A partnership between mapping and location company HERE Technologies and wireless networks firm Sigfox will develop a global location service that can fuse the Internet of Things (IoT) with container shipping.
By combining global coverage of Wi-Fi hotspots from HERE with the Sigfox worldwide network and geolocation engine, the companies will integrate IoT applications into the global supply chain to locate assets.
IoT asset tracking can take place both indoors, including inside factories warehouses, and outdoors.
This means that it has the potential to create $1.9 trillion of economic value in the global supply chain and logistics sector, according to technology conglomerate Cisco and DHL, the world’s largest logistics provider.
By collaborating, HERE and Sigfox plan to expand asset tracking opportunities for companies that could not previously afford geolocation services.
The combination of both HERE and Sigfox technologies and their worldwide footprint enables clients to locate their assets and collect useful data to ensure better transport conditions and increase service reliability.
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Use cases currently in live phase include air transport, luggage and trolley management, location of stolen and missing cars, industrial asset management and location of shipping containers.
Christophe Hamaide, Senior Account Executive at HERE, said: “Our partnership with Sigfox reinforces HERE as a major player in IoT.
“The HERE Location Suite references billions of Wi-Fi hotspots, and through this joint initiative, we will be able to pinpoint the location of millions of connected objects all around the world in the coming years.”
Laetitia Jay, Chief Marketing Officer at Sigfox, commented: “This partnership is another major step to accomplish Sigfox’s ambitious vision to become the most competitive provider of industrial data in IoT.
“Locating assets while guaranteeing the lowest total cost of ownership of the solution is a key driver for logistics and supply chain industry to benefit from massive IoT business impact.”
