The whole of the territory of the Skolkovo innovation centre is now covered by a wireless Internet of Things (IoT) network set up by STRIZH Telematika, a resident startup of the Skolkovo Foundation’s space and telecoms cluster.
STRIZH Telematika's base station at the Skolkovo innovation centre. Photo: STRIZH Telematika.
IoT technology, which enables elements of a home or city’s infrastructure to exchange information, is now available in Skolkovo’s R&D centres, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and in all its other buildings, including residential ones, as well as across the outdoor territory. The first things to be connected to the network are smart water and electricity metres in the residential districts, as well as parking metres and smart lighting systems, STRIZH said in a statement.
“STRIZH is a domestic platform for IoT that makes it possible to connect existing devices and sensors to the internet,” said Andrei Sinitsin, president of STRIZH Telematika, whose wireless and energy-efficient technology makes it possible to create smart low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks and develop compact devices capable of transmitting a signal across distances of more than 50 kilometres.
“Imagine that a water metre or humidity metre, after being integrated into the system, could transmit its data to the internet, while needing no servicing – it would run from a battery for more than 10 years,” he added.
As more and more machine to machine (M2M) communication systems and IoT services are introduced to Skolkovo, its resident developers will get access to the network and can use the homegrown technology to create their own smart devices and apps.
STRIZH is confident that the launch of its network will boost the creation of IoT apps designed for areas ranging from the industrial Internet of Things, security systems and city management to medicine and the oil and gas industry. Using the company’s kit designed especially for developers, Skolkovo engineers will have access to an open platform where they can experiment and create their own IoT solutions. Programmers can use the kits to test and refine their pilot IoT projects in real time.
The rolling out of an IoT network using homegrown technology is a milestone event for Skolkovo, said Maxim Zharenkov, a project manager for the foundation’s space and telecoms cluster.
“It’s nice to see the results of our residents’ work. Now that there is a ready-made infrastructure, we invite all Russian developers of IoT to use Skolkovo as a cross-industry polygon for testing their IoT pilot projects,” he said.