Internet of things

The article addresses serverless computing and the criteria a serverless architecture must meet. Serverless computing allows developers to deploy applications as a set of functions without worrying about the underlying IT-infrastructure. This software paradigm is then used to implement a global IoT platform for numerous IoT devices in the AWS cloud.

Even though the attention of the mass media has long since turned to other technologies, the significance of blockchain technology is crystallizing more and more clearly. This article briefly describes the technology and uses an application example to show how the use of blockchain technology in the telecommunications industry could be linked to the benefit of all. The fact that our Internet is becoming slower and slower in its existing structure due to the increasing number of accesses via mobile devices can be observed in streaming services, among other things. Progressive digitalisation is producing digital data on an unprecedented scale. The challenge is to secure this data in stable networks at high transmission speeds. Widely diversified networks, which are connected to each other in a decentralized manner, promise a remedy. These structures are very familiar with blockchain technology and it can be assumed whether this technology has the potential to fundamentally change ...

Due to the advancing digitalization of business sectors and increasing competitive pressures, industrial companies are forced to promote their own digital transformation to sustain on the market. Here, the literature regards the CFO as a key corporate function to induct digitization initiatives within organizations. The blockchain technology, due to its features of transparency, immutability and cryptography combined with its ability to coordinate data flows of e. g. the IoT or AI, constitutes a suitable instrument for the CFO to meet the requirements of the Industry 4.0. The results are improvements of business processes in regard to efficiency and automation, a relocation of the CFO’s strategic role, improvements of CFO-relevant KPIs through integrating machines into payment networks as well as the emergence of integrated business ecosystems facilitating new forms of inter-organizational collaboration.

In many industries, the transformation of value creation is accelerating as a result of the fundamental change from pipelines business to platform business. For taking part in the new platform business companies need to develop innovative business models. The framework developed for designing digital platforms includes the type of value contribution (what?), the actors involved (who?), the reason for the value contribution (why?) and the way of value creation (how?). The design hints derived from the framework are subsequently used to develop B2B platforms to illustrate their relevance and impact.

Whilst bIoTope should be understood as a highly flexible and dynamic ecosystem capable of seamlessly integrating arbitrary proprietary IoT platforms, it nevertheless builds upon several core components, which provide essential functionality. Those functionalities referenced in this article, are agnostic to other ecosystem-external systems. Inside of the ecosystem, a micro-service-architecture MSA approach is applied. Using O-MI for technical Interoperability and O-DF for syntactic and semantic interoperability are foundation pillars of the ecosystem.

Blockchain technology - a distributed ledger in which transactions of all kinds of values can be carried out securely, transparently and consensually without trust in a central authority - is a socio-technical innovation that has the potential to enable new business models and make existing business models obsolete. While most applications today exist in the financial sector (e.g., payment processing), the technology is suitable for various industrial applications, especially in the area of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. This article uses three propositions and various concrete examples to shed light on the possible applications of blockchain technology for new IoT business models.

Recently, a great number of articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and essays have been published, concerning the fourth industrial revolution or the internet of things. Unfortunately, extent and meaning of these terms become more and more unclear. Thus, a thorough understanding is necessary. Although a lot of studies are carried out to analyze potentials and threats of implementing respective elements into business, it is essential to compare expert’s perception with existing notions. In this work, both a quantitative analysis and a qualitative analysis were undertaken to identify several factors inhibiting or stimulating a further usage, by using a TOE framework. The results of both the survey and the interviews with several experts are explained in detail, and summed up into a statement of future prospects.