Optimizing Business Operations with the IOT: Interview with Professor Ygal Bendavid

IoT, or Internet of Things, is a technology trend that is becoming increasingly widespread. The term was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, but it was in the 2010s that IoT really gained popularity and entered the consumer vocabulary. Moreover, in 2015, the Technology Hype Cycle , developed by Gartner, estimated the widespread adoption of this technology to be 5 to 10 years away. Seven years later, we can say that we are very close to widespread adoption, and the technology is still gaining popularity.

Ygal Bendavid, professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), specializing in the Internet of Things and director of the IoT Laboratory , gave us some of his valuable time to discuss it.

Let's start by defining what IoT is.

For the general public, this technology is often equated with connected objects. Mr. Bendavid explains: “People often say that the Internet of Things is connected objects. And we think of a phone, a tablet, but in reality, all objects can be connected. The sweatshirt you have, the ring you wear, anything can be a connected object.”

If we take the definition of the International Telecommunication Union, the Internet of Things is “a global infrastructure for the information society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting things (physical and virtual) based on existing and evolving interoperable information and communication technologies”. The professor defines the IoT as a concept where each physical object (living or not) is equipped with technologies allowing it to communicate, automatically, in real time, with its environment (physical and software) to manage its own transactions.

It may sound complicated, but more simply, the professor explains that IoT uses different technologies, sometimes very small, attached to an object to allow it to communicate with its environment. In fact, many everyday objects use this technology, for example, your OPUS card, BIXI bicycles, or even Uber vehicles.

"The Technology has become transparent to the user" - Ygal Bendavid

IoT to optimize business operations

As you can see, IoT technology goes far beyond the connected objects we use every day, such as the connected speakers, lamps, and vacuum cleaners we use. This technology is used in many professional fields, including manufacturing, hospitals, and even commercial environments. But many companies were still in "wait and see" mode, as Mr. Bendavid said, before 2020, which was a catalytic year for the adoption of many new technologies in professional environments.

But how is this technology used in the professional environment?

Being in the academic research field, Mr. Bendavid has witnessed many different uses of the IoT. For example, in the manufacturing sector, the technology is used to compensate for labor shortages, improve performance and productivity by monitoring their machines to track their production in real time. Many companies that work in “hot-desking” mode use the IoT to have a real-time visualization of the management of their spaces in order to be able to manage them better.
Finally, the professor tells us about the concrete example of hospitals, where he has worked extensively: “For the management of medical uniforms during the pandemic, we implemented a real-time uniform management system to know who has taken which uniform in order to reduce uniform inventories, but also to minimize contamination. We do this by putting RFID tags on the uniforms.”

But while it may seem like implementing this technology is reserved for large companies with large technology budgets, in reality, even SMEs can benefit from it. The professor explains that the government is investing heavily to encourage SMEs to adopt this type of technology in order to become more competitive. Indeed, these technologies are now democratized, and even a store that would like to have an idea of ​​the areas most frequented by customers can use the IoT to understand this, with a Bluetooth system. Mr. Bendavid explains that this is something quite basic, and that with the standards that have been established and the modularity of the technologies, anything is possible and, above all, accessible, even for small businesses.

University research: a golden opportunity for the adoption of new technologies in business

Moreover, the UQAM IoT Lab plays an important role in supporting companies' technological adoption. For them, “The idea is exactly this: to welcome companies and show them what all these technologies are. The lab uses a lot of them since we have recreated environments (stores, etc.) where companies work with us. […] We do prototyping for certain projects, but often we don't even need to do it because the solutions are already there; we just need to guide companies towards the technological solutions that suit them. It's a transfer of expertise to the market, but also from the market to us.”

Thanks to university research and master's student projects, it is possible for all types of companies to receive support for their technological projects. It is a collaboration that benefits all stakeholders: the university side is responsible for the research and finding technological partners, while the company finances the technology, infrastructure, equipment and allows students to work in the field, on a concrete project. SME, large company, private or public sector, it is a very good opportunity for sharing and learning for all parties involved.

The cybersecurity challenge of IoT

Although the adoption of IoT technology in business operations is becoming more widespread, we must not forget the cybersecurity issue. Because the risk is present for companies but also for users. Indeed, Mr. Bendavid explains it well: “With connected objects, each object can constitute an access point to a system,” and hackers are well aware of this. This is why it is important to secure the entire technological system, “The strength of a system is measured by its weakest link,” and it only takes one flaw for problems to arise. Even for consumers, it is important to consider this issue when purchasing connected objects, because cybercriminals no longer only target large private companies. They are also attacking the public sector, several security breaches in these sectors have made headlines in the last two years.

Mr. Bendavid also cites a frightening statistic: “95% of connected objects are poorly protected.” To address these threats, more and more companies specializing in the protection of IoT systems are emerging, offering protection for individuals, whose number of connected objects is only increasing. The professor is increasingly in demand for specialized training in IoT cybersecurity, and this increase in demand clearly demonstrates that the cybersecurity issue is gaining ground, both among individuals and in the professional world. However, this issue should not be seen as a barrier to the adoption of these technologies. Indeed, Mr. Bendavid specifies that while cybersecurity has a cost, “There is also a cost of not integrating them; we cannot afford to fall behind in technology.”

Although the adoption of IoT technology tips for integrating IoT in SMEs

Integrating new technologies into business operations can be very intimidating for small businesses, but with proper preparation, it is entirely possible to integrate innovative technologies into your processes. The first piece of advice given by the UQAM professor is to “have a solid core management system.” This could be an ERP, an integrated management system, or an inventory management system. He cites the example of SMEs that have grown and, as they grow, will purchase a finance and accounting system, then manage other processes in Excel, others in Access, or even use in-house systems, until the day comes when it becomes difficult to manage this puzzle and the system risks breaking. Mr. Bendavid truly emphasizes the importance of having a very solid core management system, because the IoT is an additional layer, which is added on top. If we want IoT – or any other technology – to add value to the business, it must be able to establish itself on a solid foundation.

However, Mr. Bendavid also points out that a solid foundation can be built in parallel with a technological improvement process. It is possible to use parallel IoT technologies, which can be implemented while continuing the technological improvement process, which will strengthen the core business system in the long term. Indeed, there are some very interesting "stand-alone" IoT solutions.

Finally, the other piece of advice the professor gives is that we should not consider IoT as the panache of large companies; as we said above, technologies are now democratized and there is something for all budgets.

"“If we want to do a million dollar project, we can, if we want to do a 10,000 dollar project, we can too. And we must not stay in “wait and see” mode, we must start to touch on it because there is enormous potential and just the time to learn, to try, to do a small pilot project, to see what it does and what it doesn’t do, the day we launch into it, a year and a half will have passed." - Ygal Bendavid

In conclusion, go for it!

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