Deutsche Telekom has launched an IoT space within IBM ‘s Watson IoT center in Munich
German operator Deutsche Telekom has launched an IoT innovation space within IBM’s Watson IoT center in Munich, Germany. As part of the firm’s efforts to expand its IoT ecosystem, Deutsche Telekom said it will also collocate an IoT team at the IBM facility.
Deutsche Telekom’s team will work side-by-side with IBM experts to develop innovative solutions in several areas including connectivity, security and the internet of things solutions using IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI), big data and industry-specific capabilities.
Deutsche Telekom and IBM will also explore new IoT and AI solutions based on NB-IoT. In an initial phase, both firms will focus on applications tailored for customers in the manufacturing, smart cities and healthcare sectors.
“NarrowBand IoT is the newest trailblazer for the internet of things and a major priority for us,” said Ingo Hofacker, head of Deutsche Telekom’s IoT business. “The IBM Watson IoT Center is a fantastic environment in which we can not only closely collaborate to develop the IoT ecosystem, but also innovate with NB-IoT technologies to help us deliver the transformative business results that our customers demand.”
The Deutsche Telekom IoT innovation space will showcase several IoT applications including smart parking, smart waste and water management, air quality monitoring, as well as predictive maintenance solutions.
Deutsche Telekom is currently developing NB-IoT applications in a number of other research facilities with several partners. The German telco has opened an IoT Lab together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund, Germany as well as the Deutsche Telekom European Smart Solutions Center in Budapest, Hungary.
At the end of December 2017, Deutsche Telekom said its NB-IoT network was available at approximately 300 locations across Germany including Berlin/Potsdam, Cologne/Bonn, the Ruhr basin, Mannheim/Heidelberg and Stuttgart.
Deutsche Telekom plans to complete the network’s country-wide build by the end of 2018. The European operator had initially kicked off its NB-IoT deployment in Germany in June 2017.
More than 150 German companies are currently testing NB-IoT and are also working to develop applications using the technology, the operator said.
Deutsche Telekom is working with numerous customers and partners on the implementation of real-live solutions using NB-IoT technology. In the smart parking space, Deutsche Telekom is collaborating in the launch of a smart parking service in the city of Hamburg. This smart parking service provides information about parking spaces to drivers in real time, digitizing up to 11,000 public and private spaces, including parking garages, with the support of Deutsche Telekom’s NB-IoT technology. Additional German cities including Darmstadt, Duisburg, Dortmund, Merzig and Moers will also introduce smart parking solut
