The new facility will develop IoT products and apps
Chinese ICT solutions provider Huawei and Vodafone Group have launched a new Open IoT Lab to develop products and applications relating to Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology.
The lab will offer a pre-integration testing environment for application developers and device, module and chip manufacturers. The new facility, which is the first of seven that Huawei plans to open, will also offer support to developers and partners. They will work with Huawei and Vodafone to explore new developments including network solution verification, new application innovation, device integration, and product compliance certification.
“With our decade-long strategic partnership with Vodafone, the creation of this lab is another important milestone in our long term relationship,” Huawei’s Wireless Product Line President David Wang said. “Working with Vodafone, we have accelerated standardization of the technology and carried out successful pre-commercial trials. This facility will be crucial in supporting the deployment of NB-IoT globally and contribute to the promotion of its ecosystem.”
Huawei and Vodafone are already working with a number of companies in the development of NB-IoT applications. The first devices connected by NB-IoT technologies are expected in late 2016 or early 2017, the Chinese firm said.
NB-IoT technology promises improved network coverage for IoT communications, and supports a large number of connections while lowering power consumption. It has applications in a range of areas, including utility meters, sensor monitoring and asset tracking.
Huawei and Vodafone have jointly demonstrated smart metering at Mobile World Congress in 2015 and completed the first successful commercial trial of pre-standard NB-IoT in November 2015.
Study says spending on IoT security will reach $348m this year
In related news, a study by Gartner revealed that worldwide spending on Internet of Things (IoT) security will reach $348 million in 2016, an increase of 23.7% compared to the previous year. Spending on IoT security is expected to reach $547 million in 2018.
“The market for IoT security products is currently small but it is growing as both consumers and businesses start using connected devices in ever greater numbers,” Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner, said. “Gartner forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30% from 2015, and will reach 11.4 billion by 2018. However, considerable variation exists among different industry sectors as a result of different levels of prioritization and security awareness.”
According to Gartner, more than 25% of identified attacks in enterprises will involve IoT by 2020, although IoT will account for less than 10% of IT security budgets.
