An artificial intelligence-based collaboration approach in industrial IoT manufacturing : key concepts, architectural extensions and potential applications

The digitization of manufacturing industry has led to leaner and more efficient production, under the Industry 4.0 concept. Nowadays, datasets collected from shop floor assets and information technology (IT) systems are used in data-driven analytics efforts to support more informed business intelligence decisions. However, these results are currently only used in isolated and dispersed parts of the production process. At the same time, full integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in all parts of manufacturing systems is currently lacking. In this context, the goal of this manuscript is to present a more holistic integration of AI by promoting collaboration. To this end, collaboration is understood as a multi-dimensional conceptual term that covers all important enablers for AI adoption in manufacturing contexts and is promoted in terms of business intelligence optimization, human-in-the-loop and secure federation across manufacturing sites. To address these challenges, the proposed architectural approach builds on three technical pillars: (1) components that extend the functionality of the existing layers in the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0; (2) definition of new layers for collaboration by means of human-in-the-loop and federation; (3) security concerns with AI-powered mechanisms. In addition, system implementation aspects are discussed and potential applications in industrial environments, as well as business impacts, are presented

Decentralized Blockchain-Based IoT Data Marketplaces

In present times, the largest amount of data is being controlled in a centralized manner. However, as the data are in essence the fuel of any application and service, there is a need to make the data more findable and accessible. Another problem with the data being centralized is the limited storage as well as the uncertainty of their authenticity. In the Internet of Things (IoT) sector specifically, data are the key to develop the most powerful and reliable applications. For these reasons, there is a rise on works that present decentralized marketplaces for IoT data with many of them exploiting blockchain technology to offer security advantages. The main contribution of this work is to review the existing works on decentralized IoT data marketplaces and discuss important design aspects and options so as to guide (a) the prospective user to select the IoT data marketplace that matches their needs and (b) the potential designer of a new marketplace to make insightful decisions

Decentralized Blockchain-Based IoT Data Marketplaces

In present times, the largest amount of data is being controlled in a centralized manner. However, as the data are in essence the fuel of any application and service, there is a need to make the data more findable and accessible. Another problem with the data being centralized is the limited storage as well as the uncertainty of their authenticity. In the Internet of Things (IoT) sector specifically, data are the key to develop the most powerful and reliable applications. For these reasons, there is a rise on works that present decentralized marketplaces for IoT data with many of them exploiting blockchain technology to offer security advantages. The main contribution of this work is to review the existing works on decentralized IoT data marketplaces and discuss important design aspects and options so as to guide (a) the prospective user to select the IoT data marketplace that matches their needs and (b) the potential designer of a new marketplace to make insightful decisions