virtual space. However, when the word was coined in the 1992 sci-fi novel ‘Snow Crash’, it roughly described an online world that people explored using digital avatars. Although this idea of an embodied internet has been the talk of the tech town recently, it has been fascinating many of us for a while now.

    As a gaming enthusiast, a discussion that I witnessed at the Gartner Symposium about a decade ago has stayed with me all this time. The virtual reality, and aptly named game ‘Second Life’, often referred to as the first metaverse, was examined in the symposium. Released as early as 2003, many pathbreaking elements of the game have helped us conceptualize the metaverse better. The game had no end goal; like social media, it was built around social interactions in a three-dimensional world, which also had its own economy. Similar to a plethora of other innovations, the supporting technologies for gaming and the metaverse have a lot in common, making the gaming industry one of the biggest drivers of this new universe. Developers, such as that of the first-person combat game ‘Unreal’, have successfully built and monetised virtual worlds.

    However, gaming alone isn’t driving the evolution of the metaverse. Its implications are multifold in the manufacturing setting. Businesses are saving millions by adopting digital-first models for industrial process monitoring and troubleshooting. Metaverse tech has enabled digital twins – simulated versions of real-world objects that update based on spatio-temporal data. For example, in the automotive industry, simulated crash tests are saving manufacturers both money and time. Similarly, at ABB, we have the RobotStudio, which is open for use through a cloud-based subscription. The RobotStudio suite allows users to build robots in a virtual environment that will accurately replicate the functioning and movement of a physical installation, thus increasing productivity and enabling flexibility in production.

    Although the metaverse is creating waves in Silicon Valley, it works wonders in a localised environment. Businesses are providing unique customer experiences using related tech. There is much to do at all levels of the stack before we have a sophisticated globalised virtual universe. But in an age where a social media giant rechristened itself to match the revolution, we know everyone’s focus is on creating this new universe. What else could we do entirely in a virtual environment in the near future?

  • An age where everything talks!

    An age where everything talks!

    Last week, as I reflected on the increasing trust in the cloud, I also pondered on other drivers that promise a digitized future. Perhaps, one of the most accurate illustrations of the phrase “the future is already here” lies in hyperconnectivity. Unsurprisingly, the prefix ‘smart’ is added to almost every model connected on higher levels – smart production, smart homes, and smart cities, for instance. Today, the value of the network is high since everything is inevitably about talking; person to person, machine to machine, person to machine.

    Hyperconnectivity occurs across devices, locations, and media for various purposes. It is expected that by 2025, nearly 27 billion devices will be connected to the IoT. Machines, devices, applications, and sensors now populate the network alongside humans. However, what sets industry 4.0 apart is the pivotal role of the machine and its autonomy. I remember dreaming about my washing machine working with my home’s power grid to find the most optimal time for its cycle; now, this is reality!

    Industry 4.0 is equipped with the combined dual powerhouse of mechanization and hyperconnectivity. Never before has more valuable data been collected, exchanged, and analyzed. Plants and assembly lines globally function with machines and facilities connected to a network, creating a single, more efficient virtual plant. Moreover, a hyperconnected product value chain also increases customer trust by involving them at every stage. Businesses can also optimize production, make informed decisions, and detect changes in the value chain using process data.

    What are some industrial implications of new levels of connectivity? The energy sector is more sustainable and reliable in detecting power outages and maximizing consumption. Healthcare has moved on to real-time monitoring. The future of the automotive industry lies in vehicles that are increasingly connected to their surroundings. Retail and logistics also are evolving to produce real-time updates to customers.

    There is no end to describing how hyperconnectivity is changing the landscape of every industry. However, increased risks also accompany increased reliance on a network for communication. We definitely need to think about some of the threats that we need to mitigate, and about how can businesses facilitate safer connectivity. More about that later…

  • Beyond the clouded judgement

    Beyond the clouded judgement

    In recent times, providers of cloud-computing environments have been actively going the extra mile to curate and tailor infrastructures, platforms, and software offered as a service to suit the unique needs of businesses. Increasingly, organisations and oft-sceptical CIOs have been making the shift away from on-premise IT solutions.

    But what is the cost of this? Besides the perceived ambiguity in procurement models and business objectives, data security and the fear of losing control remain the most prominent reasons for mistrust. Although vendors have been building security and feedback loops in each layer, the key to getting the most out of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS) is prioritising risk management without blind trust.

    A vast majority of companies across size and sector types have begun their digital transformation. What is driving this revolution? I recall a major corporation adopting a cloud-first approach as early as 2014 to refocus resources on innovation. More than anything, using the cloud for an organisation beneficially lies in understanding business needs. Manufacturers are jumping on the cloud-wagon for agility, cost benefits, and global expansion.

    Many startups with neither the need nor time to develop their own applications are rapidly adopting SaaS. Organisations developing multiple customised applications in short-timelines resort to PaaS to cut time spent in coding and easily access more sophisticated tools. And organisations of all sizes and kinds benefit from IaaS models; with smaller businesses saving on time, resources and human capital, and larger ones being able to retain control of their applications through IaaS solutions.

    The cloud enables automated workflows for industries with large assets like plants, equipment, machines, and vehicles. By connecting to the IoT, these assets record massive amounts of data. When paired with industrial cloud computing, the data recorded is efficiently captured on applications which helps streamline asset management and operations. In all, this creates an agile and responsive environment for industrial enterprises driving digital transformation as a key component of their growth agenda today.

    Ultimately, it boils down to the three C’s – Control, Convenience and Customisation. Identifying priorities amongst these three ensures that the main task is done. What follows is establishing robust risk-management strategies and finding the vendor that puts the business on cloud nine!

  • Supercomputing and the next industrial revolution 

    Supercomputing and the next industrial revolution 

    Fact: technology in your smartphone is hundred times more powerful than what NASA used for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. In just 50 years, human imagination and scientific temper has moved computing to a whole new level. The applications of digital technologies in today are having a distinct impact on almost every moment of our existence and daily routine. 

    Recent examples:  

    • Groundbreaking advancements in High Performance Computing (HPC) are being used for weather forecasting, running simulations and assisting in scientific research. A recent announcement introduced the Leonardo HPC system, currently the world’s fourth most powerful supercomputer, which will be able to perform at over 240 petaflops. With one petaflop being the computing speed equal to one quadrillion floating point operations per second, one can only imagine the computing power and limitless applications of a supercomputer this powerful 
    • Also recently, NVIDIA and Microsoft teamed up to build what they are calling one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. Its USP – it can be used to research and accelerate advances in generative AI and will be hosted on the Azure cloud. It is also scalable, takes up less power and is super energy efficient 

    Data, the many petabytes of it that will flow from diverse devices in industrial plants across the world, and the supercomputing to power this data is at the heart of the current industrial revolution. Data capacity and computing speeds are critical to drive in-memory ERPs, Industrial IoT, and integration with smart sensing – all key success factors for the industrial transformation that is in its nascent stages. 

    A typical industrial set-up has thousands of data generators – tens or even hundreds of thousands in large manufacturing enterprises. All of these churning out valuable data on asset performance every second. Data that can be used to run diverse processes and analytics. Supercomputing will be the bedrock of the ability to capture and store real-time data so analytics can be run on them for predictive insights on optimization. This will help meet the industrial world meet its long-standing dream of coming close to a productivity paradigm. 

    With frequent breakthroughs in supercomputing technologies, we are racing towards an era of unimaginable innovation. Supercomputing has now started supporting more enterprise use cases, and it’s all driven by AI and Machine Learning.