47
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
June
2016
T
he development of the internet over the last
30 or so years has brought with it connectivity
among people, organisations and businesses
on a scale that would have been difficult to
imagine when it first emerged. Around the world, many
have already experienced the power of the internet, as
it has transformed lives through the use of devices
such as smart phones and wearables.
Simply connecting things from daily life, however, is
not sufficient to enable useful new methods of
managing business operations. Connectivity has rapidly
extended beyond people to ‘things’, as devices, sensors,
controllers and actuators are able to be connected by
the industrial internet of things (IIoT). For that,
platforms, tools, algorithms, applications and strategies
are needed to analyse, distribute and act on the huge
amounts of data that result from this connectivity.
The IIoT is not so much about the amount of data
that is being generated – there is already an enormous
amount of data available to manufacturers. Rather, the
true value of the IIoT is its ability to deliver actionable
insight into the palm of a hand, where and when it is
