Huawei to integrate EC-IoT solution into Wapwag’s smart supply management platform
Huawei and Wapwag Smart Water Public Co. announced at the Edge Computing Industry Summit 2017 in Beijing they have reached an agreement in which the former’s Edge Computing IoT (EC-IoT) solution will be integrated into the latter’s smart supply management platform. According to Huawei, this agreement will help provide a foundation for the digital transformation of the water industry.
The world is becoming increasingly connected with the rise of web-connected devices. Research firm IDC, for example, expects 28.1 billion IoT devices to be in existence by 2020, with IHS Markit estimating 30.7 billion by that time. While the cloud has traditionally played a role in managing the data produced by IoT devices, it cannot bear the whole burden with these figures in mind. As a result, edge computing was introduced as a way to take some of the workload off the shoulders of the cloud by placing an edge server between it and an end user. Currently, the network edge faces the challenge of having several heterogeneous connections, in addition to increased demand for real-time service performance, application intelligence, data optimization and security privacy.
Huawei announced in September it had entered into a collaboration with Wapwag, as well as Infosys, to boost the implementation of industry applications, including smart water technologies based on open edge computing IoT. In the water supply industry, Huawei’s EC-IoT solution is intended to make application development at the edge of a customer’s network easier, allowing the application systems of different partners to interoperate.
The purpose of Wapwag’s smart supply management platform, according to the company, is to improve industry intelligence, and operations and maintenance (O&M) management. The platform leverages IoT technologies to implement customization, standardized design and optimized production of the smart water supply. It also uses applications such as remote monitoring, mobile construction, fault warning and various user interfaces to bring the services of the water supply industry into equipment, enterprises and society. According to the companies, the smart water solution developed by Huawei and Wapwag will improve digitalization, ICT, intelligence and reliability of traditional water supply systems during this changeover.
“The water supply system directly affects the quality of water for residents. Maintaining water supply devices and monitoring water quality are now major challenges for water supply companies and administrative departments,” said Yang Feng, deputy general manager of Wapwag. “The smart water solution uses edge computing IoT to connect water supply devices, as well as monitor these devices and water quality in real time. It helps water supply companies and administrative departments reduce downtime by 70%, lower labor costs by 80%, and ensure a high-quality water supply.”
