OPPORTUNITY
The Internet, created to provide resilient and interoperable communication across the globe, has evolved to transport today an immensurable amount of data and this continuing evolution will greatly impact many areas from industry to health care provision, to traffic management and intelligent logistics.
During the last decade, the following trends have emerged as part of what we call “Future Internet”: the Tactile Internet, the Physical Internet, the Internet of people and Internet of Free Speech. Applications using these technologies are growing at a fast pace and spreading through a large variety of sectors and industries. The implications to society and applications for specific industries – including banking and finance, connected driving, utilities, transport, media and creative industry – are limitless.
The Future Internet services requires the use of innovative ways of combining geo-referenced data with satellite derived data as open data, businesses data and volunteered data. Satellite communications and 5G networks underpin these applications providing ubiquitous connectivity and data relay capability. Exploitation of space-based assets data opens therefore new opportunities to develop applications related to the “Future Internet”.
Among others, there is room for:
Physical Internet (PI). It represents an innovation in logistics which is based on the working principles of the digital Internet. An internet-like network for goods means no data is encapsulated in data packets, but goods are encapsulated in PI-containers. Furthermore, PI-containers are routed through the network via PI-hubs, like data packets are routed through the internet by routers. Most candidate PI architectures highlight the necessity of real-time continuous communication and positioning of the PI-containers. At sea or in zones not covered with cellular networks, the use Satellite Communications is a must to accommodate for ubiquitous communication requirements. The same goes for satellite navigation in order to always locate the PI-container along its path. Applications of the PI could be discovered in the logistics sectors that have most to gain from the PI capabilities, as for example the secure transport of medical goods (drugs, blood samples,..) and the delivery of fresh food requiring timely delivery and monitoring of integrity of the goods.