In the data cloud: How will we travel in 2050? (Pt.2)

One-way data streets

Critically important for ensuring secure connections of smart devices with a cloud solution are protected interfaces and transmission paths. A new type of Siemens data diode makes it possible: the Data Capture Unit (DCU). It connects the security-critical infrastructure with the Internet of things via a unidirectional data flow – a one-way data street. With this development, we are opening up formerly closed doors – secured and controlled – to a true data universe. The potential here is enormous and offers completely new possibilities of improving connected systems such as the control technology used in our rail and road infrastructure. We can thus, for example, couple operational train data with historical consumption data, weather forecasts or information about major events in a city. The result is a seamless traffic flow and the perfect trip from A to B. All this will become standard in the near future thanks to connected technology.

From owner to user

The history of Big Data and the unimaginable potential lurking in data is nothing new – and is being spectacularly demonstrated day after day by Google and Amazon. These companies show how a comprehensive collection of data and its analysis can quickly and cheaply make information or offers available to countless users via a central platform. In the meantime, new “digital players” have also become established in the transport industry, such as Uber, which offers taxi service without actually owning a fleet of cars. Uber networks passengers with independent drivers in their privately owned cars via an app. The secret behind the system is an extremely fast and clever IT platform that almost instantly coordinates supply and demand. Such solutions show that new technologies and the processing of data on central platforms open up completely new dimensions for business models. Naturally only as long as they meet the highest security standards. Today, you no longer have to own a car in order to operate a taxi service. And you also no longer need to own control hardware in order to operate trains, as is being shown by the Gornergrat Bahn, a private rail company in Switzerland working together with Siemens: its control technology operates in the cloud! Siemens provides this technology to the Gornergrat Bahn as a service. So “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) is already reality today. Demand- and service-oriented business models will play a dominating role in the future.

We network internally

Our private lives and working world are rapidly being transformed by digitalization. The more digital processes and work tools we use, the faster and more efficiently we can network with colleagues worldwide. Older analog work tools hinder this globally networked cooperation. This means that we as an organization must also embark on new paths and open ourselves even more to new technologies and processes. Based on our strengths – the experience and know-how of our employees – we not only have to further expand and focus our portfolio, but also digitally network our processes and working methods. This is why we at Mobility, for example, are introducing a new integrated development tool: Entegro. With Entegro, we can store and administer all our engineering data in a central database. At the same time, Entegro provides the basis for combining development data with information from other sources and thus the ability to create a digital image of our real products and solutions: the Digital Twin. With the help of 3D visualization, we can simplify and shorten planning, conception and testing. This way, we can not only more efficiently manage projects and save costs, but also considerably improve the quality of our products and solutions.

The key is curiousity

The transformation to a function-capable organization open to an ever more complex business environment with many new players demands radical rethinking and the acceptance of openness and transparency on all sides. Transparency between small innovative think tanks and major established mobility companies is decisive for ensuring comfortable traveling in the future and for the success of the entire industry. The key here is curiosity: curiosity of drivers and passengers about a new way of traveling. Curiosity of employees about embracing a new, digitally connected working world. Curiosity of companies about opening themselves up to other organizations as we have done, for example, with our acquisition of the Hannover software specialist HaCon. And curiosity about how we can all profit from a digitally connected world.

Security has highest priority

With our many decades of experience in operating critical infrastructures, we at Mobility stand for reliability as well as for technological advances. We are a trustworthy partner when it comes to developing new solutions and establishing them on the market. But we stand for one thing above all: the security of passengers, technology and data. With all networking and connectivity, we tolerate absolutely no risks. All older as well as new technologies fulfill the highest functional security requirements (SIL4). We give highest priority to redundant systems, secure interfaces and demanding quality management. Security and safety are extremely important to us. We can guarantee both and thus say with a clear conscience: traffic jams and cancelled trains? A thing of the past. Today we travel intermodally – perhaps even before the year 2050.