Internet of Things Alliance Australia

6 7 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 sectoral workstreams has its own use cases for which the Internet of Things technology may be differently applied. But the technology underpinning it is often quite similar. The enablers are all about the common factors that sit across everything. Based out of Sydney, IoTAA has board members across the country in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Operations are run by a small staff of three and supported by various contractors, as well as the resources produced by volunteers. “Our members pay to be members, but our workstreams and the programs they run are run by those members,” Zeichner says. “I’m not the font of all knowledge – that would be ridiculous. I am the orchestra conductor of how we share, collaborate, expand, and do cross- sectoral work. They are the producers of content.” All reports and guides the association produces are created by its membership, which numbers 500 participating organisations and nearly 1000 individual members. Being able to draw from such a large pool of knowledge is one of the keys to making the alliance work well. Zeichner notes, “I think that makes us really quite powerful. One of the dangers in industry associations that have a big management structure is that they start thinking they know what they are doing.” IoTAA membership comes in two tiers. The first is Executive Council, which allow for greater direct engagement. Then there are individual Workstream Memberships, which operate on an annual fee. Start-ups and students are offered membership at reduced rates as a way to help support those emerging onto the scene, as well as to encourage new ideas. “That’s where the brains are coming from; that’s where the innovation is,” Zeichner says. “It’s not surprising, but old practices would be pretty close to the reason why we’re not advancing – with people just not “The whole idea that people are guessing as they go needs to change. We need to actually be measuring, to actually know what we are doing. We need to understand the whole ecosystem and the net effect of what we are doing,” Zeichner says. “The way I explain it is: I have a granddaughter who is four years old. I imagined what she would say to me when she is 20. She would be saying ‘why didn’t you know that you’re completely wasting energy or wasting water or breathing bad air?’ So, understanding our planet and how we interact with it is going to be something that IoT for good is about.” The Internet of Things is already making a difference in the world. A World Economic Forum study found that 84 percent of 640 IoT projects they reviewed had a sustainability dividend, even though that was not prime reason for the projects. “Isn’t it amazing?” Zeichner muses. “Imagine if you actually designed for sustainability as opposed to just having it as a by-product? It might well be even better.” For now, adoption of IoT has been slower in Australia than expected, albeit accelerated in some parts due to COVID, but Zeichner believes that will change in the future. And that change will make Australia stand out amongst the global players. “One of the reasons we created IoTAA was because we are progressively, slowly and inexorably not accelerating at the rate of the rest of the world, so our global position is slowly eroding,” he says. “I’m really hoping that we start moving. We stop the trend and we go the other way. That’s my ambition. My vision is that being more of a leader and not a follower we are in control of our own destinies by choosing how we do this and not wait for it to happen to us. That’s what I want to do.” INTERNET OF THINGS ALL I ANCE AUSTRAL I A ( IOTAA) wanting to change their business processes. But good application of IoT actually changes workflow. Getting more efficient, being more data-driven takes more than technology takes real work. It’s hard, you have to rethink your business.” The Alliance works closely with various levels of government, as well as a variety of sectoral groups like Waterworks Services Alliance Australia, the Smart Cities Council, Standards Australia, and Communications Alliance to help encourage connections and the adoption of IoT. “We, by definition, have to be a collaborator of collaborators because that’s the only way we can bridge that technical/sectoral bridge,” Zeichner says. Aside from being good for business, Zeichner believes IoT has the power to do good in the world. He emphasises, “We absolutely must not look, or be like, or act like Facebook, that just introduces something and says whatever happens, happens. We want to make sure that it’s inclusive, that we design with and not for people. That’s the transformation I’m looking for.” But inclusion and understanding isn’t the only thing IoT can do for good. It can also have a huge impact on environmental sustainability. With Myriota connectivity, the Taggle Cockatoo provides water utilities managers with timely consumption data from even the most remotely lo- cated assets. The Cockatoo telemetry device supports data collection from a range of common commercial and industrial protocols, enabling water meters and a range of sensors, to be easily monitored in remote locations. Image courtesy of Myriota