Opto 22 have announced its acceptance into the IBMÂ Watson IoT Partner Ecosystem. The program provides developers with a full stack toolset for building applications that connect real-world signals and data from industrial components to the world of information technology, mobile, and cloud computing.
In a press release, Opto reports that Business Insider forecasts $4.8 trillion aggregate IoT investment between 2016 and 2021. Sensors, machines and devices already in the industrial infrastructure are currently unable to connect to IoT and cloud-based applications, like the IBM Watson IoT Platform. The partnership between IBM and Opto 22 enables developers to rapidly design, prototype and deploy applications to connect existing industrial assets to the IBM Watson IoT platform and share their data, capabilities, and resources with other connected systems and assets, to build the Industrial IoT.
Connecting existing industrial assets to IT systems requires the translation of electrical signals to a digital-ready format. Opto 22 manufactures the I/O and controllers that translate signals at the network edge from industrial assets into the language cloud computing systems.
“The industrial automation and control industry is in transition right now,” says Benson Hougland, vice president of marketing andpProduct strategy. “A product development strategy based on proprietary and closed technologies is outdated. The future of industrial automation and process control lies in the rising API and data economies made possible through open standards-based technologies. Our objective in partnering with IBM is to enable IIoT developers to build their applications faster using well-known and proven Internet tools and technology like Node-RED, RESTful APIs, and the IBM Watson IoT Platform.”
