The Internet of things that matter

At the Hitachi Data Systems analysts meeting in Colorado, the company discussed some important changes in the organization and an interesting initiative they’re calling “Social Innovation”. It’s a unique approach to what’s essentially a big data problem (and opportunity). This approach draws on the expertise of a 100 year-old manufacturer of large, complex systems and heavy equipment.

Social Innovation

HDS is using this term to describe their efforts to essentially make complex products smarter, like cars, trains, big machines, etc. These are businesses in which 104-year old Hitachi Ltd has been a leader in for many years. Their use of the word “social” doesn’t imply interactions between people, as in “social media”, but instead, stems from the word “society”. Apparently, the term was coined by Hitachi Ltd’s CEO many years ago to describe the impact that advancements in these industries would have on the public.

Social Innovation (SI) projects involve capturing lots of data from these complex systems (machine sensor data), typically in real time, and then applying analytics to generate insight into how to improve them. This could mean making these machines safer, cleaner, more comfortable, more efficient, more reliable, easier to fix, etc.

In one example, jet engine manufacturers (like GE, an HDS customer) are capturing performance and environmental data points during engine operation. These data are sent back to the manufacturer in real time and used to optimize operation, reduce fuel consumption, proactively alert for maintenance, etc. In the recent Malaysia Airlines disappearance the telemetry sent by the aircraft’s engines was used to help locate the plane in flight after its transponders had been disabled.

Deep Domain Expertise

HDS is using what they call “deep domain expertise”, their knowledge of industries like transportation, automotive, healthcare, heavy equipment, etc., in which to apply SI. This is because they build these systems and in many cases also manufacture the sensors themselves, so they know what kinds of data is available and how to capture it.

They certainly have the IT expertise but they also have the analytics expertise because they’re intimately familiar with how this equipment is used, how the companies operate, etc. This gives them some real insight into how to analyze these data points and how to preprocess and reduce that data before it’s analyzed. Finally, Hitachi Ltd is very well known in these industries, making potential customers more comfortable with a forward-thinking project like SI.

Things that Matter

This initiative looks a bit like the “Internet of Everything” that Cisco has been advertising and has some similarities to IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign of a few years ago as well. But Social Innovation could also be called, “The Internet of Things that Matter”. As one HDS executive explained, “what your refrigerator tells you isn’t as important as what the power grid tells you”, again, emphasizing the social aspect to this kind of innovation.

Storage Swiss Take

With their Social Innovation initiative, HDS isn’t taking a purely IT approach to solving what’s essentially a data problem, albeit a big data problem. Instead they’re taking an engineering approach, which is entirely appropriate for a company that’s always led with their engineering know how.

Part of the challenge of big data analytics is knowing which data sets to compare and then how to correlate the different data types that are involved. Having an engineer’s perspective, (like the engineer that designed and built the system itself) gives you tremendous insight into that data.

With its SI project, HDS isn’t focused on all the systems that collect, store and process the mountains of data that are available in the world. Instead, they’re going to specific industries they know very well and applying this understanding to capturing and analyzing specific data. Their objective (like an engineer’s objective) is to create better outcomes for the companies that run these systems and for the public that’s affected by them.

HDS is a client of Storage Switzerland

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About Eric Slack

Eric is an Analyst with Storage Switzerland and has over 25 years experience in high-technology industries. He’s held technical, management and marketing positions in the computer storage, instrumentation, digital imaging and test equipment fields. He has spent the past 15 years in the data storage field, with storage hardware manufacturers and as a national storage integrator, designing and implementing open systems storage solutions for companies in the Western United States.  Eric earned degrees in electrical/computer engineering from the University of Colorado and marketing from California State University, Humboldt.  He and his wife live in Colorado and have twins in college.