Volkwagen Software Troubles & Verizon IoT Startup Competition [Roundup]

Verizon Awards $1M to IoT Startups

Verizon launched a competition, Powerful Answers, amongst Internet of Things (IoT) startups and now has the three final technology categories in place, with the mention of twelve companies included. The competition will award the champion one million dollars to support their company. Each startup is from various industries, such as agriculture, medicine, and humanitarian fields. While the different agendas of each company are highly impressive, all the startups proved that harnessing the IoT was an essential part to the growing cause.

At LNS Research, we know the need for organizations to understand and implement the IoT. Process, people, and technology all benefit by the presence of the IoT, and ultimately transformed. We’ve recently developed an IoT survey that will be available in the coming weeks for our readers and clients, complimented with a year of free access to our Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) research library. We hope you take this opportunity to expand your Iot/IIoT knowledge.

Mentor Graphics Launches Softing Industrial Automation

Mentor Graphics announced the accessibility of Softing Industrial Automation stacks in Nucleus real time operating system (RTOS). Using Ethernet technology, the new automation system will enable the software to connect shop floors and automate processes throughout.

Many industrial plants and shops experience silos and disparate systems in shop floor-to-shop floor processes and shop floor-to-top floor processes. By utilizing Ethernet technology, Mentor Graphics has provided a software that will make industrial automation more easily available to eliminate shop floor silos and disparate systems with next-generation applications. The new system will provide a comprehensive suite of service control, safety, standardization, motion, configuration, and information for quality, production, and flexibility. This will target next-generation industrial automation applications. To read more about the software highlights click here.

Volkswagen Emission Scandal

It has caught the attention of millions. As LNS Research Principle Analyst, Andrew Hughes explained in a recent blog post that the Volkswagen emission scandal was the result of a software system that was responsible for testing the emissions on the vehicles.

The Volkswagen North America CEO, Michael Horn spoke on behalf of the company by publically apologizing, and distancing himself from the cause and outcome. While informing the public eye that three employees have been suspended for their unapproved actions, Horn fails to recognize is that as CEO, he is held responsible for the success and failure of production within the North American plants.

This is how software proves to be a problem for businesses, large and small. Software may be flexible to customize and use for the benefit of organizations, it is just as easily flexible for incidents such as this one. This is why it is important to implement standardization across all systems, and use the IoT for manufacturing operations management (MOM) and end-to-end product traceability. To read more about the scandal and how it is being handled click here.

Uber Gets to the Bottom of Big Data Breach

In the past months, attention and concerns have been centered on the extreme capabilities of hackers. After Chrysler experienced their basement-hackers attack on moving vehicles that were miles away, many people and IoT professionals have been concerned with the security of delicate information. Uber experienced similar concerns when it experienced a big data breach.

Nearly 50,000 names and personal information belonging to Uber drivers was hacked and obtained from the company in February 2015. Since then, Uber has effortlessly been using all legal efforts to get to the bottom of where and who the data traveled. It is important for companies to have the same security standard across all users.

While the IoT is a very strong and useful tool to take advantage of, it has proven to be delicate as well. Maintaining knowledge, traceability, and IoT security strengths is essential to every business and organization. That’s why we are providing an IIoT survey to you and one year of full access to our IIoT research library. To learn more about the Uber data breach click here, and keep an eye out for the launch of our IIoT survey in the coming weeks.