Partnering BT to create added value from the Internet of Things
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:51:00 BST
Professor Grigoris Antoniou aims to develop a platform to harness and manage diverse data
A UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield professor has teamed up with communications giant BT to develop ways of harnessing the full potential of diverse data from the so-called Internet of Things.
This term is used to describe a wide range of electronic devices that are embedded with sensors. This means that they can record immense quantities of information, which could be useful for decision-making, planning, optimisation and policy purposes. The challenge is to present this data in a commonly understood format, so that it can be integrated with other data, semantically-enriched and fully analysed.
Professor Grigoris Antoniou (pictured right with researcher Ilias Tachmazidis), based in the University’s School of Computing and Engineering, is a globally-acknowledged expert on the Semantic Web, which promotes common formats and a framework that allows data to be machine-read and shared. This means he is ideally qualified to work on an 18-month research project for BT, which is developing a platform for managing Internet of Things data.
The research is now underway and Professor Antoniou is confident that it will be a basis for future collaborations with BT and other important partners. He values the real-world impact that the project will make.
The development work being carried out by Professor Antoniou and researcher Ilias Tachmazidis, who has recently completed a PhD on the Semantic Web and Big Data, has relevance to many fields, although a key area is transportation. For example, traffic and environmental data gathered from roadside sensors could be combined in order to help develop interventions to reduce pollution.
Smart City initiatives, such as a major project in Milton Keynes in which BT is involved, could also be important beneficiaries. Central to this scheme is the creation of a state-of-the-art MK Data Hub that acquires vast amounts of information from a variety of sources. This includes data about energy use, water consumption and transport.
“To collect all this data is important, but it has to be in a format that facilitates its integration with other information,” said Professor Antoniou. “The whole idea of the open data movement is that government and other organisations make data available so that you can combine it with other sources, to create added value. This is what BT wants to be able to support.”
Semantic Web technology is central to this, leading to Professor Antoniou’s latest research project. His co-authored book A Semantic Web Primer is regarded as a standard academic text on the subject.
