Pitney Bowes, a global technology company, has signed an agreement with Arrow Electronics (News - Alert), a global provider of engineering, integration and supply chain services, the two announced recently. Together, Pitney Bowes and Arrow Electronics said they will work to enable public sector authorities to securely gather, process and analyze data collected through IoT devices to improve physical infrastructure efficiencies.
Public entities and municipalities across the world are trying to make infrastructure smarter, or they should be. With the increase of connected devices, the IoT is generating data that can be used to produce valuable insights about cities, how they operate, where they can improve, and what's the best process to facilitate enhancements.
Through this collaboration, Arrow and Pitney Bowes will bring to market a solution that leverages Pitney Bowes’ Confirm Intelligent Infrastructure Management and the Arrow Connect platform to process and analyze IoT-generated data captured through infrastructure sensors.
Arrow Connect provides a technology-agnostic, universal data-ingestion platform. Confirm provides visibility of infrastructure conditions in real time, generates alerts and issues work orders automatically to streamline the resolution of any problems with critical infrastructure assets.
“Arrow's IoT capability spans design, build and device management across purpose-built IoT solutions and employs some of the best engineers in the world for connected technologies," said Mark Taylor, SVP, Software Channels, Pitney Bowes. “This collaboration with Arrow allows Pitney Bowes to offer a more robust, IoT-ready infrastructure management solution on a global scale. This is a strategic move for both organizations, as our clients continue to demand innovation that collects real-time data and drives efficiency and responsiveness to their organizations.”
“The Pitney Bowes Confirm Intelligent Infrastructure Management solution already services 45 percent of the U.K. road network and 140 million citizens worldwide,” said Aiden Mitchell, VP, Global IoT Solutions, Arrow Electronics. “Pitney Bowes has a proven track record in Infrastructure Management and our partnership will bring scale to their ability to collect and process IoT data and turn it into real insight. Our alliance will create a pathway for our clients to create a truly smarter world to live in.”
With this IoT system in place, cities can use storm drain sensors to monitor the water and silt levels in drainage networks to look for blockages or failures, which can indicate an increased risk of flooding. Or, traffic-flow monitoring systems can link to Arrow Connect to uncover problems or anomalies with traffic speed. Equipped with this information, mangers can deploy safety teams to keep drivers safe.
Smart infrastructure leads to Smart Cities and better lives for citizens.