From Sensor to Observation Web with Environmental Enablers in the Future Internet

This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communities’ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term ?envirofied? Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management)

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Smart Factory Web Testbed: From concept to reality: Beitrag auf der Internetseite Control Engineering (https://www.controleng.com), September 19, 2019

The Smart Factory Web Testbed aims to set up a marketplace for industrial production that comprises a web-based platform to allow factories to offer production capabilities and share resources to improve order fulfillment in a more flexible way than is currently possible with available technology

Smart Factory Web. Plattform eines offenen Marktplatzes für Produktionsfähigkeiten

The paper describes the goals and architecture of the Smart Factory Web as a platform for the networking of factories. The capabilities and capacities of factories are adapted and combined to achieve a flexible order fulfilment. This enables the Industrie 4.0 application scenarios “order controlled production” and “adaptable factory”. The architectural concepts of IIC and Industrie 4.0 as well as the international standards OPC UA and AutomationML form the basis for a sustainable and open solution

Outcomes, Insights and Best Practices from IIC Testbeds: Smart Factory Web Testbed

In order to extend the usefulness of the published Testbeds in the Testbed Program of the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), the Testbed Working Group has developed an initiative to interview the contributors of selected testbeds to showcase more insights about the testbed, including the lessons learned through the testbed development process. This initiative enables the IIC to share more insights and inspire more members to engage in the Testbed Program. This article highlights the Smart Factory Web Testbed. The information and insights described in the following article were captured through an interview conducted by Mr. Joseph Fontaine, Vice President of Testbed Programs at IIC, with Dr. Kym Watson, Principal Scientist and Deputy Head of Department Information Management and Production Control at Fraunhofer IOSB. Kym is an active member in the IIC where he has been serving as co-lead of the Smart Factory Web Testbed and is a key contributor to the Testbed Working Group. Kym co-chairs the IIC Distributed Data and Interoperability Management Task Group. In May 2018, Kym was recognized by his peers and bestowed the IIC Testbed Award for his leadership and contribution to the Smart Factory Web Testbed. His nomination indicated the importance of improving manufacturing order fulfillment and cited Kym’s technical expertise, support and advancement of the smart manufacturing activities within the IIC