The US-based Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) has launched the IIC Accelerator Program, a set of initiatives designed to stimulate industrial IoT adoption and help IT and OT users solve business problems.
IIC says the initiatives will appeal to end users of IoT technology who want to discuss challenges with their peers, get advice from IIC experts, or seek guidance to solve complex technical problems.
“Since 2014, the IIC has developed seven foundational documents that have become de facto guidelines for enterprises seeking to adopt IIoT technology solutions,” it says.
“To invigorate the next phase of digital transformation, the IIC’s focus is to apply these frameworks and member expertise to industry-specific use cases for the benefit of technology end users.
IIC says the Accelerator Program will “enable technology end users to achieve tangible results by assisting from ideation to implementation: with problem definition, helping to identify technologies, offering a neutral platform for innovation and delivering pilots.”
It will give vendors and systems integrators “a new avenue to develop, test and offer solutions to technology end users across all industries, fostering a vibrant end-to-end solution development ecosystem.”
IIC Vice President Industry Programs Howard Kradjel said the accelerator represented a neutral platform that would foster partnering and help technology end users solve real problems via the IIC member ecosystem.
The Accelerator Program includes:
End User Leadership Councils– collaborative councils of senior executives representing various industries interested in establishing vision and influencing direction in IoT in an industry and implementing, testing or using IoT solutions in their facilities.
Testbeds– experimentation platforms for conducting rigorous, transparent and replicable testing of new concepts, new business models and emerging technologies.
Test Drives– short-term, rapid engagements with technology end users that are focused on ideation, technology identification, and partnering to get to a pilot deployment quickly. Test drives reduce uncertainty of technology adoption and intend to produce validated, market-ready solutions to be rolled out throughout an enterprise.
IoT Challenges– public contests aimed at solving real problems and advancing the validation of industrial internet applications and solutions.
Special Interest Groups– groups of members and non-members created for the purpose of collaboration with essential experts in a particular area of technology. The first SIGis dedicated to over-the-air (OTA) updates and seeks to create requirements for OTA solutions for the automotive and other industries.
