Turning Field Data into Action in IoT Projects
Most collected data never becomes an input to any decision. We look at where the chain connecting data to action breaks.
Collecting data in IoT projects is no longer difficult. The difficult part is that collected data becomes the input to a decision. In many organisations the chain breaks at exactly this point: data flows in regularly, is stored, and is never connected to an action.
The four links in the chain
The path from data to action has four steps, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If measurement is correct but no threshold is defined, or a threshold is defined but the system meant to apply the response is not integrated, the result is the same: the data remains a report.
- Measurement: data produced reliably and without interruption.
- Interpretation: raw measurement translated into the language of the operation.
- Decision: a definition of what is done in which situation.
- Execution: the decision being carried out through existing systems.
Integration is a precondition, not a final step
The execution step is left to last in most projects, and usually stays there. Yet unless it is settled from the outset which system receives the decision and in what form, the output of the previous three steps never gets beyond appearing on a screen.
