June 2017

42 APAC / June 2017 , digitisation. All experts agree on this – whether they belong to IT, economy or policy. The only open question is how fast this will happen. Yet waiting is not an option: Everything that can be digitised, will be digitised and everything that can be connected, will be connected. The growth of the Internet knows only one direction, and that is upward. At the end of 2015, there were over three billion people connected via the World Wide Web – and more are joining every second (ITU, 2015). And even though it has not yet reached everyone, its influence continues to penetrate new areas. For example, 15 billion ‘things’ have already been digitally networked via the web, but that is just the start of the Internet of Things (IoT). Experts from Cisco expect 50 billion devices to be interlinked via the IoT by 2020. The potential number of networkable objects has been estimated at 1.5 trillion. This includes computers, tablets and smartphones but also wearables, entertainment electronics, domestic appliances, vehicles and industrial machinery. And even the Internet of Things itself is only an intermediate stage: In the future, data, people, machines and processes will be linked in the Internet of Everything. Other drivers of this development are cloud technologies, big data and IT security. Together, they are paving the way for the digital transformation of enterprises. Lower cost, higher productivity Machine-to-machine communication (M2M) builds a promising basis for innovative and disruptive business models that will open new growth opportunities. Fully networked value chains mean a new production logic in which intelligent machines, inventory systems and operating resources exchange data and manage themselves without any human intervention. A company can therefore design a much more flexible product portfolio with the aid of the Internet of things and adapt its production processes more quickly – to respond to component shortages, for example, or customer requirements. The Multi-IoT Service Platform forms the basis It requires not only experienced partners but also, equally important, a suitable infrastructure in the form of a high-performance IoT platform, such as Deutsche Telekom’s Multi IoT Service Platform (MISP). This combines all the benefits of the best Internet of Things (IoT) platform providers under one roof. Each customer is provided with the platform that best suits his own IoT project. This kind of MISP ensures that the selected IoT applications and M2M products and solutions offer the best possible support for the current or planned business model. It also enables IoT devices to provide one-stop and end-to-end multi-vendor services. Numerous Internet of things application scenarios are based on this approach. For example, monitoring and tracking can be used for the early detection of possible problems with goods in transit, refrigeration systems and machine components. Mobile Assets Management uses software to monitor, navigate and coordinate the movements of agricultural machinery, forklifts, excavators and many other mobile objects. Predictive Maintenance Solutions on the other hand, rely on hundreds of sensors, to continuously determine the condition of equipment such as trains or production machinery. And an intelligent IoT-based logistics and fleet management system enables its users to optimise truck capacity utilisation, fuel consumption and much more. Travel, transport & logistics – to actively manage traffic and transport Businesses that transport passengers or freight by rail, road or air need to make best possible use of available resources. Seamlessly integrated applications that capture, consolidate and analyse data from multiple sources in real time – in combination with predictive operations – can maximise asset utilisation, streamline processes, enhance the customer experience and cut costs. Digitising travel, transport and logistics Mass transit providers, logistics and parcel service delivery companies, container terminals and airports typically face significant and similar challenges. They need to exploit their rail, road, and aviation assets to best effect. At the same time, they need to accommodate growth in demand, convert capex to opex, and improve the customer experience. And as if that were not enough, they need to manage digital transformation. This is only possible by combining and coordinating diverse modes of transportation – and by harnessing data from multiple sources. T-Systems develops and operates end-to-end solutions for airports and container terminals, for public transportation providers, and for courier services and logistics players. Where required, T-Systems can provision and integrate all applications into existing IT environments. Customers can also enjoy these as cloud-based offerings, scalable in line with changing needs. This option is particularly attractive for data analytics – which generates considerable cost and effort when custom-developed, and operated on-premises. Across the world, T-Systems technology is successfully deployed in approximately 100 airports, logistics hubs, and public and private transportation organisations – helping to create seamless, efficient flows of goods and people. Airport management T-Systems solutions support the efficient management of more than 50 airports. For example, they enhance the passenger experience by keeping them up-to-speed with all events and developments – from the moment they book their flight through to take-off. All in all, these applications have already guided some 163 million travellers to their gates. Fraport, which operates Frankfurt Airport, already employs this technology to handle 60 million passengers annually. And T-Systems’ solutions portfolio helps to keep flights on time – supporting more than three million take-offs and landings every year. Parcel and courier services Deutsche Post DHL ships approximately three million parcels every day. Annually, it delivers 30 million items via its automated pick-up and drop- off (PUDO) points. And its employees are supported by a total of 50,000 mobile hand-held devices. T-Systems offerings – specifically, dynamic delivery management and recipient interaction and handheld device management – increase efficiency for the last mile. This means fewer unsuccessful delivery attempts and delays, cutting costs and increasing customer satisfaction. In addition, T-Systems manages Deutsche Post DHL’s nearly 3,000 PUDOs and ensures a 24/7 operation. Public transportation Every year, more than 300 million people make their way from A to B, by means of mass transit managed with the help of cloud-based services. T-Systems technology enables seamless intermodal connections, maximum flexibility and low costs – made possible by a centrally hosted multi-tenant solution and end-to-end interoperability. This offering is also available as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) package. In fact, T-Systems has already implemented the two largest smart ticketing systems in Europe. This technology greatly simplifies the ticket- buying process. For example, ÖBB, the Austrian railway corporation, leverages a multi- channel, multimodal solution to sell approximately 33 million tickets annually. In addition, railway companies can harness predictive analytics to anticipate component faults before these lead to unplanned downtime.