Dive Brief:
- Cisco has launched a series of network innovations and hardware in an effort to provide a central nervous system for smart building automation, according to a report by Venture Beat. The hardware is designed to increase the speed and security of Internet of Things (IoT) systems in the existing environment.
- Sinclair Holdings in Fort Worth, TX, and Alpiq InTec in Switzerland are beta-testing the integration of Cisco components to their smart building systems for reducing energy and providing data and analytics.
- The introduction of a new IoT-enabled switch is the first in a series of planned product innovations to enable the protocol convergence of IoT devices and building automation systems with a single digital network architecture and enterprise security.
Dive Insight:
Though still in its beginning stages, Cisco’s effort to improve networking and utility hardware behind the walls signifies IoT’s growth within building automation. Security, occupancy awareness, environmental control, energy management and media/machine software could be converged into a single network for improved operational efficiency, network security and enhanced data collection and analytics.
As the Internet of Things spreads within home and building automation, technologists have been predicting the eventual emergence of a IoT "God Platform." The platform would represent a highest-level, generalized interface where all systems and apps will converge for both the system's efficiency and for a simplified, elegant user interface.
From Cisco’s perspective, building automation represents a front-line opportunity to build such an interface. Integrating badge systems, energy management and automation would amount to a leap-frog of a generation of buildings system innovations, according to Sachin Gupta, Cisco's vice president of enterprise switching.
