The gap between smart grid end points and Internet connections recently narrowed, as energy companies will soon begin using WiFi connections to collect usage data.
I wouldn't mind prices not going down or increasing slightly if it has positive environmental effects less smog/pollution and more reliable energy grid.
Sounds good, Paul. I do hope the savings that accrue from smart grid eventually make it into customer savings, too. I don't think that will be immediate, though. It will take awhile for the utility companies to decide they've gotten ROI for new infrastructure.
The idea is greater transparency into how their energy networks are functioning will enable producers and consumers to use energy more effectively and reduce the overall costs. In the summer, an energy company's grid may be overused. Traditionally, it would have to pay the going rate to buy energy energy from another transmission supplier. If it could see its energy use rising, it could plan more proactively, say making a deal with company that has more energy than needed or send a note to consumers asking them to lower their usage. Right now, these companies have virtually no visibility into what is going on until their system alarms sound after surpassing a certain threshold.
Won't the cost savings come from the greater transparency that will be provided to all stakeholders, not just the energy companies themselves? As an example, the idea that if we are more aware of how we consume energy, we will make choices to use it more effectively?
Plus the better information we have about supply and demand and the variables on both ends, can increase our choices in how to cut out waste, and more effectively use the resources we have.
I think it will change our behavior as we are exposed to smarter, more information, grids.
I am fascinated by the possibilities of smart grid technologies. I'm wondering, though, to what extent they will reduce the cost to the consumer of electricity, water, gas, etc. Utilities may claim that providing these new infrastructure enhancements and IP-based networks will force rates to stay high, even if energy use is more controlled and costs for it reduced.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
Increasingly, companies are using videoconferencing technology to help employees collaborate with co-workers, partners, and customers. As a result, demand for technicians is rising, and companies are finding it difficult to retain their quality workers.
Software-defined networks, which deliver virtualization functions to enterprise networks, have the potential to dramatically change network design and significantly reduce costs and maintenance.
A recent survey by Endace found that 23% of companies experience some type of network problem daily and another 25% have a serious problem each month. Enterprise networks are still very unreliable and probably will continue to be in the near term.
ITRC found that more than 600 security breaches took place in 2012. Flaws were found in some of the nation's most respected companies: Apple, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. So, it seems the bad guys are doing better than the men in the white hats.
LED lightbulbs will be used not only for home and business lighting automation, but possibly also for locating shoppers inside stores and transmitting data at hundreds of megabits per second.
Businesses helped neighbors with Internet access and mobile device charge-ups during Sandra. Following that example, enterprises should consider preparing Internet disaster plans to help the public during disasters.
Cisco's rumored sale of Linksys suggests we may have problem with innovation and profit at the edge of our Internet, and that could be critical to the evolution of many Internet-delivered services.
The recent launch of the EchoStar XVII satellite has the potential to increase broadband satellite communications' top speed from megabits to gigabits of bandwidth. Hughes Network Systems plans to test its high-speed satellite broadband services this summer and roll them out this fall.
Telcos and cable companies seem to be engaging in a speed war, pushing access up to 300Mbit/s. Does this mean our Internet is getting better? No, it means that the operators are thinking of ways to use the capacity outside the Internet.
With the advent of low-cost Web cameras and broadband network connections, home security systems have become a hot business. In addition to traditional security suppliers, like ADT, the market is attracting telcos, cable companies, and energy providers, thereby creating an area of increasing competition.
There's a lot of debate on whether ceding control of the Internet to the ITU/UN is bad for the Internet. Whether that's really true depends on just how much of the "control" we yield and what we do to balance the Internet as an innovation platform and as a service platform.
Watching TV is not healthy for you, according to conventional wisdom. Well, that may soon change. Comcast and United Healthcare are now delivering diabetes prevention videos on-demand to high-risk patients. The partnership illustrates how healthcare may be delivered in the future.
Ushering in a new era of cognitive computing systems, IBM announced today the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor, a technology breakthrough that allows brands to crunch big data in record time to transform the way they engage clients in key functions such as customer service, marketing, and sales.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
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