Think tank for the internet of things

29 February 2012. The lab will open its doors on March 1, 2012, on the university’s campus. Initially comprising a team of three, the lab currently has vacancies for five additional PhD students, and will ultimately employ ten people from HSG and Bosch. Bosch Software Innovations GmbH, the Bosch Group’s software and systems unit, will provide the think tank with operational support. Its first major areas of research will be connected mobility and the smart networking of buildings. The first concrete results are expected as early as the fall of 2012.

New business models for a connected life
This means the Bosch IoTS lab will have access to an unrivalled combination of scientific theory and practice on the one hand and business administration and technology management on the other. HSG’s technology management area is currently collaborating with 50 different companies in the field of the internet of things and services (IoTS). “We are working on problems from business for business,” said Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch, the scientific head of the Bosch IoTS lab and director of the university’s Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG). “Because we work with several companies, and since the big questions are not specific to any one company, we can guarantee the scientists 100 percent freedom of movement in their research.” In the future, HSG scientists and Bosch associates will work together at the Bosch IoTS lab on new offerings and business models for practical application in areas of importance for the future, such as connected mobility, connected energy / smart grids, the connected city, connected industry, and connected living.

Connected mobility already at the practical testing stage

Take Kristina Flüchter for example. The Bosch IoTS lab’s first PhD student is developing a business model that provides users of an web-enabled vehicle with information on tourist attractions, leisure pursuits, and available charge spots. The scientist can benefit from access to Bosch expertise in this area. In Singapore, for example, Bosch Software Innovations is currently using a software platform as an infrastructure for electric vehicles, and is expanding this infrastructure step by step. Its web-based eMobility Solution helps drivers to quickly find a vacant parking space with a charge spot – something that is particularly useful in megacities.

Picture: Photoshop / hannesleitlein