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One of the key use cases defined for Avnet IoTConnect is energy management. Through it, customers will be able to benefit from real-time monitoring at the edge, then apply cloud-based analysis and data visualisation. Interactive dashboards that are aligned to their particular operational requirements can be easily constructed. AI plug-ins can also be provided. The upshot of all this will be that intelligence can be placed at the sensor nodes, at the meter, or at the inverter, as well as in the cloud. Such intelligence will enable greater stability to be brought to the grid and reduce the chances of outages occurring. It will allow more accurate predictions of future energy consumption demands, so that electric distribution infrastructure is fully prepared, with stored energy reserves ready to be drawn upon if necessary. It will also have substantial worth with regard to energy quality monitoring and equipment performance analysis and help with efforts to make organisations’ operational activities more sustainable.

The IoTConnect platform is also able to provide customisable mobile apps that can be utilised for a multitude of different reasons. Among these will be energy usage mapping within buildings, or to examine ongoing usage trends. These apps also may be accessed by car drivers for finding EV charging stations or to determine where parking spaces are available.

As well as adding intelligence, it will be necessary to place greater security at the edge, to complement the security mechanisms already established in the cloud. This will be pivotal from a billing and payment perspective - enabling tariff handling systems for microgeneration sites, as well as ensuring hacking incidents in relation to financial transactions are avoided, such as at EV charging stations.