AT&T and IBM today announced its Internet of Things / M2M alliance to initially focus on creating new solutions targeted for city governments and midsize utilities.
As part of the M2M alliance, AT&T and IBM will combine their analytic platforms, cloud, and security technologies with privacy in mind to gain more insights on data collected from machines in a variety of industries.
The new AT&T and IBM alliance will assist enterprises which are intending to integrate and analyze vast quantities of data from assets such as mass transit vehicles, utility meters, and video cameras. As a result, cities may be able to better evaluate patterns and trends to improve urban planning and utilities can better manage their equipment to reduce costs.
IDC says the installed base for the Internet of Things will grow to approximately 212 billion devices by 2020, a number that includes 30 billion connected devices. IDC sees this growth driven largely by intelligent systems that will be installed and collecting data — across both consumer and enterprise applications.
Chris Hill, senior vice president, AT&T Advanced Solutions, said: “We share a vision that the ‘Internet of Things’ will help companies in a variety of industries rely on their remote assets and connected devices to take their business to the next level.”
The new collaboration with AT&T will offer insights from crowdsourcing, mobile applications, sensors and analytics on the cloud, enabling all organizations to better listen, respond and predict.
“Smarter cities, cars, homes, machines and consumer devices will drive the growth of the Internet of Things along with the infrastructure that goes with them, unleashing a wave of new possibilities for data gathering, predictive analytics, and automation,” said Rick Qualman, vice president, Strategy & Business Development, Telecom Industry, IBM.
AT&T and IBM will work together to build solutions at the AT&T M2M Foundry in Plano, Texas and IBM Global Solution Centers around the world.
Meanwhile, jointly with its partner IBM, Deutsche Telekom will showcase smart solutions for M2M and the Internet of Things at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona.
Deutsche Telekom said at its Smarter Stadium, fans can look forward to more exciting experience during games and concerts through better management of traffic and crowd congestion, improved safety measures and enhanced facilities.
At the smarter Retail / Food Tracing, consumers can gain more transparency by checking the source of food, including the location of fresh produce and its route to the supermarket aisle.
Together with its partners Accenture, Huawei and BMW, Vodafone M2M will demonstrate some of its key products and solutions including Smart Retail. Vodafone says M2M technology can create intelligent retail cabinets, enable targeted digital advertising and reduce energy cost and consumption.